Muskegon downs De La Salle in MHSAA Division 2 championship with epic third quarter
DETROIT - The Muskegon Big Reds (12-2) stormed back to defeat the De La Salle Pilots (12-2) 33-21 in the Division 2 Michigan high school football state championship. Once down 21-7, Muskegon scored 26 unanswered points on its way to victory. It is Muskegon’s first football state title since 2017 when it was in Division 3.
Midway through the second quarter, junior De La Salle quarterback Sante Gasperoni scored his third touchdown of the half to make it 21-7 in favor of the Pilots. Gasperoni’s touchdown would be the last time the Pilots were able to put points on the board.
Muskegon stiffened up on defense and began thrashing the Pilots, mostly behind the play of senior quarterback M’Khi Guy.
Guy was the orchestrator of plenty of explosive plays, including a game-long 80 yard touchdown run. Midway through the third quarter, Guy connected with senior slot receiver Destin Piggee for a 94 yard touchdown to tie the game.
On the ensuing possession, senior Muskegon wide receiver and defensive back Da’Carion Taylor forced a fumble to get his team the ball before catching a touchdown for the lead.
Muskegon head coach Shane Fairfield said they weren’t going away easily.
“We didn’t come all the way here to get pushed around,” Fairfield said. “We didn’t come all the way here to not fight. That’s one thing about Big Red football, we’re always going to compete and fight. (I told them) put your big boy pants on and go out here and play football the Muskegon way.”
Senior Big Red quarterback M’Khi Guy had success all night against the Pilot defense. Guy finished with almost 400 total yards, including 215 on the ground, and four total touchdowns. Guy also had two tackles as a defensive back.
Fairfield said Guy is built differently.
“If we could build tanks and military equipment out of what this young man is built out of, we're in a safe situation,” Fairfield said. “This kid has got armor for an exterior and a heart that goes.”
De La Salle came into Saturday night’s game as back-to-back state champs. Muskegon was coming off of a loss in the Division 3 state title game to King, and since had moved up a division.
De La Salle’s offense sputtered to a halt in the second half. The only bright spot for the Pilots was Gasperoni. Gasperoni said he grew in a lot of different ways this season.
“I learned a lot (about) really building with the team and really trying to be a leader, especially because I’m the quarterback,” Gasperoni said. “Seeing the mistakes, seeing the defenses and stuff like that. Throughout the weeks and games I’ve progressed and it’s helped out a lot.”
Sophomore Pilot wide receiver Damion King IV had a game-high 103 receiving yards to go along with a touchdown.
