AMES - Jer Garman showed Saturday night that he's big enough to play with the big boys on a big stage.

The Linn-Mar High School tailback was named the Offensive MVP for the North team and led all rushers in the 39th Annual Shrine Bowl at Jack Trice Stadium.

The South won an exciting game, 17-14, before approximately 5,000 fans.

Garman is a strong football player who prides himself on staying in great shape, but he's only 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds. He rushed for 1,601 yards and 26 touchdowns for Linn-Mar last fall, but his size scared all of the big schools away.

He'll report for football practice at the University of North Dakota on Aug. 1, but he proved Saturday night that he can play football with all of the elite players in Iowa.

"Yeah, I definitely did," he said after rushing for a game-high 60 yards on 15 carries. "I know that some stuff didn't happen my way, but it all happens for a reason. I'm happy to be a North Dakota Fighting Sioux and I'm going to make the most of it."

The South team rolled up 453 yards of total offense and collected 27 first downs, compared to just 157 yards and seven first downs for the North on a hot night in Ames, but the North stayed in the game with clutch plays on defense and special teams.

Dusty Albaugh of Marion High School made a leaping interception in the end zone for the North squad to prevent a touchdown with the North holding a 14-10 lead in the third quarter. It was one of four interceptions for the North in the all-star game.

"When it's in the air, it's my ball," Albaugh said. "Just grab it and don't let anybody else take it from you."

Albaugh, a defensive back, made several strong tackles and returned two punts for 18 yards on a busy night.

"We weren't even supposed to hang with them, with all their D-I players and all their D-I athletes that they have," Albaugh remarked. "They were supposed to crush us. It was kind of nice that we gave them a heck of a scare."

Chase Kleopfer of Xavier High School made several good plays for the North squad at defensive end. Ross Ellsworth from Kennedy High School started for the North at center.

The South took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Connor Bravard of Dowling Catholic to Adam Cave of Harlan. Marshall Koehn of Solon kicked the PAT.

The North tied the game, 7-7, on a 91-yard interception return for a touchdown by Reid Nuss of North Fayette and the PAT by Kyle Wiest of Dubuque Hempstead.

Koehn booted a 25-yard field goal to give the South a 10-7 lead with 1:59 left in the first half, but that three-point lead lasted a total of just 16 seconds.

Koehn's kickoff was rolling along the turf, and when it turned toward the sideline one of the North assistant coaches yelled at Darreus Caston to let it roll out of bounds. Caston either didn't hear him or didn't care to listen, which was a big break for the North.

Caston grabbed the ball, cut to his left, cut back to his right, found an opening and scooted 82 yards for a touchdown. Wiest kicked the PAT and the North had a 14-10 edge at halftime.

Neither team scored in the third period, but the South kept moving the ball and kept threatening. The South finally scored on a 5-yard run by Nathan DePenning of Johnston to take a 16-14 lead with 7:17 left in the game. Koehn kicked the PAT to make it 17-14.

The North never got into South territory or came close to scoring again, getting all its points on an interception return, a kickoff return and two PATs.

Garman had runs of 8, 8, 11, 12 and 9 yards during the ballgame and accounted for three first downs. He said he enjoyed the week in Ames with many of the top graduated high school football players in the state.

"It's a great experience," he said. "I made more strong relationships than I would have ever imagined in just one week. We would have liked to have won, though."

Garman said he doesn't know if he'll be redshirted as a freshman at North Dakota this season or not. He said he's been working hard and is prepared to play.

"I'll go up there and get some kick-return time and some punt returns and maybe get some running back reps and hopefully I will play," he said. "This week is kind of a prep for going to college. It was a good time."

SOUTH 17, NORTH 14

Rushing
North - Garman (Linn-Mar) 15-60, Linafelter (Sergeant Bluff-Luton) 8-9; Wurth (Gehlen Catholic) 8-5; Boerm (North Tama) 1-2; O'Brien (Wapsie Valley) 1-0.
South - Ebertowski (Council Bluffs Lincoln) 16-50; Overmyer (Albia) 6-44; McNulty (Iowa City High) 10-37; Bravard (Dowling) 7-35; DePenning (Johnston) 11-31; Nikkel (Pella Christian) 5-22.

Passing
North - Wurth 7-14-0, 70; Linafelter 1-2-0, 11.
South - McNulty 8-16-2, 132; Bravard 5-11-1, 55; Nikkel 6-8-1, 53.

Receiving
North - Thompson (Garner-Hayfield) 3-24; Boerm 1-29; Weidemann (Dike-New Hartford) 1-12; Fink (Oelwein) 1-11; Marsh (Saint Ansgar) 1-4; Garman 1-1.
South - Cave (Harlan) 9-143; Rohret (Clear Creek Amana) 2-34; Duncan (Marshalltown) 2-24; Roland (Carlisle) 2-15; Newland (West Burlington) 2-9; Sampson (ADM) 1-14.

MVPS
North: Offense - Garman (Linn-Mar); Defense - Caston (Fort Dodge).
South: Offense - Cave (Harlan) and Overmyer (Albia); Defense - Wenck (Council Bluffs Lewis Central).