Kevin Muma had a chance to show his placekicking talents Saturday on the same football field where he will play for the Michigan State Spartans.
Muma demonstrated his abilities at Spartan Stadium as a member of the East All-Star team in the annual summer classic, won by the West 43-22.
Muma booted a 41-yard field goal and even intentionally missed an extra point to keep his team in the game.
Juwan Hemphill of Kalamazoo Central returned a kickoff 84 yards to set up a touchdown and also returned an interception 47 yards for a score in leading the West, which narrowed the East's lead in the series to 15-14.
Leading 13-9 at halftime time, the West put seven more points on the board early in the second half. Hemphill's return put the East at the 6-yard-line.
Jarrett Leister of Mount Pleasant passed three yards to Trevor Kruzel of Boyne City for a 20-9 advantage.
Later in the third quarter, Reggie Williams of Lansing Everett scampered for a 51-yard touchdown run and a 27-9 cushion.
On the last play of the third quarter, Michael Booker of Grand Rapids Christian had a 3-yard run for a 34-9 advantage.
The East came back to score two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter with Chris Hurst of West Bloomfield catching a 3-yard pass from quarterback Taylor Copacia of Utica Eisenhower and a 79-yard reception from William Sturgis of Detroit Southeastern on the option pass.
Under the game's unique 12-point rule, the East was able to receive the ensuing kickoff after scoring its two TDs because it was down by at least 12 points. Muma purposely shanked the PAT try wide to keep the score 34-22 and allowing his team get the ball back.
“That was really weird,” Muma said. “They told me to miss it and I was a little confused. I knew about the 12-point rule because I was all set to kick it the other time and they wound up kicking off again. I was a little confused when they first told me to shank it.”
But for Muma, who chose Michigan State over Kansas, the main thing was being able to play at Spartan Stadium.
“It feels really good, I'm really looking forward to it,” he said. “I've moved into my dorm already. It was a combination of coaching staff and location on why I came here. I went out to Kansas for a visit and didn't know anybody.”
Williams is a highly-touted recruit for NCAA Division II national power Grand Valley State (Mich.).
“This game showed me how to be humble,” Williams said. “I'm going to miss high school ball, but I'll take a step up and go to the college level.
“I just showed my level of play. We all showed what we could do and showed the West side is better than the East side. When you get your chances, you have to shine.”
He is listed as a wide receiver but can also play running back and defensive back.
“Wherever they put me at in college, I'm ready to play,” Williams said. “I'm going to work hard at it and try to excel because I want to get to the big leagues some day.”
“The thing I was most impressed about Reggie was how hard he works in practice. He goes 100 miles an hour,” Alma coach Randy Lark said. “That's why he's so good. When you see him in a game like this you learn to appreciate what he can do. In practice, we knew he could play.”
The only scoring in the first quarter came on a 37-yard field goal by the West's Fletcher Spears of Clio.
After an interception by Matt Ecker of Muskegon Oakridge put the West in scoring position, Spears followed with a 42-yarder with 8:10 to play in the second quarter.
Leister scored from a yard out with 5:18 left in the first half for a 13-0 lead. Jordan Junker of Hudsonville set up the touchdown on a 37-yard run.
The East got on the board late in the half on a 33-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Hargraves of Taylor Truman to Sturgis. Muma had his extra point blocked but later booted the 40-yard field goal to make it 13-9 at halftime.
The West had a 264-251 edge in total yards. Jonker had 79 yards for the East while Tyler VanTubbergan of Holland West Ottawa had 70 yards in rushing. Hurst had 141 yards on five catches for the East.
“I have to give the credit to the offensive line. It was a fun day. We bonded as a team this week,” Jonker said. “They're big and fast. They're pretty easy. People came and saw what I can do. I want to get bigger stronger and faster.”
Lark said he was surprised by the amount of points.
“It's a short-preparation situation. We knew we had a lot of talent,” he said. “When you have a lot of kids in the open spaces, good things can happen. We had a special teams' kid score and an interception for a score.”
Lark's son, Kyle, and Lucas Kozuch of Bay City Western led the West defensively with five tackles. Kurtis Showers of Madison led the East with eight tackles.
