DETROIT — For 15 MHSAA playoff games in a row, covering the 2017, 2018 and the current 2020 season (although it wound up in 2021), Warren De La Salle came out a winner.
On Saturday afternoon at Ford Field, De La Salle was making a bid to extend it to 16 against Muskegon Mona Shores, a school the Pilots had whipped for the 2014 and 2018 Division 2 championships.
‘Twas not to be.
With the U.S. Navy’s (and Mona Shores’ theme) “Anchors Aweigh” blaring from the stadium’s sound system, the Sailors remained ashore, grinding out a running attack for a 25-19 victory over the Pilots, who were flustered on the ground for the most part and didn’t have much more success in the air.
Four times Mona Shores’ defense stopped De La Salle from converting low-yardage fourth downs. The last time proved to be the defining point in the game’s outcome — just 90 seconds after Pilots senior quarterback JC Ford had caught the Sailors defense flatfooted and raced 52 yards for a touchdown to reduce the deficit to 19-13.
The Pilots had the ball on their own 32 yard line. Three plunges into the line moved it to the 39 for a 4th-and-3 situation. There was 5:05 remaining to play in the game.
Coach Dan Rohn called a timeout. The quandary he faced: punt and hope to get another chance, or go for it.
“We said all week long that we were going to get some shots and some opportunities, and we were going to have to take advantage of them,” Rohn said. “The decision to go for it was the right one. The play was there.”
The play was designed for Ford to pass to Brett Stanley over the middle. He threw it over Stanley’s head.
“He just missed by a couple of inches,” Rohn said.
Mona Shores (11-0, No. 1 Division 2) wasted little time in converting the “inches” into an eight-play 39-yard drive — helped out by a pass interference penalty against De La Salle — for the championship-clinching touchdown.
The Sailors’ splendid quarterback Brady Rose covered the last 11 yards on three carries for his second touchdown. The first, a 13-yard burst over left tackle, capped a game-opening 78-yard drive for a quick 6-0 lead.
Mona Shores increased its margin to 13-0 in the dwindling seconds of the second quarter after a lengthy 6-minute, 13-play, 66-yard drive, all on the ground against a beleaguered Pilots defense.
In between, the Pilots offense, limited to just 50 total yards and three first downs, didn’t get any closer than the Sailors’ 30. Sophomore quarterback Brady Drogosh, who capably guided De La Salle to this stage of the post-season playoffs, struggled to find his rhythm.
Rohn installed Ford behind center “to change things up a little bit and up the tempo.”
The rejuvenated Pilots stormed out from their halftime respite. Ford ran the ball six straight times, freshman Rhett Roeser contributed runs of 15 and 10 yards, and Ford finished the 62-yard charge with a four-yard rush to make it 13-7.
Suddenly, we had a ball game. But not for long.
Rose showed why he’s been a thorn in opponents’ sides all season, circling left end, eluding the grasps of a half-dozen would-be tacklers, and romping along the sideline for a 65-yard dash to the Pilots’ 13-yard line. The Sailors scored three plays later for a 19-7 lead.
Rose, who’s headed to Ferris State in the fall, wound up with 154 yards on 22 carries, representing half of his team’s 311 rushing yards.
With 16 seconds left in the game, Drogosh, back in the game, scored from four yards out, but it was too little too late.
Ford ran 15 times for 111 yards. Mona Shores targeted Stanley, the Pilots’ 1,000-yard go-to rusher, limiting his production to 42 yards running and one pass reception for 23 yards.
Linebackers junior Will Beesley (20 tackles) and senior Jayden Conklin (14) led the defense.
Thus ended one of the most bizarre sports seasons in recent memory. And there’s more to come. Responding to announcements by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the MHSAA has delayed, again, the opening of winter contact sports. Girls and boys basketball, competitive cheer, ice hockey and wrestling must remain non-contact through Feb. 21.
Rohn, who led Grand Rapids West Catholic to four state titles in the past decade before becoming an assistant at Ferris State University, was hired to coach De La Salle last March just as the community was reeling from a hazing scandal that caused school administrators to yank the Pilots from competing in the 2019 playoffs, but also led to the school replacing its president, athletic director and former head coach.
As if all of that wasn’t enough, COVID-19 was just beginning to make its deadly presence known.
Over a tumultuous year, Rohn and the players put up with multiple shutdowns and other alterations to their routine while coping with strict attention to coronavirus protocols.
When the football season finally began, the Pilots lost four of their first six games.
“Then we got into the playoffs,” Rohn said, “and started winning some games, and the kids started to believe in everything we’re doing. They started to have some fun.”
“It’s a testament to coach Rohn,” senior linebacker Jayden Conklin told Detroit Catholic after the Pilots beat Oak Park in the semifinal. “De La Salle’s always been a winning program, but him coming from a winning background definitely helped us. We’re not done.”
The challenge to finish the job awaits next fall’s squad.
Extra points ...
One aspect where De La Salle trumped Mona Shores was the size of the rosters. The Pilots listed 96 players on the roster, a sizeable majority of whom filled half the football field during pre-game warmups. The Sailors had 49 on their roster. Some 23 of De La Salle’s 96 played in the game, while Mona Shores used 19 players.
The Catholic League had six state champions in fall sports. Bloomfield Hills Marian captured two of them: a repeat in Division 3 girls golf and in Division 1 volleyball. Neighbor Cranbrook Kingswood also was a double champ: in D3 girls swimming and D3 boys tennis. Novi Detroit Catholic Central won in D1 soccer, and Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett won D4 boys tennis.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
