Picture Day for the U.P. football All-Stars
MARQUETTE — Day two of preparations for the big U.P. All–Star football game took place at the Superior Dome.
The North and South took their team photos with the collection of helmets right below them. Later, each player got to pose with the trophy. It’s been a great week so far and the players enjoy the time they are having at practice, even if it’s with players that they have lined up against in the past.
“Playing against guys that I’ve faced and that I’ve never met is a lot of fun. Practices are nothing like high school practices at all. They’re not really high tempo but they’re a lot of fun and everyone’s just kind of joking around and having a good time,” North Quarterback Brett Place said.
“Here, you can tell that every practice, we’re starting to get a little more…knowing what the other person is going to do and where they’re going to be on a certain play or what not. You can tell every practice it’s starting to come along and we’re getting better every practice,” said South Quarterback Rob Granquist.
Many of the players I spoke with say even with the limited amount of practice time, the offenses and defenses are clicking, just in time for the game on Saturday.
“Well I like that I can trust everybody. Everyone’s on the same level. We’re all skilled athletes so it’s nice to have such a strong defense and be able to trust every player on my side of the ball so I really trust the players and we have good chemistry,” North Linebacker Elijah Weber said.
“It’s nice to be back on the field and be out to be a football player because in our hearts, that’s what we are. As much as we want to be dentists and lawyers, football is where the hearts at for a lot of these guys and it’s good to have them together from the different schools to make something good out of it,” said South Guard Chad Leisenring.
Next on the agenda is the skills competition tomorrow, where players will participate in events like the fastest man race, a quarterback challenge and a receiver challenge.