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Fast Start Sends DeLaSalle Soaring
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 24, 2017
DETROIT – Brendan Madigan kept his promise.
He was on the field as a freshman in 2014 when Warren DeLaSalle won its first MHSAA Division 2 football championship. And he enjoyed it so much, he told himself he would come back and do it again.
On Friday, the senior captain led the Pilots to title No. 2, as they rolled to a 41-6 victory against Livonia Franklin again in Division 2 at Ford Field.
“I got to see those guys (in 2014), see what it was like and get the feeling of what it is,” Madigan said. “Ever since then, I made a promise to myself to get all of my guys back here and win it again, so it feels great.”
It was a brilliant finish to a season that started with immediate adversity following a 36-6 loss against Lowell during opening weekend. But the Pilots (12-2) responded positively and proved their worth week in and week out, winning the Detroit Catholic League Central title and knocking off two-time reigning Division 2 champion Detroit Martin Luther King on their way to Ford Field.
“Nobody thought we could do it after we lost to Lowell – and we lost by a lot,” said DeLaSalle junior Evan Vaillancourt, who had 160 yards receiving and a touchdown Friday. “But we came back and had the best practice we had, and played really good (in Week 2) against Grandville, then we played good from there on.”
There was no adversity to deal with in the title game, as DeLaSalle found itself ahead 7-0 just 16 seconds in, and without having put its offense on the field.
Madigan recovered a snap that had sailed over the Franklin backfield and ran 13 yards for the touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. It was the first time since 2005 that the first play from scrimmage had resulted in a touchdown in an MHSAA Final.
“I saw the ball go over (the quarterback’s) head, and immediately I knew I had to scoop it up,” Madigan said. “It bounced good, I got to pick it up and run it in. (DeLaSalle junior) Jacob Dobbs even helped me get in, carrying me a little bit. It felt great to start the game out with points even when they started with the ball.”
DeLaSalle scored 21 points off three first-half Franklin turnovers.
“We knew going in that we couldn’t get them extra opportunities, and that’s kind of what we did there in the first half,” Franklin coach Chris Kelbert said. “Just momentum never got on our side, and that’s one of the things we had to do to win, to beat a team that good, and it just didn’t work out for us.”
DeLaSalle proved it didn’t need good field position to score points, averaging 8.0 yards per play and racking up 313 yards of offense. Senior quarterback Luke Pfromm accounted for 207 of those yards through the air, as he was 10 of 12 passing with a pair of touchdowns.
“I thought (Pfromm’s performance) was decent,” DeLaSalle coach Mike Giannone said with a laugh. “I would say he was on. Some of the things we do, play-action passing, some of the deep balls and other things that he can see – he’s developed into a real fine quarterback, and I think someone out there is going to really get a steal.”
Franklin (11-3), which was playing in its first Final since winning the first MHSAA Class A title in 1975, appeared unfazed by the unfortunate start, driving all the way to the DeLaSalle 5-yard line on the next possession. But that was as close as the Patriots would get, turning the ball over on downs before seeing the Pilots put together a 93-yard drive of their own and go up 14-0 on 60-yard pass from Pfromm to Vaillancourt.
Turnovers on Franklin’s next two possessions allowed the Pilots to essentially put the game away in the second quarter. A Josh DeBerry interception set up a 2-yard Pfromm touchdown run, and a fumble recovery set up 4-yard touchdown pass from Pfromm to Sergio Gasperoni.
“We’ve made some plays defensively (this season); we put pressure on people,” Giannone said. “One of our coaches says, with pressure, the pipes burst.”
A 2-yard touchdown run from Cordell Tannyhill and a 23-yard field goal by Riley Garrison gave DeLaSalle a 38-0 lead heading into halftime. Garrison added a 30-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
Franklin’s lone score came on a 5-yard run by Isaac Moore, which he set up with a 72-yard run on the previous play. Moore led the Franklin offense with 160 yards on the ground.
The MHSAA Playoffs are sponsored by the Michigan Army National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Warren DeLaSalle’s Semaj Shelton (12) leaps past a defender's outstretched arm during Friday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Pilots quarterback Luke Pfromm rolls out looking for an open receiver.
![Parchment’s Jacob Guzior (83) prepares to defend from his linebacker spot during a 21-17 Week 7 win over Allegan.](/sites/default/files/2022-10/221018_Parchment_2H.jpg)
Parchment's 1st-Time Football Seniors Writing Unforgettable Story
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 18, 2022
PARCHMENT — Nothing beats Friday night lights, said Parchment senior Will Kovl.
“The fans, the atmosphere, scoring a touchdown, nothing beats it. It’s amazing,” he exclaimed.
What is amazing is that Kovl, who has become one of the Panthers’ top receivers, never played football before this year.
In fact, Kovl is one of nine seniors who are playing their first season of football for coach Brian Huberty.
During the summer, athletic director Brennan Davis heard rumblings about the seniors trying out for the team.
“My initial thought was disbelief because I hear a lot, so my mindset was ‘I'll believe it when I see it,’” Davis said.
“Once football started working out this summer, I heard these kids were actually attending and at that point it became a reality. We have a quality senior group, and those kids have a very strong bond. It is a special group of young people.”
Senior tight end/linebacker Jacob Guzior said it was definitely a group decision.
“At first it was a joke,” he said. “Eventually it turned into ‘We are actually playing football now.’”
The other senior newbies are kicker/cornerback Mason Ragan, wide receiver/linebacker Blake Smith, defensive back Breckyn Bootland, defensive end/tight end Ashtian McClanahan, wide receiver Tanner Slack, kicker McKaylah Shank and team manager McKenna Nunn.
Huberty, who teaches in Plainwell and is the interim coach at Parchment, said he is not sure where the team (4-4 overall, 2-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference Lakeshore) would be without those nine.
“We would have had a team, but we would have been a lot younger and we would have had to pull a few more kids up, and that’s not what you want to do,” he said.
“You don’t want young kids having to come compete against 18- and 17-year-old kids.”
Kovl said senior quarterback Aaron Jasiak was instrumental in peaking his interest in playing this season after Jasiak scored the winning touchdown in last year’s homecoming game.
“I remember it like it was yesterday; it was awesome,” Kovl said. “The student section was bigger than ever, and I was in the student section.
“We rushed the field. He told me to play football (my senior year), and the story wrote itself.”
One aspect of the game was a bit daunting for Guzior.
“At first (hitting) was hard to get used to. Now I do like hitting people,” he laughed.
“It was a rough first week. By second week we were starting to get the hang of it, and by week three it felt like I’d been playing a while.”
Bootland is using football to help him with hockey.
“Hockey gave me a base idea of hitting in football, but hitting in football is going to take my physicality in hockey to another level, which is my biggest weakness on ice,” he said.
However, “the biggest shock for me was how analytical it is to make plays and how much smarts it is over pure athleticism.”
Huberty said Bootland was a surprise.
“He’s a hockey kid,” the coach said. “He surprisingly adapted well to playing defense. The physical part, it surprised me how he’s embraced it.”
Although she is not on the field, Nunn keeps everyone on time and on task as the team manager.
Her job varies during the week.
“Sometimes I get equipment out for them,” she said. “I’m usually taking pictures because I run our social media pages.”
Huberty said she also keeps him on task.
“She is so amazing to have here,” he said. “I give her a practice schedule, and she lets me know when our sessions are done.
“We have a drone we sometimes run at practice, and she’ll run the drone for us and record practice.”
Ragan, who is Parchment’s leading goal-scorer in soccer, said “I never imagined myself on a football field in my life. I like it. I think it’s really fun.
“Football has definitely helped me with soccer. It’s made me more physical on the field for sure. I think that’s definitely a benefit.”
Huberty said Ragan, who booted a 25-yard field goal two weeks ago, “came out just to be a kicker. We got him out playing defense, and he liked it.”
Smith had some experience after playing football in middle school. But after watching the Panthers games, he realized he missed it.
“Wish I had played before,” he said. “I recommend playing football all four years. It’s a great experience.”
Kovl, who pulled in eight catches for 96 yards two weeks ago, said his best game was in a losing effort against Kalamazoo United.
“I had 126 yards, six receptions, two touchdowns,” he said. “It was a tough loss, but it was definitely one of my best games.”
McClanahan spends summers in Tennessee and made the choice to return to Parchment early this time so he could play football.
“I definitely like the energy we get at practices and during games with all my teammates,” he said. “A lot of my friends were coming out, so I decided I’d just hop on the train and come out.
“We’ve been close since sixth grade and anything one does, we all do together. We’re a really close friend group.”
Two more seniors, Slack and Shank, are juggling first-year football with other fall sports and sometimes miss practices.
“(Slack) has really started to emerge as a guy who can contribute to the team,” Huberty said. “He caught a touchdown pass against United and is starting to emerge as a guy who should start getting more playing time.”
Shank is the second-string kicker and also balancing a club commitment this fall.
“She runs cross country, her primary sport, and also does travel soccer in the fall,” Huberty said. “She comes when she can be here.”
As for the veterans on the team, “They have done a great job of embracing those first-year kids,” Huberty said.
“There’s no real wedge between kids who have played in the past and those who haven’t.”
Now that they've tasted success on the football field, the "Senior 9" all agreed on one regret: Waiting until their senior year to play football.
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Parchment’s Jacob Guzior (83) prepares to defend from his linebacker spot during a 21-17 Week 7 win over Allegan. (Middle) Front, from left: Mason Ragan, Blake Smith. Back, from left: McKenna Nunn, Will Kovl, Jacob Guzior, Breckyn Bootland and Ashtian McClanahan. (Below) The Panthers’ Will Kovl attempts to pull away from a Tigers defender. (Action photos by McKenna Nunn; group photo by Pam Shebest.)