Football all-stars compete at East-West Shrine Game

The best of the best in high school football gathered in Billings this past Saturday as the East-West Shrine game returned this year after missing last year. One player invited to compete at this all-star game for the East roster was former Havre High football player Kellen Detrick Jr. Even though the East team lost, 21-12, to the West, Detrick thought it was a great experience as a football player.

"It was awesome. It was an amazing experience," Detrick said. "Getting out there, seeing how good you really are against some of the best talent in Montana. You can't really ask for anything better."

Detrick got to start the game at defensive end for the East roster and made an impact early. On West's second play of the game, Detrick made a tackle on the West runningback for a short gain. This helped East force West into a three-and-out on their first drive of the day. The East got the ball and drove down the field but were forced to let Billings Senior Jackson Burkley kick a 38-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

The East defense continued to dominate early on as they forced three-and-outs on the next two West possessions. With 3:16 left in the first quarter, a West punt was blocked for a safety to give East a 5-0 lead.

West continued to struggle on offense as runningback Cormac Benn fumbled and lost the ball on their three-yard line. On the next play, East runningback Jaymin Medlock of Billings West took the ball in from three yards out to push the East's lead to 12-0 with 40 seconds left in the opening quarter.

The West flipped the script in the second quarter to take control of the game. After they drove down the field, West quarterback Dayton Bay of Missoula Sentinel hit tight end Jake Olson of Butte on a jump ball in the corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. On the two-point attempt, Olson caught another jump ball to cut the East's lead to 12-8 with 10:11 left in the half.

Less than a minute and a half later in the game, East quarterback Carson Hunter from Miles City threw an interception on the right sideline to West outside linebacker Toby Veltkamp. The Manhattan linebacker returned the pick 49 yards down the sideline into the endzone to give the West a 15-12 lead.

Neither team scored the rest of the first half. The East got a good chance for points when they recovered a West fumble but were forced to punt. The West got the ball to end the half but Bay's attempt at a Hail Mary at their opponent's 39-yard line was intercepted by safety Brady Lang of Bozeman to end the half.

The East team got the ball to open the second half and drove down the field. Unfortunately, they turned the ball over to West when they failed to convert on a fourth and short. With their first possession of the second half, the West team took the ball down the field. They ended the drive with a three-yard touchdown run from quarterback Colter Janacaro of Missoula Big Sky to push the West's lead to 21-12 with five minutes left in the third quarter.

The East team got a couple more possessions in the final quarter but were unable to score the rest of the way. Olson was named the MVP for the game after catching four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown. The West's offensive MVP was Janacaro and their defensive MVP was Veltkamp. The East's offense MVP was Medlock and their defensive MVP was defensive end Paul Brott of Billings West.

Throughout the game, Detrick made a few plays. In addition to a few tackles, he had a pressure and batted down a pass. However, he felt like he could have played better.

"I feel like I played okay for the most," Detrick said. "I found some weak points in my game that I need to work on, like splitting the double team."

The next chapter in Detrick's career will start this fall as he joins the University of Montana football program. Detrick believes the tough competition he faced in the East-West Shrine game demonstrated how tough college football will be and how much he still needs to improve.

"Just the competition and going against much better guys," Detrick said. "In college, you're going to meet (players) two, three times as good as those guys so it just really tells me I need to work on my game a lot more than I already am."

West 21, East 12

East - 12 0 0 0 - 12

West - 0 15 6 0 - 21

East - Jackson Burkley 38-yard field goal

East - Punt blocked for safety

East - Jaymin Medlock 3 run (CNV good)

West - Jake Olson 11 pass from Dayton Bay (2-point CNV good)

West - Toby Veltkamp 49-yard pick six (CNV good)

West - Colter Janacaro 3 run (2-point CNV no good)

Passing - East, Marcus Wittman, 13-24, 79 yards, 1 INT; West, Dayton Bay, 20-32, 141 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.

Rushing - East, Jaymin Medlock, 8-19, 1 TD; West, Colter Janacaro, 13-53, 1 TD.

Receiving - East, Junior Bergen, 8-42; West, Jake Olson, 4-48, 1 TD.