Warren De La Salle junior wideout Phoenix Glassnor attempts to evade a Waterford Mott defender.
By: Jonathan Szczepaniak | Warren Weekly | Published November 21, 2023
TROY — For the fourth-straight year, Warren De La Salle’s season will end at Ford Field.
As De La Salle went head-to-head against one of the more lethal playmakers in the state, Waterford Mott senior quarterback Kalieb Osborne, it was De La Salle junior quarterback Sante Gasperoni that stole the show.
Totaling four touchdowns on the day (three passing and one rushing), Gasperoni led the Pilots to a 45-19 win on Nov. 18 at Troy Athens High School to punch their ticket for the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 state finals at Ford Field.
“I think Sante has done a real good job of handling the expectations and really growing into the position as the year went along,” De La Salle coach Dan Rohn said. “I think he did a great job of taking advantage of the athletes we have around him and not trying to force things or do too much. It’s not easy on a young guy. He’s an extremely talented young man and he can make almost any throw and run the ball well.”
Gasperoni opened the scoring for De La Salle with a 59-yard strike to sophomore wideout Damion King IV early in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.
Waterford Mott would tie it 7-7 with a score of their own behind a 12-yard touchdown pass from Osborne to Jordan White in the first quarter, but the Corsairs would fail to reach the end zone until the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach. Osborn would connect again with White and also find Gino Sheets for a touchdown.
De La Salle knew Osborne was going to be the top priority defensively, and they neutralized the Mott offense from start to finish behind strong performances from junior cornerback Isaiah Jones and sophomore cornerback David Williams.
“We put them (Jones and Williams) out on an island because a lot of times they have to play man coverage, but they never backed down,” Rohn said. “Even if they made a play or two, they refocused themselves. I thought our D line did a great job of getting enough pressure without us having to send a lot of blitzes. It gave us an opportunity to drop some guys in coverage. We had a few breakdowns, but it’s expected when they ran as many plays as they did on Saturday. He’s (Osborne) a dynamic athlete. He might be one of the best we’ve seen all year long.”
Sophomore Anthony Bitonti continued his hot streak on the ground, tallying back-to-back touchdowns to give the Pilots a 21-0 lead.
Gasperoni would tack on a 1-yard touchdown run and touchdown passes to junior wideout Phoenix Glassnor (8 yards) and King (53 yards) in the second half to pull away with the win.
De La Salle will face Muskegon on Nov. 25 at Ford Field in hopes of earning their third-straight Division 2 state championship title.
De La Salle and Muskegon went head-to-head in Week 2 this season with the Pilots coming out on top with a 40-28 win.
Now almost three months later, Muskegon hasn’t lost a game since and has dominated teams with their run game, averaging 42 points per game in the state tournament.
Rohn said he expects Muskegon to bring the same type of attack when the teams play.
“I think it was a week where we both went in there licking our wounds a little bit,” Rohn said. “We got beat Week 1 and they got beat Week 1, so it was important for us to get out and play well. I think we did. We were able to put some points on the board, and again, our special teams played really well. We did give up a kick return touchdown and a 96-yard run, but I thought our defense did a good job of containing the run game. When we can do that against Muskegon, I think that gives us an opportunity to win. We’re going to have to really do that well this week because they’re running the ball as well as anybody in the state of Michigan right now.”
Kickoff is expected for 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 25.