De La Salle defeats Oak Park in OT, 26-20
Four quarters weren’t enough for Oak Park and De La Salle Collegiate in the first football game on the Pilots’ new field.
Brett Stanley ran three yards for a touchdown in overtime to lift DLS to a 26-20 victory over the mistake-prone Knights in a state Division 2 semifinal game at St. John Baptist De La Salle Field.
The Pilots of first-year coach Dan Rohn, who improved to 7-4, will go for their fourth state championship in seven years when they play Muskegon Mona Shores at 1 p.m. Friday at Ford Field.
“The better team won,” Oak Park coach Greg Carter said after the Knights fell to 5-6. “We made too many mistakes.”
One of the more costly mistakes came on the first play of overtime when Pilots linebacker
Jayden Conklin stripped the ball from the running back and cradled it in his arms, ending the Knights’ possession.
Stanley then carried on three consecutive plays, the last when he took the snap from center in wildcat formation and barreled up the middle to decide a game that featured a clutch field goal by the Pilots’ Cody Cummins and the big-play ability of Oak Park.
The Knights trailed 17-6 in the third quarter, but rallied with a pair of touchdowns and a twopoint conversion for a 20-17 lead with 6:42 to play.
“They’re an extremely athletic, extremely gifted football team, and we said all week we didn’t
want to give them any cheap ones, and we did,” Rohn, who won multiple state championships as the coach at Grand Rapids West Catholic, said.
“We gave them a (punt) return for a touchdown. We let them hang around, and when we let them hang around, it was going to come down to a battle. “And it was a battle.” Cummins’ 22-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright and caromed between the posts to tie the game 20-20 with 1:23 to play.
That came after Michigan State recruit Davion Primm ran nine yards for a touchdown and quarterback James Burnley ran four yards for another score — and then Burnley threw a conversion pass — to lead Oak Park back.
De La Salle seemed to have control of the game when Alton McCullum
caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Brady Drogosh and Cummins tacked on the extra point to cap the Pilots’ first possession of the third quarter — a 43-yard drive set up when DLS recovered the Knights’ squib kick that opened the second half.
But the contest was far
from over on a day when the temperature was in the 30s and the sun broke through in the second half.
“Our kids gave everything they had, it just wasn’t enough,” Carter said.
“Overtime fumble and whatever — our kids played hard, and that’s all I care about.
“We’re just looking at the positive things.”
De La Salle scored the first 10 points of the game, including a safety when the Knights’ low snap in punt formation rolled into the Oak Park end zone less than three minutes into the contest.
Stanley ran 16 yards for a touchdown and McCullum ran for the conversion to boost the lead to 10-0 with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.
Late in the second quarter, an intentional grounding penalty against De La Salle and Michigan State recruit Rayshaun Benny’s tackle of Stanley helped push the Pilots to their own three.
A moment later, the Pilots punted from their end zone, and Glen Cross returned the kick 33 yards for a touchdown.
Cross’ 35-yard interception return gave Oak Park the ball at the Pilots’ 45 with 10:58 left in the fourth quarter.
Corey Alford caught a 29-yard pass to the 24, and
five plays later Burnley ran around right end for a touchdown that gave Oak Park an 18-17 lead.
De La Salle’s drive for the tying field goal was vintage Stanley.
After Drogosh passed 20 yards to Triston Nichols on third and eight from the DLS 38, Stanley carried on eight consecutive plays as the Pilots got to the three and then were backed up to the five in advance of Cummins’ kick.
“Brett wanted the ball,” Rohn said.
The strong-armed Burnley, whose last-minute touchdown pass lifted Oak Park to a victory over Livonia Churchill in the regional round, tried to create more fireworks after DLS tied the game, but his bomb from near midfield was intercepted by Dionte Dandridge at the Pilots’ two.
Defending champion Mona Shores advanced by defeating Traverse City Central 43-30.
DLS defeated Mona Shores in the 2014 title game.