(Image courtesy of Metro Creative)

MARQUETTE — They may not have been selected Most Valuable Players, but a trio of area athletes played important roles in helping the Team Black romp past the Team Red 56-7 in Upper Peninsula All-Star football game on Saturday.

Bark River-Harris’s Cristan Spear scored twice inside Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome, his first touchdown coming on a one-yard run around right end for an insurmountable 42-7 midway through the third quarter.

BR-H’s Olin Johnson then made it 49-7 on a 42-yard interception return with 4:10 remaining in the third frame.

“It was about time,” Johnson said. “We practiced hard and did all the reps. Their quarterback ran an out. As soon as he made the cut, I read and made the play. It’s exciting for sure.”

Spear, who will continue his education at Michigan Tech, concluded the scoring on a three-yard run early in the fourth stanza.

Powers North Central’s Lane Gorzinski, who will play football at MTU this fall, was in on two QB sacks, added two tackles for losses and intercepted a pass in his first 11-player game.

“We capitalized on our energy,” he said. “It was a pretty weird adjustment (from eight-player) at first, but once we got going it became second nature.”

Team Black immediately took to the airways in its opening possession, covering 62 yards in just six plays.

Iron Mountain’s Ian Marttila tossed a 25-yard pass through the middle to Ishpeming’s Caden Luoma for a 7-0 lead.

Team Red answered on its first possession, tying the score on a 17-yard aerial from Kingsford’s Nic Novara to Iron Mountain’s Oskar Kangas.

The black team regained the lead with 4:35 remaining in the opening frame on a 39-yard pass from Ontonagon’s Austin Gordon to Marquette’s Kyler Sager.

After the red team turned the ball over on downs, Sager caught his second TD pass (55 yards) just 10 seconds into the second stanza and Marttila heaved a 65-yard aerial to Ontonagon’s Caden Besonen for a 28-7 cushion with 4:17 remaining.

Team Black added another score just 26 seconds before halftime for a 35-7 advantage on Gordon’s 41-yard pass through the middle to Luoma.

“We felt very confident going into the game,” Red assistant and Crystal Falls Forest Park head coach Brian Fabbri said. “At halftime, we knew for some this would be their last football game. Coach (Robin) Marttila was a little emotional. This was the last time he’d be coaching his son Ian and came up with a great game plan. He wanted his kids to win. This is always a fun event. The trip to Bay Cliff was a life-changing experience.”

Spear had similar thoughts on the weeklong event.

“This is unbelievable, one of the best things I’ve done,” he said. “I met kids from a lot of different schools and made a lot of friends I’ll remember for a long time. Our trip to Bay Cliff (Health Camp) was also unforgettable. It made us kind of happy to give them a good experience and put smiles on their faces.”

Like the players, the coaches had an opportunity to bond.

“This is always a special game,” Team Black assistant and North Central head coach Leo Gorzinski said. “We got to meet different kids and coaches and make lifelong friends. Football is football eight it’s 11-man or eight-man. If you do all the fundamentals and do them well, you’re going to be successful. We had a lot of fun all week. Everyone came together and the coaches had as much fun as the kids. We didn’t expect this type of outcome. We thought it’d be a dogfight.”