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MARQUETTE — Just one Upper Peninsula athlete will be playing in the 39th annual all-star football game to be played Saturday and sponsored by the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association.

And he is recent Marquette Senior High School graduate and wide receiver Kameron Karp.

The game, whose East and West rosters include 65 Lower Peninsula players joining Karp, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Lawrence Tech University in the Detroit suburb of Southfield.

Marquette's Kameron Karp looks to an official while lining up on the line of scrimmage during an MHSAA Division 3 high school football district championship game played against Muskegon at Hackley Stadium in Muskegon on Nov. 14. (MLive.com photo by Scott DeCamp)

Joining Karp on the West’s 33-man roster is Calumet head coach John Croze, an Ishpeming High School alumnus, and Copper Kings assistant coach Josh Frantti as part of the West’s eight-man coaching staff.

The rest of the West unit includes players from Traverse City Central and West high schools and schools from around Grand Rapids, Holland, Battle Creek and Jackson, along with smaller football powerhouse towns such as Ithaca, Midland and Zeeland.

The East unit, also with 33 players, is much more Detroit-area heavy, including regions in its general vicinity such as the Thumb, Ohio border and points west toward Ann Arbor and Brighton.

Karp will be one of a rare breed, the two-sport athlete, when he begins his college years at Northern Michigan University this fall after he was recruited to play both football and basketball, signing his national letter of intent in early February.

He earned a number of honors in both sports his senior year, which doesn’t even include a standout year in track and field, where he won the 200-meter dash and was runner-up in the 100 at the U.P. Finals in Division 1 on June 5.

Marquette’s Kameron Karp makes a shot during a game against Negaunee at Marquette Senior High School on Feb. 20, 2020. (Journal file photo)

In football last fall, he was named Associated Press All-State Second Team, U.P. Offensive Player of the Year and Dream Team in All-U.P. balloting, and All-Great Northern Conference.

The Redmen compiled a 5-1 record and won the GNC title in a regular season shortened by the coronavirus pandemic, then won two playoff games for the first time in school history, defeating Muskegon Reeths-Puffer and Mount Pleasant. MSHS was also named U.P. Team of the Year among Large Schools in All-U.P. balloting.

Karp caught 28 passes for 625 yards and seven touchdowns and also threw one pass, completing it for a 57-yard TD.

In basketball, Karp earned unanimous All-U.P. Dream Team honors and was named GNC Player of the Year, averaging 14 points per game.

That Marquette team won an MHSAA regional tournament game for the first time in almost two decades, reaching the regional final before falling to eventual Division 1 state champion Grand Blanc.

Marquette's Kam Karp, center top, gets his hands on a well-placed Austin Ridl pass despite triple coverage by Muskegon Reeths-Puffer's Tayte Vanderleest, Caden Brainard and Ayden Willacker in the first quarter of their MHSAA Division 1 high school football playoff game played at William R. Hart Stadium in Marquette on Oct. 31. Karp was unable to maintain possession. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

This weekend’s MHSFCA contest is Karp’s third all-star game he’ll be involved in during June and July.

He played on June 9 in the Kiwanis Classic Border Bash boys basketball game in Eagle River, Wisconsin, and was the second-leading scorer for Northern Michigan with 23 points.

He has also been named to the U.P. Football All-Star Game to be played at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 31, at his future football playing home, NMU’s Superior Dome in Marquette.

He’s on the Black team roster that includes recent Ishpeming coaches Jeff Olson and George Niemi.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.