D.J. Powell plays in 36th annual Shrine All-Star Game

If the 36th annual Illinois Coaches Association/Shrine Temple all-star football game was a book, it ended just as the plot thickened.

Following a touchdown pass from West quarterback Michael Lafferty (Illini West) to Mike Davis (Richwoods) and the ensuing PAT, the teams were sent to their respective locker rooms with 0:11 left in the first half because of lightning in the skies over Peoria Stadium.

The players never saw the field again as repeated flashes of lightning kept forcing resets of the 30-minute time period that the IHSA enforces during storms. The East ended up with a 15-7 victory over their western counterparts.

Not all was lost for Journal Star-area players, however.

Davis earned Offensive MVP honors for the West after catching two passes for 49 yards. The quarterback turned receiver made perhaps the most entertaining play of the night.

On the West’s third possession, Davis ran a fly route down the right side of the field. Quarterback Sam Renk of LaSalle-Peru lofted a pass that looked to be falling short, but Davis slowed and made a leaping, twisting catch that drew a raucous  response from the estimated crowd of 4,000. Photographs of the catch later showed that Davis appeared to have leapt at least two feet off the ground

“The first two possessions we just kept running the ball,” Davis said. “Finally, they called a pass for me, so I knew I had to go up and get it.”

On the West’s lone scoring drive, Davis drew two pass-interference penalties for a total of 30 yards before hauling in the aforementioned pass from Lafferty.

“As a quarterback, I know that the receiver has to make the defender turn his hips and then pop back outside,” Davis said. “Every time I did that, they would grab me or else I would have been open.”

Defensively, East Peoria’s Shane Moses forced the lone turnover after he intercepted a pass from East quarterback Taylor Duncan (Marshall) deep in West territory.

“It was a play I saw a lot in high school,” Moses said. “Fortunately, I read it right and made the play.”

The East dominated early after Kyle Wismer of Richmond-Burton sacked Lafferty in his own end zone for a safety. Lexington’s T.J. Stinde returned the ensuing free kick 30 yards to the West 35-yard line and his teammates ground out those 35 yards over eight plays. Naperville North’s Ioris Hanidu capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge to increase the lead to 9-0.

Stinde again sparked the East on their second scoring drive when he gained 44 yards on a fake punt to cement his Offensive MVP award. Two players later, Duncan found Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s Michael Romshek open on a seam route for a 39-yard touchdown pass to increase the lead to 15-0.

“It’s a great honor to be named MVP in game like this,” Stinde said. “There’s a lot of big players and big names.”

Ben Diggle can be reached at 686-3214 or bdiggle@pjstar.com.