Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Yahya Black prepares to block Underwood’s Wyatt Thorson during the Minnesota Football Showcase game on Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

MINNEAPOLIS — Yahya Black knew it was going to be a bittersweet feeling when he took to the field at U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon. For one final time in his prep career, he had the opportunity to put on the shoulder pads, cleats, uniform and Marshall helmet that was now adorned with logos from other teams from around the state as the Tigers defensive tackle/offensive lineman competed in the Minnesota Football Showcase game.

In a battle between the North and South All-Stars that featured more than 90 of the top high school players in the state, players had the opportunity to matchup alongside opponents that might typically go against in the regular season. In the end, it was the South All-Stars who earned its fourth consecutive victory over the North team.

Black thought the whole experience was pretty special and it was fun to compete alongside or against players he never thought he would face.

“It was a great experience,” Black said. “Some of these guys are rivals and I made a cool bond with some of them, so it was fun to practice with some guys I never knew before.”

The North got out to a fast start, taking the opening possession downfield before coming away with a field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 7:42 left in the first quarter. But that would be only offense provided for the majority of the afternoon, as the North All-Stars were able to keep the South off of the board thanks to a string of highlight-reel plays on the defensive side of the ball.

Early in the second quarter, the North All-Stars came away with its first takeaway of the day when Alexandria’s Derrek Piepho got an interception. Piepho’s day wasn’t done there, as the defensive back came up with another pick on the next possession before later recovering a fumble early in the fourth. Piepho was named the North’s defensive MVP for the game.

Despite their struggles early on the offensive end, the South All-Stars had an opportunity to get on the board going into halftime, but a field goal attempt as time expired went wide. The South team continued to slowly improve on its field position in the second half, and would piece together a big play midway through the fourth quarter as Hutchinson’s Russell Corrigan found Rosemount’s Jonathan Mann for a touchdown to give the South All-Stars their first lead of the day at 7-3 with 5:29 left.

The South All-Stars then added another touchdown run by Corrigan late in the quarter to bring it to the 13-3 final and seal the comeback win.

With Black helping anchor the offensive line, he said their key on offense in the final frame was changing some things up and even calling a few trick plays.

“We changed up the offense and brought in something secret that we were working on and it was fun,” Black said.

As Black wraps up his prep career, he reflected on his journey during his time at Marshall and said it was a nice way to go out and represent the Tigers once more.

“It was fun,” he said. “It was a good way to wrap up my career knowing that I could play with most of the best players in the state. It’s great.”