The 35th annual Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game, which was played last on June 28 in St. Cloud, will air on Sunday, July 5 on FSN at 2 p.m.
Click here to watch a video preview of the game.
Some of Minnesota’s top prep football players took the field on Saturday evening at Husky Stadium in St. Cloud for the 35th annual Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game. Two Viking greats – Matt Blair and Randall McDaniel – were on-hand and served as assistant coaches, with McDaniel helping the Metro All-Stars overcome a 17-7 halftime deficit to defeat Blair and the Outstate All-Stars.
Another former Viking – Milt Sunde – and current Vikings fullback Thomas Tapeh were also present. They were each presented with a “Shining Star” award prior to the game.
Blair, McDaniel and Tapeh also took part in the Vikings of Tomorrow Youth Football Clinic, which was held prior to the game on the field. The pro football “experts” provided a helping hand to high school coaches as they conducted drills with the youngsters ages 5-14; there was also a question-answer session following the on-field action.
Live pre-game music was provided by Jon Quesnel, an alumnus of the game; Quesnel also performed the National Anthem prior to kickoff.
On-again and off-again rain, along with a steady wind and moderate temperatures, made its mark on this year’s Metro vs. Outstate all-star game. But the adverse conditions didn’t prevent the teams from providing those in attendance with an exciting game.
The Outstate All-Stars took a 17-7 lead to the locker room at halftime, sparked by a Minnesota High School All-Star Game record 80-yard touchdown run by Mario Butler (Rochester Mayo) on the game’s first play from scrimmage.
An impressive drive led by quarterback Greg Morse (Como Park) kept the Metro All-Stars close. Morse alternated series with Eden Prairie’s Ryan Grant, grandson of former Vikings Head Coach Bud Grant, and on his first play of the game he connected with Fritz Waldvogel (St. Thomas Academy) for 36 yards. Two plays later, Morse connected with Waldvogel again on a 46-yard touchdown to tie the score at seven a piece.
Later in the fourth quarter, Morse Morse added a nine-yard strike to Osseo's Dan Brown for a touchdown to eventually give the Metro All-Stars a 22-17 victory.
“I stood on the sidelines talking with the kids and watching plays get called in from the sideline,” McDaniel said of his role in the victory. “I had the most fun just talking with the kids and answering questions they had of me.”
The 35th Minnesota High School Football All-Star Game will be televised by FSN on Wednesday, July 2, at 7:00 p.m.
The game’s history
The Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game has been an annual event since 1974, but was first played in 1945. Games were played sporadically before the current annual series began in 1974 at Memorial Stadium.
The game was originally formatted as North vs. South contest, but switched to Metro vs. Outstate in 1980. Throughout the years, over 3,300 players and 350 coaches have participated in the game, with a total of 56 Minnesota All-Star Football Game players going on to play in the NFL.
Visit www.allstarfootball.org to learn more about the game and its history.
Notes:
- The Outstate All-Stars now lead the all-time series 15-14 in the current format.
- The game consisted of four 15-minute quarters, rather than the four 12-minute quarter format of regular season high school games in Minnesota.
- In the all-star game, a team that scores and is ten or more points behind may receive the ensuing kickoff (no more than twice in the game never consecutively).
- No blitzing is allowed in the game.
- No fake kicks are allowed.