Division 2 final: Brady Drogosh, Warren De La Salle roll to repeat

Detroit — Brady Drogosh has made Ford Field his personal playground, picking apart Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s defense while also doing damage with his legs to help Warren De La Salle repeat as Division 2 state champion with a dominating 52-13 victory on Friday afternoon.

Drogosh threw for 142 yards and three touchdowns, also rushing for 174 yards and a TD in last year’s 41-14 state title game win over Traverse City Central.

So, what could Drogosh do for an encore?

Well, Drogosh contributed 242 yards of total offense while De La Salle — 13-1 and ranked No. 3 in The News Super 20 — built a 35-0 lead midway through the second quarter with him connecting on 11-of-12 passes for 158 yards and two TDs at that stretch in the game while also rushing for 84 yards (nine carries) and two TDs.

BOX SCORE: Warren De La Salle 52, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 13

It was De La Salle’s fifth state championship in the last nine years, the second for Dan Rohn in his three years as the team’s head coach.

De La Salle was dominant throughout the five-game postseason run, outscoring its opponents by a 223-42 margin.

“I thought this group turned the corner in November and started playing better football than they did all season long, that’s why we were beating teams and having running clocks, not because our opponents weren’t any good because we had some really good opponents that could have represented and played in this level,” Rohn said of De La Salle which held a 446-130 advantage in total yards in the title game. “This group dialed in and come November started playing its best football.”

Forest Hills Central coach Tim Rogers had high praise for Drogosh.

“I coach the defense and we just couldn’t slow down the quarterback,” Rogers said. “Why he’s not being recruited by Alabama, I don’t know. He’s a darn good quarterback. He can make all the throws. He can run really well. He obviously checks a lot of things at the line of scrimmage and he’s an excellent football player.”

Yes, it’s easy to see that Cincinnati had gotten a star in the making in Drogosh, who got bigger and stronger during the off season where he now plays at 6-foot-5 and 207 pounds.

Drogosh is thrilled to go out a two-time state champion, especially after having De La Salle’s season end by passing on its postseason appearance in 2019 due to a hazing incident, then losing to Muskegon Mona Shores in the 2020 state title game before the championship runs.

“This school means the world to me,” Drogosh said. “We went through a lot of ups and downs as a school and a community, so I think the way the school has bounced back from the stuff that happened my freshman and sophomore year, the way we bounced back has shown how special the school really is and how much of a community this really is, so I’m going to really miss this school.”

Drogosh spread the ball around, finding five different receivers during that 35-0 lead, including a 38-yard TD toss to Jack Yanachik following an interception by Payton Babich for a 21-0 lead with 3:29 left in the opening quarter and then a 9-yard TD pass in the right corner of the end zone to Triston Nichols, who was playing with a torn ACL, to open up the 35-0 cushion.

Drogosh exited the game with 10:35 remaining and DeLaSalle holding a 52-13 lead. He finished with 401 total yards, completing 21-of-23 for 249 yards and two TDs while rushing for 152 yards (15 carries) and three TDs.

“It was really satisfying getting into the end zone one last time my senior season,” said Nichols, who had five receptions for 56 yards. “It felt good getting back out there. I had everyone behind my side, the coaches, my brothers, they really believed in me, that I could come back, so with that I worked hard every day, just training my hamstring and my quad because that’s really the only thing I can rely on.”

Nichols enjoyed the experience of playing in the five-game postseason run after missing the final three games of the regular season due to the knee injury. He is expected to have surgery on his knee later this month which would result in him missing the basketball season, a big blow since he was one of the stars in De La Salle’s state title game win in that sport last winter.

And, on Drogosh’s chemistry with freshman receiver Damion King who had seven receptions for 91 yards and was also dangerous in special teams play, finishing with 206 all-purpose yards?

“He was hurt at the beginning of the season with a pulled hamstring, so his first game might have been Triston’s first game being out,” Drogosh said of King. “He stepped in and did really well. He’s a little bit more smaller, quicker, faster, so I kind of get the ball to him underneath and let him make a few guys miss and make a play, so he has a different game than Triston, but I think they both bring some key factors to the game and Triston has done a great job coaching him from the sideline.

“Triston has three years of varsity experience and this is King’s first year of playing varsity football, so that shows the type of kid that Triston is, he’s out and still helping the next guy up.”

De La Salle was far from perfect during the final six minutes of the first half, fumbling the ball twice to give Forest Hills Central short fields to work with.

And, Forest Hills Central took advantage both times with Justin Osterhouse finding Roman Brummel for a 22-yard TD pass to complete the 47-yard drive after the first fumble, then connecting with a wide open Ty Hudkins in the left corner of the end zone for a 25-yard TD pass on the first play after the second turnover to cut the deficit to 35-13 with 1:41 left in the second quarter.

Drogosh made sure he got De La Salle’s focus back on the final drive of the half when he directed a seven-play, 49-yard drive, rushing for 13 yards and finding Nichols for gains of 9 and 17 yards to set up Landon Ryska’s 25-yard field goal with a second left for a 38-13 halftime lead.

Drogosh contributed 300 total yards of offense in the first half, connecting on 14-of-15 passes for 188 yards while running for 112 yards on 12 carries.

DeLaSalle kept the pressure on during the second half with Drogosh scoring on a 9-yard TD run for a 45-13 lead with 8:41 left in the third, first finding King for 19 yards, then running for 23 yards to set up his third rushing TD of the game.

Roeser scored his second TD of the game on a 19-yard run midway through the third for a 52-13 advantage.

Hudkins finished with 12 tackles, a fumble recovery and the TD catch for Forest Hills Central.

david.goricki@detroitnews.com