DeLaSalle Hammers Home 1st Title
November 28, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
DETROIT – When his team fell to 3-3 to start October, Warren DeLaSalle football coach Paul Verska said he was the only one who believed the Pilots could still finish this fall at Ford Field.
And he realized again before last week’s Semifinal against Southfield that his “loosey-goosey goofball group” was more than prepared for championship game pressure as his four captains danced to M.C. Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This” in the snow.
The final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter were not always kind to DeLaSalle this season; all three losses, over three straight weeks, came by seven or fewer points as their opponents took the lead during the final half-minute.
“That kinda strengthened us as a team. We said we’ve pretty much got to go out and get it and not leave it behind the last 30 seconds or a minute,” Pilots senior quarterback Joey Garbarino said. “Me and the captains, pretty much the whole team, pretty much everyone knew. We knew what we could do.”
Over the last five weeks, DeLaSalle showed everyone else – and finished by earning the school’s first MHSAA football championship with a 44-8 win over Muskegon Mona Shores that probably still surprised plenty despite the Pilots’ recent body of work.
DeLaSalle (10-3) gave up only 9.9 points per game during its closing eight-game winning streak and avenged one of those losses by eliminating reigning three-time champion Birmingham Brother Rice in the Regional Final.
Mona Shores (12-2) averaged 39.5 points per game entering Friday and had run for more than 3,000 yards. But the Sailors managed only 99 on the ground and 201 total and didn’t score until the final four minutes of the third quarter.
“I told our kids when we got here that it isn’t how many Ws you have, but who you play,” Verska said. “I said we have a tough schedule, and I know we’re physical. And I knew deep down in my heart we could be more physical than them. I knew they had some great athletes, but I thought if we pounded on them, pounded on them, pounded on them, they wouldn’t go four quarters with us toe to toe.”
The quarterback conversation this week focused on Mona Shores senior Tyree Jackson. The four-year starter carried the Sailors to their first playoff game last season and through most of this school-record postseason run, but watched the end of the team’s 25-24 Semifinal win over Farmington Hills Harrison from the sideline on crutches after sustaining an injury. A University of Buffalo recruit, Jackson threw 24 touchdown passes and ran for 14 scores this season.
Garbarino hasn’t had nearly that buzz although he’s been plenty solid in succeeding a pair of quarterbacks now playing in the Big 10 – University of Michigan’s Shane Morris and Rutgers University’s Giovanni Rescigno.
Garbarino’s numbers this season were solid – 11 touchdowns passing, 10 rushing and just under 1,700 yards combined – but he saved the spectacular for Friday rushing 18 times for 85 yards and two scores and completing all seven of his passes for 89 yards and another score.
“We call the plays in the huddle, and he tells them to man up and let’s go; we’re going to get the three, four, five, six yards, whatever it is,” Verska said. “If I wanted an H-back or a fullback or tight end, this would be my guy. If I wanted a linebacker, this would be my guy. But he sacrificed for the team and played quarterback, and it’s like another fullback running with the ball when he gets it.”
DeLaSalle’s primary back was excellent Friday as well. Sophomore Allen Stritzinger ran for 175 yards on 18 carries, including a 56-yard scoring burst just more than four minutes into the second quarter that helped the Pilots build a 20-0 lead.
Senior Jake Townsley – also a standout goalkeeper on the District finalist soccer team – set an MHSAA Finals record with three field goals, from 41, 23 and 29 yards. Senior Alex Spicuzzi caught only one pass – but it was for a score. Junior linebacker Eric Rogers and senior defensive back Cooper Gammon had nine and eight tackles, respectively, as Mona Shores didn’t get past the Pilots’ 44-yard line until that scoring drive midway through the third quarter.
Jackson wouldn't say how much his injury limited him in the Final, but he battled on despite not being at 100 percent. He did complete 17 of 27 passes for 102 yards but ran for just 14. Senior running back DeOntay Moffett ran for 85 yards, but the Sailors didn’t hold onto the ball for more than 2½ minutes during a possession until, again, that scoring drive when they trailed 30-0.
They also played without junior Hunter Broersma, a starter at receiver and defensive back who was ill and unable to suit up. Junior Tyler Trovinger, the back-up quarterback and a starting defensive back, did play despite also being injured last week and caught the lone scoring pass and made 10 tackles. Junior linebacker Dominique Shermeta had 12 tackles.
“The coaching staff got here four years ago, and we had 66 kids in the program (grades) 9-12,” said Mona Shores coach Matt Koziak, who previously coached multiple levels at Muskegon High. “We go 1-8 the first year, and the kids easily could have been, ‘This is the same old thing.’ But they saw something and were able to work for something.
“I’ve been part of three state championships at Muskegon in one way or another … and this has been my favorite season. I’ll never forget these guys, ever.”
DeLaSalle had made the Finals twice before, finishing runner-up in 2006 and 2008.
PHOTOS: (Top) DeLaSalle running back Allen Stritzinger pushes ahead for yards as Mona Shores’ Austin Wingett (8) and Kentrell Eason (20) pursue. (Middle) Sailors quarterback Tyree Jackson prepares to unload a pass Friday. (Click for action photos and team photos from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
STRITZING GOES THE DISTANCE - Allen Stritzing rushed for 175 yards for Warren DeLaSalle in the Division 2 Final, 56 of it coming on this second quarter TD run.
MONA SHORES TOUCHDOWN - Muskegon Mona Shores got on the scoreboard in the third quarter on this 12-yard pass from Tyree Jackson to Tyler Trovinger.
Watch the entire game and order DVDs by Clicking Here.
Drogosh & De La Salle Cap 3rd-Straight Finals Trip as Repeat D2 Champs
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
November 25, 2022
DETROIT – Two years ago, Brady Drogosh started at quarterback for Warren De La Salle Collegiate as a skinny, nervous sophomore in the MHSAA Division 2 championship game against Muskegon Mona Shores.
The University of Cincinnati commit and his Pilots classmates have come a long way since then. They’ve grown by leaps and bounds.
Drogosh & Co. walked out of Ford Field on Friday with a second-straight Division 2 championship after a 52-13 defeat of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
“I know a bunch of us walked off the field saying, ‘We don’t ever want to feel like this again,’” Drogosh said of the 25-19 Finals loss to Mona Shores in 2020, “and now we’ve gone back-to-back years going off as winners. I think mental preparation is a big part of it.”
De La Salle (13-1) captured its fifth Finals championship overall, and also fifth over the last nine years – the Pilots also seized titles in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2021. In March, De La Salle claimed the Division 1 boys basketball championship to make it three big trophies in two major sports over a 13-month span. Drogosh was among the football players also on the basketball team.
He exhibited major growth from his sophomore to senior seasons on the big stage of Ford Field.
Two years ago against Mona Shores, Drogosh was 5-of-11 passing for 59 yards with no touchdowns, and he ran five times for 13 yards with one score. Last season, in a 41-14 Finals win over Traverse City Central, Drogosh was 14-of-19 passing for 142 yards with three TDs and no picks, plus he ran 19 times for a game-best 173 yards and one TD.
On Friday against Forest Hills Central, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound dual-threat QB was nearly flawless in the passing game. He completed 21 of 23 passes for 249 yards and two TDs with no interceptions. He was nearly unstoppable on the ground, too, piling up a game-high 152 yards and three scores on 15 carries.
Forest Hills Central (13-1) was making its first Football Finals appearance since 1994, when the Rangers lost 17-13 to Farmington Hills Harrison in the Class A title game at the Pontiac Silverdome.
“I coach the defense, and we just couldn’t slow down the quarterback,” Rangers coach Tim Rogers said about Drogosh. “Why he’s not recruited by Alabama, I don’t know. He’s a darn good quarterback. He can make all the throws, he runs really well, he obviously checks a lot of things at the line of scrimmage. Man, he’s an excellent football player.”
As Rogers and his team found on film study and then even more so in person, De La Salle’s very large roster boasts several excellent players.
One of them, senior wideout Triston Nichols, played on a torn ACL and scored on a 9-yard pass from Drogosh to give the Pilots a 35-0 lead near the midway point of the second quarter.
De La Salle scored barely two minutes into the game on a Drogosh 3-yard run. The Pilots led 21-0 after one quarter and 38-13 at halftime. They put up two more TDs in the third quarter to go up 52-13 and start the running clock.
The majority of Drogosh’s numbers were accumulated during the first half.
The prolific point total was nothing new to De La Salle, which shattered its program’s single-season scoring record with 614 points. That eclipsed the 562 points amassed by last year’s team. The Pilots threatened the MHSAA Finals record of 56 points, but a drive to the Rangers’ 1 by the reserves was snuffed out by a high shotgun snap.
In five playoff games, De La Salle outscored opponents by a combined 223-42 margin.
“Coming in with this group three years ago, I asked a lot out of them and they stood up tall and they accepted every challenge we gave them,” said Dan Rohn, who took over as De La Salle’s head coach in 2020 when Drogosh and his fellow seniors were much less experienced.
“They might walk out of De La Salle, which has had some tremendous football teams and tremendous groups, as maybe the most decorated and successful class of football players. I know I couldn’t be more proud to be part of that.”
Rohn previously guided Grand Rapids West Catholic to four Finals titles between 2010 and 2015.
De La Salle senior defensive end Mason Muragin, who is committed to the University of Illinois, knew what to expect when Rohn took over at De La Salle.
“Three years, three state championship appearances, two wins – I think he’s really building a dynasty here and it’s an honor to play for him,” Muragin said.
De La Salle outgained Forest Hills Central in total offense, 476-151. Junior Rhett Roeser scored two rushing TDs for the Pilots, while senior Jack Yanachik hauled in a scoring pass from Drogosh. Junior Landon Ryska kicked a 25-yard field goal and went 7-for-7 on PATs.
For Forest Hills Central, senior Justin Osterhouse completed 4 of 14 passes for 84 yards with two TDs and one interception. He connected with juniors Roman Brummel and Ty Hudkins for second-quarter scoring tosses.
“We got outplayed in all facets of the game. That’s a really good football team. We looked long and hard to find weaknesses on De La Salle’s team – we couldn’t find it on film,” Rogers said.
Forest Hills Central played a number of close games this season, most recently a 20-17 double-overtime victory over Dexter in a snowy Semifinal.
The conditions were much different inside Ford Field, but De La Salle proved too much for the Rangers.
“A lot of people doubted us and before the year no one really knew what to expect because we graduated a lot of seniors (30 from the 2021 team), but this is the toughest team I’ve ever played on and the most courageous guys and it just means a lot to get here,” said Hudkins, who paced the Rangers defensively with a game-high 12 tackles and a fumble recovery.
De La Salle’s lone loss this season came in Week 4 against Catholic League rival Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice in a wild 43-42 game.
The Pilots learned from that defeat, just like Drogosh and his teammates grew from the disappointing Finals loss two years ago.
“Me and one of the other captains, Dante Pancotto, who’s an offensive lineman, we watched the sophomore state championship game on YouTube and it really just shows the growth of how (far) we’ve come in three years,” Drogosh said.
“I think it’s all about the mental preparation. I think we were mentally challenged our sophomore year with COVID and everything, and I think we bounced back a lot our junior year and got even better this year.”
PHOTOS (Top) De La Salle’s Brady Drogosh (12) attempts to find an opening during his team’s Division 2 championship win Saturday. (Middle) The Pilots’ Triston Nichols (25) hauls in a scoring pass. (Below) Drogosh steps into a throw with FHC’s Nolan Hartl (21) in pursuit. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)