Division 2 state championship game-Muskegon-Warren De La Salle

DETROIT, Mich. (WOOD) – M’Khi Guy was the guy in Saturday night’s Division 2 state championship game.

The Muskegon senior quarterback accounted for 374 yards of total offense and four touchdowns to spark a second-half rally that culminated in a 33-21 victory over two-time defending state champion Warren De La Salle at Ford Field.

It’s the Big Reds’ first state title since 2017 and seventh all-time. It also was the program’s 900th win in school history.

“It was really for my teammates,” Guy said. “They look at me as a leader of the pack and I knew I had to keep my offensive linemen poised until they came to play because they were a little down early.

“We came out in the second half, and I scored and that’s when the juices started pumping and they felt the heart beating in their chests. That made us go harder and gave us the energy to play,” he said.

Guy rushed for 215 yards on 25 carries and scored twice. He also completed four of six passes for 159 yards and two scores.

“This kid has armor for an exterior and a heart,” Muskegon coach Shane Fairfield said. “Whether it’s basketball or football, it’s anything this guy does is just, ‘wow’. I don’t know how else to explain it. He willed this team and these guys all followed behind him and just rallied and they’ve done it all season. But ‘wow’ describes this guy, this team and this ride.”

The Big Reds avenged a previous 40-28 loss to the Pilots in Week 2 and won their last 12 games of the season.

It looked as if the Big Reds’ season would once again end in disappointment until an inspired second-half effort wiped out a 21-7 deficit.

“I’m just so proud of our guys being down 14 (points),” Fairfield said. “And I think our schedule prepared us for this and our run to the finals against tough teams and being down early in games allowed us to overcome and play the way we did in the second half.”

Muskegon scored 26 unanswered points in the second half, led by Guy.

Guy started the half by sprinting 52 yards for a touchdown to bring the Big Reds within a touchdown.

On their next possession, Guy tossed a 94-yard touchdown pass to Destin Piggee to make it 21-21.

After a fumble recovery, Guy found De’Carion Taylor, who made a spectacular catch in the end zone from 23 yards out to give the Big Reds their first lead of the game, 27-20.

Muskegon outscored the Pilots 20-0 in the third quarter.

Jacob Price put the game out of reach with a 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

The Pilots struck first as quarterback Sante Gasperoni scored on a 4-yard run for a 7-0 lead.

It proved to be short-lived as the Big Reds answered quickly.

On the first play of Muskegon’s ensuing possession, Guy raced 80 yards for a touchdown to knot the score.

De La Salle reclaimed the lead in the second quarter when Gasperoni fired a strike to Damion King IV, who hauled in the pass and outran the Big Reds’ defense for a 45-yard score and a 14-7 advantage.

Shortly before the half, Gasperoni scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, from two yards out, and it was 21-7.