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12/23/07-Football

Former area prep stars gear for Motor City Bowl

By Marty Budner of The West Bloomfield Eccentric

Mike Decker, Justin Siller and Patrick Carroll will be on the sidelines with their respective teams at the 11th annual Motor City Bowl Wednesday evening at Ford Field. While the trio of former area prep players won't be part of the on-field action, they will be cheering with great enthusiasm.

Purdue (7-5), just the second Big Ten team to play in the Motor City Bowl, will take on Central Michigan University (8-5) in the nationally-televised (ESPN) game set for 7:30 p.m. The Boilermakers own a 7-7 overall bowl record while the Chips are 1-2 in bowl games.

Decker played in Central Michigan's victory over Middle Tennessee State in last year's Motor City Bowl which set an attendance record of 54,113 fans. The Rochester Hills resident and Birmingham Brother Rice graduate entered this season as a starter.

Siller and Carroll, who both prepped at Orchard Lake St. Mary's, were part of the Purdue program this fall.

"We're excited about playing in the Motor City Bowl. We had a great time there last year and we won it," said Decker, a four-year member of the CMU football team. "One of our goals was to get back to a bowl game and we did it.

"It's exciting because you're on the big stage. You don't always get the opportunity to be on ESPN and we want to show that we're a good football team. Plus, we want to represent the (Mid-American Conference) well.

"I enjoyed last year's experience," he said. "It was unique - something that I've never done before. It was exciting to be part of that atmosphere."

Decker was the starting center for the Chippewas in last year's 31-14 triumph over Middle Tennessee. The 6-foot-1, 280-pound lineman then earned an ironman award for his efforts at spring practice and was looking forward to his first full season as a starter in his final year of eligibility.

Decker played the first three games, including the 45-22 loss to Purdue in Week 3. In the first practice after that game, Decker hurt his knee. He played in CMU's Week 4 loss to North Dakota State, but realized after that game the injury to his ACL was too severe to continue the season.

He hasn't played since.

"It was tough to deal with the fact that my season, and career, was over," said Decker, who recently graduated from Central Michigan with a major in psychology and minor in communications.

"Things were going fine and then I got hurt," he said. "It's just one of those things that happen in sports sometimes. You have to roll with the punches and face adversity. It makes you grow up a lot."

Central went on to win the Mid-American Conference championship earlier this month at Ford Field over Miami (Ohio), 35-10, to qualify for its second consecutive Motor City Bowl. It marks the third time Central's played at Ford Field since last year's Motor City Bowl.

Siller and Carroll are freshmen on the Purdue team who did not see action this season.

Siller is a redshirt scholarship player whom the Boilermakers have big quarterback plans for in the future. The 6-foot-4, 211-pound Detroit resident was one of the nation's top dual-threat recruits as a prep star as he was ranked No. 14 by Rivals.com. He was awarded the team's Verle H. Campbell Award earlier this year for his scout team work on offense.

Carroll, a Bloomfield Hills resident, is a walk-on who joined the team as a wide receiver after the start of the season. Purdue accumulated 583 yards of total offense - a season high - in its victory over CMU before 60,000 fans at Ross-Ade Stadium on Sept. 15. Senior quarterback Curtis Painter completed 20 passes and threw for 360 yards and three touchdowns in that game, and senior running back Kory Sheets finished with 144 yards rushing.

The only other Big Ten team to have played in the Motor City Bowl was Northwestern back in 2003. The Wildcats lost to MAC foe Bowling Green, 28-24