By Chad Wingert (Contact / Staff Bio)

Originally published July 1, 2009, 05:24 p.m. EST. Updated July 1, 2009, 05:24 p.m. EST

By Chad Wingert

Sports Editor

CASS CITY — After just one day of practice for the Thumb Area All-Star Football game, the Northwest squad has already found its main threat:

Speed, and plenty of it.

The Northwest team features two of the fastest guys in the state with Vassar’s Dontay Crist and Cass City’s Austin Babich. But, when you throw in the speed and agility of Kingston’s Raydar Williams, the team’s ground game becomes a major concern for the Southeast team.

“Our team has some serious speed, Raydar and Donte especially. They are lightning fast,” Northwest coach Josh Stern said after Monday’s rainy practice. “When you have Babich and Donte, who were two of the best in the state for the 100 and 200 dash, that will create a problem for any team.”

Williams posted 1,727 yards and 23 touchdowns in his senior season with the Cardinals while Crist totaled 584 yards and eight TDs on the season within the talented Vulcan offense.

“We are a little bit undersized when compared to the other team, but I think we can make up for it with our speed,” Babich said. “They have some good athletes and some real big kids, but they are not as fast as us.”

The Red Hawks also return five other players to the field in Lukas Varney, Blake Messing, Adam Osentoski and Anthony Middaugh, all of whom are looking for one last moment of glory on their home field.

“For a lot of us, this is our last chance to prove ourselves,” Messing said. “This game gives us the chance to show off some of the Thumb’s talent that dosen’t always get noticed.”

Babich also thinks that his team not only has a speed advantage, but a home field advantage as well with six Red Hawks taking the field Saturday night.

“If anything, I think it is an advantage to us,” Babich said. “We know the field inside and out, but if most of all, it’s more of a last hoorah for us.”

In any All-Star contest, when you put the best of the best together there are always a few question marks. But, after a walk-through and one day of full contact, Stern says his team is heading in the right direction to be prepared for the big game.

“They are having fun and getting along very well. That makes coaching very easy,” Stern said. “When you field the best of the best, it is pretty easy to get them to do what they need to do. You run through the play once and they know what to do.”

Even Greater Thumb West rival Evan Richardson from USA is having a great time, not getting overwhelmed by the abundance of Red Hawks swarming around him.

“Playing with this team is awesome. We are having so much fun out here, and it’s pretty laid back,” Richardson said. “Everyone out here has been playing football for six or seven years so we are all picking up on things real quick.”

In its second year, the Thumb Area All-Star game has extended its arms to welcome players from Bay City All Saints to the Northwest team, as well as members of Cros-Lex and Yale joining the Southeast squad. Even though Cougars Josh Sutton, Aaron Janer and BJ Weaver may be outcasts to some degree, Messing says that the kids from Bay City are fitting in just fine.

“They are actually the goofy guys on the team, but they are fitting in quite well,” Messing said. “We are all getting along great, this is a good group of guys.”

With all of the excitement surrounding the game and strapping on the pads for one last time, there are a lot of mixed emotions surrounding the game and the week full of practice with the best of the best in the Thumb area. Stern, in his second year of coaching the Northwest squad, may have a slightly different approach for coaching a group of All-Stars this time around. But this group is more special than most to Stern.

“This group of Cass City seniors is a little more special to me because they were the first group of sixth graders I taught,” Stern said. “Just knowing some of these kids for two days, I can tell that this is a great group of guys and the rest of the week is going to be fun.”

And for USA’s Richardson, it’s just the thrill of the game.

“I’m going to miss this a lot. Obviously I’m going to miss playing with my friends back at USA, but I don’t think I could end it any better than this,” Richardson said. “Everyone has real positive attitudes and we are all working hard. We are already getting along great and coming together as a team. It’s going to be a great game.”

Chad Wingert is the Sports Editor of the Advertiser and can be reached at Sports@tcadvertiser.com.