Congratulations to our De La Salle Varsity Football team who captured their second-straight DII state championship title this past Friday, defeating Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 52-13 at Ford Field! De La Salle’s victory caps off a near-perfect, 12-1 season, and gives the Pilots their fifth championship title since 2014.  The Pilots football program is also the first in Macomb County to have two separate back-to-back state championships (previously done in 2017 and 2018). 

From the beginning, the Pilots have been a huge force on the field, dominating their opponents from start to finish. The same stood true this past Friday when the defending champs scored five touchdowns in the first half, comfortably leading 35-0 midway into the 2nd quarter. Forest Hills did their best to battle back by recovering two fumbles allowing the Rangers to narrow the score to 35-13 going into the half.  However, that was as close as Forest Hills was going to get. The incredible Pilot defense shut down the Ranger’s offense the entire second half.  By the time clock read 0’s, Brady Drogosh had led the Pilots to a MHSAA Division 2 State Championship record of 52 points. The senior quarterback finished his high school career with another outstanding performance. Drogosh, the Cincinnati commit, was near perfect in the air, throwing for 249 yards and 2 TD’s on 21 of 23 attempts.  He also carried the ball for 152 yards on the ground for another three TD’s. Senior Jack Yanachik hauled in an impressive 39-yard touchdown pass, and senior Tristan Nichols added a five-yard TD reception while battling a torn ACL.  Junior Rhett Roeser added another TD run to cap off an excellent junior year. The Pilots defense was, once again, led by Senior and Illinois commit Mason Muragin who wreaked havoc all afternoon for Forest Hills. Alongside Muragin were seniors Jamari Allen, Griffin Phillips, James McDonald, Payton Babich, Chris Pagano, and Cody Cummins who all played a huge part in securing back-to-back state titles.   

The DLS football program won its first state championship back in 2014. Since then, they have made it back to Ford Field five of the past eight years.    Head Coach Dan Rohn has led the team to the finals in each of his first three years, winning the last two.  The Pilot football program has established itself as a perennial powerhouse in the state of Michigan and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere under the leadership of Coach Rohn and his staff. 

Congratulations to our entire De La Salle Football Program on an outstanding season! We are so incredibly proud of all of you!