In the first Friday night semifinal matchup, we saw Belleville able to return to the state finals with a 29-28 OT victory over Cass Tech. Here is what we took away from that game
Belleville
Bryce Underwood Put his team on his back.
Down 21-14 with three minutes to play in the game, Belleville was given the ball back on the Cass Tech 39-yard line, and the Sophomore led his team to a game-tying touchdown. Underwood had a huge 30-yard run on a third-and-nine to set them up with a first and goal from the Cass Tech eight-yard line, and his calm demeanor on the field was a comfort for his team as
Early Penalties could have sealed your fate.
The penalties early on for Belleville could have sealed their fate. Belleville had nine penalties in the game, and one early took a touchdown on the first play away from them. Belleville would go on to score on that opening drive, but a first-play touchdown would have been a heartbreaker for a Cass Tech team that had been so good this playoff. That’s not even to mention the obvious hold on the two-point conversion to win the game for Belleville that wasn’t called. If you don’t clean that up, you could be in trouble versus Caledonia.
Cass Tech
Played Your Asses off but Still Came up short
Cass Tech had the lead in the game and, for a while, looked to be the team that was going to be heading to the State finals. With under a minute left in the first half, a pick-6 gave Cass Tech all the momentum. They came out and played a great defensive second half until 1:04 left in the game. Cass would then have a chance to win the game in regulation, but a missed field goal with time expired sent it to overtime, where the defending state champs had just enough to edge out a Cass Tech team that was better that night.
The second game of the weekend was De La Salle crushing Birmingham Groves 43-15.
De La Salle
Brady, oh Brady…You’re just that good.
De La Salle is good; we already know this. The person who puts them over the top is Quarterback Brady Drogosh. In the win, Drogosh had three first-quarter touchdowns, all of which were of the rushing kind. His fourth came with just under 7 minutes left in the first half. The threat of Drogosh running was enough for Groves to key in on Drogosh running and leave others open.
Winning Mentality.
De La Salle is in good hands this week. De La Salle looks primed to win another State Title this year, except for some holes versus Groves. If that is the case, it would be the second straight year for football to win one, and it would be the third in a calendar year for Drogosh as he also won the Basketball state finals last school year.
Birmingham Groves
Be Proud!
After finishing the last two seasons with five total wins, no one could have seen Groves coming out, almost doubling their win total. The Seniors should hold their heads high. Josh Woods ran hard, and Chris Little picked up his tenth interception on the season, but it wasn’t enough to keep the game within reach even with all of that. You guys accomplished more than what people thought you could. Use what you learned this year to grow for next season.