After two years of lukewarm acceptance in Lawrence, the Native American All-Star high school football game won’t be back at Haskell Stadium in 2004, but it might return in 2005.

“I hope they rotate it,” said Carl Madison, who coached the West to a 30-7 victory over the East in Saturday night’s sparsely attended all-star game on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus.

Madison said he heard the contest would be played in South Dakota next year, but Jeff Bigger, the Tulsa man who founded the showcase for American Indian high school football seniors two years ago, wouldn’t confirm the new site.

“Ask me on Monday,” Biggers said.

Biggers, who runs OKscouting Inc. and teaches at a Tulsa magnet school, withdrew his support of this year’s game after clashing with HINU administrators over lodging and meals. John Harjo, who runs NDNsports.com out of Idabel, Okla., took over about two weeks ago when Biggers pulled the rip cord.

Still, the game belongs to Biggers, and he didn’t say he wouldn’t bring the senior showcase back to Lawrence two years hence.

“There is a chance,” Biggers said. “It’s a 50-50 shot.”

Meanwhile, the 72-year-old Madison, who came out of retirement in Florida to coach at Jackson (Ala.) Academy last fall and has worked the first two Native American All-Star games, says he would like to see the game return to its birthplace.

“I wish Haskell and the people of Lawrence would get behind it and make it really big,” Madison said.

Without doubt, the game is really big to the high school seniors involved. Many hope their performances will help them earn a college football scholarship.

At the same time, the five statuettes awarded to the offensive and defensive MVPs of each team and the overall MVP are coveted. Donated by a Haskell alum, the bronze statuettes of a football player are at least a foot high. They aren’t the Heisman Trophy, but they’re similar.

In fact, Mike Martinez, the 5-foot-6, 185-pound running back-defensive back who won the overall MVP statuette Saturday, smiled when someone asked him if the award was bigger than he was.

“I’ll be able to carry it all right,” Martinez said, grinning.

Martinez, who hails from Bartlesville, Okla., and will play this fall at Southeastern Oklahoma State, scored two touchdowns and intercepted two passes.

The West built a 24-0 halftime lead, then struggled after the break.

“The second half we didn’t play very well,” Madison said. “Some of the kids couldn’t catch their breath.”

With rosters of only about 22 each, the coaches were forced to use most of their players both ways. Madison and East coach Dominic Bramante each lost a couple of players to injuries during the three-hour-plus contest.

“We didn’t have depth, and we got tired,” Bramante said.

Bramante’s 5-week-old son, Orion, was clearly tired, too, as he lay on his dad’s right shoulder with his eyes closed after the game.

“He’ll probably be up all night,” Bramante quipped. “My wife said our offense put him to sleep.”