The best faced the best from this past school year’s senior class as the Black team won by an impressive margin of 48-12.

Each teams had close to 40 players from every corner of the U.P. — from Calumet to Menominee, from Ironwood to Cedarville, Pickford and DeTour.

“For the players not pursuing football in college, the game provided a last chance to put on the pads and have some fun,” game organizer Todd Goldbeck said in a news release after the game. “For the players reporting to college football camp in the fall, they got a taste of playing in a large stadium, as well as a week of practice with the pads on getting used to harder hits and more physical contact.”

He also mentioned that total proceeds are being finalized with funds to be donated to several U.P. charities, while multiple U.P. high school football programs will be presented some of the equipment, such as jerseys and footballs, used for the practices and game.

L'Anse's Dean Magaraggia of the Red team, left, cuts left to avoid Black team defender Cole Myllyla of Kingsford, right, as the Red team's Lucas Swetich of Superior Central, center, blocks in the Upper Peninsula Football All-Star Game held at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. The Red team's Sam McKissack of Forest Park, partially hidden behind Magaraggia, is also in on the play. (Photo courtesy Ron Mattson)

More than a dozen coaches, about half either currently or in the recent past from area high schools, led the players.

“The coaches were open-minded,” said Team Red head coach Brad Wiljanen, who was an assistant coach at Westwood last fall. “We all came together to try to accomplish one task, so it was nice that they all accepted responsibilities of assistant coaches, learned what we were trying to do and tried to implement that as quickly as possible in a whirlwind week.”

Players and coaches checked in at NMU on Monday, then spent parts of five days mostly with two-a-day practices to get ready to play and coach a sport they hadn’t participated in since October or November.

As Saturday afternoon’s game started, it was clear Team Black was determined. They put up all the points in the first quarter — 20 of them.

Goldbeck reiterated that the addition of motion to the offense has provided a much-needed boost in scoring compared to earlier years, while the now decade-long practice of drafting players for each team has provided competitive balance compared to years when geographical divisions determined the sides.

The Black team's James Milkey of Lake Linden-Hubbell, right, slaps hands with teammates during pregame introductions for the Upper Peninsula Football All-Star Game held at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. From left are teammates Riley Gauthier of Iron Mountain, Tyrel Matson of St. Ignace and Brayden Dunstan of Negaunee. (Photo courtesy Ron Mattson)

Red captain Cole Potier of Gladstone got his team on the scoreboard before the second quarter was five minutes old, and after a missed extra-point kick, the Black still led 20-6.

Potier continued to roll up yards, bringing the ball to the 13-yard line. From there, Iron Mountain’s Joey Colavecchi finished the job for Team Red. He scored another TD, but with another missed PAT, they still trailed 20-12.

In the last five minutes of the first half, Team Black switched up its strategy. Determined to make a successful pass, three players narrowly missed making a reception.

Then Menominee’s Kaedan Calcari finally caught a nearly 30-yard pass resulting in a fresh set of downs for Team Black deep in Red territory. From there, Kane Nebel of Munising got the ball into the end zone, scoring a touchdown as well as kicking the extra point to make it 27-12 at halftime.

“We knew we were going to score some points because we had a lot of speed and a lot of athleticism,” said Black head coach Andy Crouch, the former head man at Lake Linden-Hubbell. “It’s just a matter of being able to slow them down.

The Black team's Nic Nora of Kingsford, left, and Philip Nelson of Negaunee prepare for a play during the Upper Peninsula Football All-Star Game held at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Ron Mattson)

“The second quarter got pretty tough because they had some players over there and their coaching staff did a great job trying to slow us down and they made a great game out of it in the first half.”

Team Red tried to regroup at halftime, but things only went south — a direction that sometimes teams in this game used to represent — in the second half.

“There was a couple situations early on where we thought we could pass and maybe we couldn’t,” Wiljanen said. “We had an offense built to do what we tried to do in the second quarter, which was … gain five yards at a time … eat that clock and try to keep the ball out of their hands.”

After battling back and forth at the beginning of the third quarter, North Central’s Luke Gorzinski scored a TD followed by a successful 2-point conversion to make it 33-12.

Black kept pouring it on when Leo Imhoff of Gogebic ran in the end zone from the 29-yard line for six additional points. With the successful extra point, the score stood at 41-12 at the end of three.

The Black team's Micaiah Peramaki of Munising, right, slaps hands with teammates during pregame introductions for the Upper Peninsula Football All-Star Game held at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. At left is teammate Andrew Webber of North Central (No. 21). (Photo courtesy Ron Mattson)

Team Black did what it needed to do by blanking Red in the final quarter, adding one more TD for the final margin.

Individual awards were handed out after the game, with players from area schools taking home half of them. These awards were decided on by the coaching staffs of each team after the game.

The area honorees included Easton Palomaki of Negaunee winning Black team Defensive MVP, Philip Nelson of Negaunee earning the Black team Jack Audette Character Award, and Max Wiljanen of Westwood and Drake Spickerman of Negaunee sharing the Red team’s Audette Character honor.

The other honors were won by Gorzinski with Black team Offensive MVP, Potier taking the Red team Offensive MVP and Brayden Sundquist of Gladstone cashing in the Red team Defensive MVP.

The traveling trophy was presented to the Black team and Crouch, while a miniature version of the trophy was also presented to George Niemi, a past head coach at Ishpeming High School, who was the head coach for the victorious Black team in 2022.

Both of this year’s head coaches went out of their way to thank the organizers Todd and Jodi Goldbeck for keeping the event alive and thriving.

Crouch said it’s the “marquee event of the Upper Peninsula” while Wiljanen similarly said it’s become a “U.P. staple.”

“(They’re a) phenomenal group of kids,” Crouch said. “Not only just great athletes and talented football players, but great character kids and (I’m) just fortunate to work with them this week.”

Alexandria Bournonville can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 506. Her email address is abournonville@miningjournal.net.