De La Salle Pilots head coach Dan Rohn preached all season long that he wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than a state championship.

On Friday afternoon at Ford Field, he delivered just that to De La Salle, leading the Pilots (13-0) to a dominant 41-14 victory over the Traverse City Central Trojans (12-2) in the 2021 MHSAA Division 2 state championship game.

In doing so, the Pilots finished undefeated for the first time in school history, plus captured their third state championship in five seasons (2017, 2018 and 2021) and their fourth overall (first came in 2014).

The Purple and Gold produced the definition of a balanced offensive attack against the Trojans, accounting for 143 rushing yards and 142 passing yards in the first half of action.

Junior Brady Drogosh led the way for the Pilots with four total touchdowns (three passing and one rushing). Drogosh finished with both a game-high 177 rushing yards and a game-best 142 passing yards.

Losing last year’s state title game to Muskegon Mona Shores left the dual-threat quarterback with a bad taste in his mouth. He used it as motivation for himself Friday.

“This is the greatest feeling in the world,” the junior signal-caller said after the game. “As a sophomore last year, I came out a little bit nervous and scared, and ended up losing the game, which was very disappointing. Now, being more confident as a junior and coming back and actually winning this time, it’s a crazy feeling, and I’m hoping to make it back to Ford Field next year to do the same thing.”  

Meanwhile, the Pilots’ defense stymied University of Notre Dame commit and Traverse City Central senior passer Josh Burnham all game long. Burnham failed to complete a single pass, and the Trojans, as a team, didn't throw for a single passing yard.

De La Salle's defense, led by senior Will Beesley and his team-high eight tackles, permitted a total of just 149 yards from the Trojans' offense.

Before the season even began, Beesley and his Pilots teammates set getting to Ford Field and winning this time around as their No. 1 objective.

“It’s really a surreal feeling,” Beesley said. “Winning a state title has been the goal since the offseason for my teammates and I. Losing last year to Mona Shores just propelled us to do everything we possibly could to get back to Ford Field and leave with a championship.”  

With the title game win, Beesley, a Princeton commit, joined his brother and Michigan State defensive end Drew Beesley, ’16, as a state champion at De La Salle. Drew was part of the first state championship football team in school history in ’14.  

“He (Drew) did say something before the game,” Will commented. “He said, ‘Not to leave without the championship or else he’s going to have one on me.’ I couldn’t let him hang that one over my head for the rest of my life.”

The Purple and Gold left no doubt that it would avenge last year’s title game loss, taking a 34-0 lead into halftime.   

Sophomore Rhett Roeser started the scoring for the Pilots, on a 1-yard rushing touchdown with 6:02 to play in the first quarter. It capped off a 13-play, 80-yard drive for De La Salle that erased 5:58 off the game clock.

The Pilots led just 7-0 after the first quarter of action, with both sides placing a heavy emphasis on the ground and taking some heavy blows from one another.

Then, in the second quarter, things opened up for the Purple and Gold offensively, with Drogosh arguably putting together the best quarter of his De La Salle career.  

He produced a four-touchdown quarter, with the first score coming with 11:55 remaining in the first half. Drogosh connected with fellow junior Triston Nichols on a 20-yard TD strike that brought an end to a 12-play, 62-yard drive that drained 5:11 from the clock.

The biggest defensive stop for the Pilots arguably came on the Trojans’ subsequent offensive possession. On the 10th play of the drive and facing a fourth-and-5, Central lined up on its own 47-yard line and was looking to run. Burnham took the snap, and proceeded to attempt to get the first down via his legs. Instead of getting the first down, though, he was stuffed one yard short by DLS senior James Milkey III.

Milkey came through with a big game for the Purple and Gold, recording five total tackles and 1.5 sacks.  

The Pilots took advantage of the good starting field position, and scored in two plays on their next possession. Drogosh took it himself 45 yards to the end zone, making it 21-0 in favor of De La Salle with 7:17 to play in the opening half.   

The Purple and Gold couldn’t be stopped the rest of the half -- literally.

They scored on each of their next two offensive possessions before the end of the half -- and within 0:17 of each other.

The Pilots made it 28-0 via a 13-yard touchdown pass from Drogosh to Nichols, and then followed it up with a 24-yard TD throw from Drogosh to senior Alton McCullum with 0:07 to go in the half. The aforementioned final score of the first half was set up by an interception from senior Devin Schmelter.

Rohn’s squad went on to score 41 unanswered points, shutting out the Trojans through three quarters.

The last touchdown of the contest for De La Salle was scored by senior DeNiro Johnson, on a 1-yard run with 1:54 to play in the third quarter. The six-play, 15-yard scoring drive was set up by an interception by junior Jamari Allen.  

Central didn’t get on the scoreboard until Burnham scored on a five-yard touchdown run with 6:36 remaining in the game. The Trojans then followed that up with one final score, courtesy of a 24-yard rushing TD by junior Josh Klug.

The Pilots’ state championship game victory Friday was the culmination of a playoff run that saw Rohn & Co. outscore their five opponents, including Central, by a total margin of 214-62. The 152-point differential in the postseason is the biggest ever by a De La Salle state title-winning team.  

Additionally, the Purple and Gold’s 517 total points in the 2021 campaign -- factoring in both the regular season and playoffs -- are the most ever during a single season in DLS history.

Rohn, who now has five state championships to his name (one at DLS and four from his nine-year stint at Grand Rapids West Catholic), views his first one with the Pilots as being “really special.”

“To get embraced by a community like De La Salle, it means a lot,” an emotional Rohn said during his postgame press conference. “Some people don’t get a chance to come and do this. I’ve been fortunate enough to be here (in the state finals) seven times and win a number of them. I said it earlier, but it’s not just about me. It’s about the guys that I surround myself with, from the coaches to the players. We’ve got some tremendous kids and some tremendous support from the De La Salle alumni base and community. And, I can’t be happier to have brought this state championship to such an outstanding school.”

The Pilots wanted to be the best team in Division 2 during the 2021 season, and they left no doubt that they were with their dominant performance against the Trojans Friday.

Mission accomplished.