It’s now the last weekend in November and we’re approaching the early part of December with our first snowfall, which means that fall sports are pretty much done. Now we head into winter sports with boys’ and girls’ basketball, wrestling, swimming, and competitive cheerleading.
But before we get to all that we have to talk about the De La Salle Pilots and their football program. After defeating Livonia Franklin, the Pilots moved on to the state final game to face off against a Traverse City Central team that was 12-1 entering the game. The stage was set. Ford Field, bright lights, a big city in Detroit, and one football deciding who takes home the ultimate prize, the Division 2 State Championship.
Press Conference from the De La Salle State Title Game from TV Warren.
Now let’s get to the game recap.
We start this one off in the first quarter. The Pilots have the ball and on the 13th play of the drive, they hand this one off to Rhett Roser as he gets into the end zone for the 1-yard touchdown! Pilots take the early lead 7-0! Taking almost 6 minutes off the clock.
Second-quarter now and after a defensive stop, the Pilots get the ball back. On the 12th play of the drive, Brady Drogosh takes the snap, drops back, then throws the ball to Triston Nichols on the slant route. Nichols makes the catch while making the defender miss. He then finds his way into the end zone for the score! Pilots up 14-0.
Once again, De La Salle’s defense stops the Trojan’s offense. Brady Drogosh takes the snap and keeps this one for himself on the quarterback keeper as he makes a defender miss, breaks free, and gets into the end zone for the third Pilots touchdown! De La Salle up 21-0
Pilots Defense gets the 3 out on defense and are now on their 13th play of the drive, marching into the red zone. Brady Drogosh takes the snap, drops back, and throws a perfect ball into the corner of the end zone to Triston Nichols, who makes the catch for the touchdown! Pilots go up 28-0.
Now with about a minute left on the clock and the Trojans with the ball, Josh Burnham takes the snap, drops back and gets hit while he throws by Mason Muragin and the ball gets picked off by Devin Schmelter. He gets an 18-yard return. That would put the Pilots in a great position to score before the half.
Right after the interception, the Pilots have the ball just inside the 25-yard line, On their next offensive possession, Brady Drogosh takes the snap, drops back, then throws this one up to Alton McCullum who makes a great catch, bounces off the defender, and makes his way into the end zone for the Touchdown! Then a missed PAT (point after touchdown) would make this score 34-0 at halftime.
Third-quarter now. Traverse City Central with the ball. The quarterback Josh Burnham tries to make a play down the field, but the ball is intercepted by Jaramri Allen with a 27-yard return. He takes this all the way to the 15-yard line.
And that would set up the play at the 1-yard line for DiNero Johnson as he punches this one in for the score! That would start a running clock for the Pilots. Traverse City Central would score a couple of touchdowns late in the game but that would not be enough for the Trojans as De La Salle goes on to win the State Finals with a final score of 41 -14!
The Pilots improve to 13-0 on the season for their first-ever undefeated season. Head coach Dan Rohn goes on to win his 5th state title in seven tries. Dan Rohn has found his home here with the Pilots and looks to continue to build this program to the best that it can be. “De La Salle is losing one of the best defensive players in the state,” says Dan Rohn and that player is Will Beesley who will be continuing his football career over at Princeton University. Some key players that will be returning to help the Pilots repeat as State Champions will be junior quarterback Brady Drogosh who had over 1,500 passing & 1,500 rushing yards this season. Also, sophomore running back and linebacker Rhett Roeser will be back. Look out for De La Salle as they will be playing late into November in 2022.
Keep an eye out for these highlights on our next SportsLine Update on TV Warren’s Facebook & Vimeo pages.
You can also check out the full press conference after the game on our Vimeo page.
For all episodes of SportsLine & SportsLine Updates, head to https://vimeo.com/showcase/3010561
Right around the corner, we have winter sports happening with the basketball, hockey, and wrestling seasons. We will continue bringing you SportsLine Updates until the holiday break. Once the new year starts, we will continue SportsLine with Paul Smith and Enver Shapllo every Tuesday, to keep you up-to-date with everything in Warren Sports
Now, let’s take a look at some of the hockey scores from the Catholic League.
Hockey Scores
Wednesday, November 22
L’Aanse Creuse North 1 De La Salle 5
Wednesday, November 34
Eisenhower 1 De La Salle 7
Upcoming Basketball Games
Center Line Girls vs Madison Heights – Tuesday, November 30, 7:00 PM
Cousino Girls vs Roseville – Tuesday, November 30, 7:00 PM
Regina vs Cardinal Mooney – Tuesday, November 30, 6:30 PM
Warren Woods Tower vs Lake Shore – Tuesday, November 30, 7:00 PM
Lincoln vs Fitzgerald – Tuesday, November 30, 7:00 PM
Regina vs Waterford – Thursday, December 2nd, 6:00 PM
Fitzgerald vs Hazel Park – Friday, December 3rd, 7:00 PM
Warren Mott vs Cousino – Friday, December 3rd, 7:00 PM
Warren Woods Tower vs Clintondale – Friday, December 3rd, 7:00 PM
For all scores and schedules around the MAC head to http://www.macombmac.misd.net/