Junior Brady Drogosh and the Pilots (6-0, 3-0 Catholic League Central Division) continued their red hot start to the 2021 season Friday night, defeating the Detroit U-D Jesuit Cubs from the CHSL AA Division, 44-7. 

Drogosh led the way for the Purple and Gold offensively, with two touchdowns through the air and another on the ground. Meanwhile, senior Will Beesley found his way into the end zone twice, via a couple of goal-line carries. 

Drogosh started the scoring for the Pilots, with a 20-yard touchdown throw to fellow junior Jack Yanachik, with 8:12 to play in the first quarter. 

Then, Beesley extended De La Salle's lead to 14-0, with a 2-yard score out of the wildcat formation, with 0:48 to go in the opening quarter. 

The Purple and Gold scored twice more before the end of the first half, first via a 45-yard TD pass from Drogosh to senior Devin Schmelter and then on a 4-yard QB keeper from Drogosh. 

The rushing score from Drogosh was set up by a 47-yard run from sophomore Rhett Roeser, during which he ran over multiple defenders on his way into U-D Jesuit territory. 

Drogosh's three first-half touchdowns helped give the Pilots a 28-0 halftime advantage which they never looked back from. 

Junior Cody Cummins produced De La Salle's first points of the second half, via a 35-yard field goal with 8:51 to play in the third quarter. Cummins was kicking in the place of senior Brady Lowe, who exited the game prematurely due to back spasms. 

Then, with 2:52 remaining in the quarter, Beesley accounted for his second touchdown of the night, on a 4-yard score. 

The Purple and Gold scored once more in the contest. It came on a 60-yard TD run by junior Aaron White. 

Meanwhile, the Pilots managed to hold the Cubs scoreless until the 5:40 mark in the fourth quarter. It's when the Cubs scored on a 3-yard TD pass. 

In U-D Jesuit's previous two games, it had scored a combined 68 points, including 35 a week ago against Dearborn Divine Child. 

As for De La Salle, it has allowed a total of just 14 points the past two weeks, with seven points permitted last week against its Central Division rival Detroit Catholic Central and a lone TD allowed Friday against the Cubs. 

Despite the fact that the Pilots are presently playing a high-quality brand of football, head coach Dan Rohn explained after Friday's victory that his team still has some work to do before it's ready for competing in the MHSAA state playoffs. 

"You know, we can't play down to opponents, and we have to play our style of football all the time," Rohn said. "I think it's important to continue to find ways to get better in every single thing we do. I don't think we played a bad football game tonight, but I don't think we played a great football game, either. And so, we'll watch the film and get better at those things, including at cutting down on the penalties." 

For Rohn, curtailing the number of penalties his team commits will take a continued emphasis from him and his coaching staff with the players on how much the self-inflicted wounds can derail drives and give extra life to opponents when they're on offense. 

"We need to point out to the players this week how much the penalties hurt us and how many yards we lost because of them," Rohn said. "We lost a lot of big plays tonight because of penalties, and continuing to do so is a recipe for disaster moving forward. And, against really, really good football teams, in pressure situations, we're not going to be able to overcome those mental errors. We're not going to come back from those things." 

After the game, Rohn conveyed to senior Noah Dobbs the importance of him and his teammates cutting down on the mental errors and being more focused on an every-down basis as the state playoffs draw near. 

"I said to Noah, 'These are things we talk about every day in practice, about the details, the details,'" Rohn said. "You know, stuff even as simple as guys not being properly equipped. If they're not going to come to the game with kneepads, they're not going to play. We can be a lot better. We will be better. I love the approach that our kids took, plus the fact that they played hard. But, I'm disappointed in some of the mental mistakes we made, and the onus is on my coaching staff and I to correct those mistakes this week." 

The 2021 Catholic League Central Division champion Pilots will get another stab at the Cubs in the league's annual Prep Bowl at Ford Field, which is being held this year on Saturday, Oct. 23. 

Next up for De La Salle, though, is its Homecoming game with Harper Woods High School on Friday, Oct. 15. Kickoff for the contest is set for 7 p.m. at Wayne State's Tom Adams Field.