ROCHESTER HILLS Dearborn Divine Child hasn’t possessed a defense of this caliber since 1985. Like the 1985 squad, the Falcons (12-1) are headed to the state finals after defeating Goodrich (12-1) 10-7 on Saturday at Rochester Hills Stoney Creek High School. “My brother-in-law was on that ‘85 team,” Divine Child head coach Chris Laney said. “We’re excited to get Divine Child football back on that level. We talk about the standard a lot here at Divine Child, and this needs to be it.” The expectation was a physical, ground-and-pound football game between the two programs, and that’s exactly what fans were provided. Divine Child senior running back Marcello Vitti, a University of Iowa commit, was the difference maker, tallying a 17-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter and picking up a critical fourth down conversion on a 4th and 1 run from the Goodrich 45-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Vitti broke a 38-yard run on the next play, shedding multiple Goodrich defenders, to set up the Falcons’ offense at the Goodrich 6-yard line. “He’s our guy. He’s our horse,” Laney said. “He’s going to be the guy that is going to get the ball in his hands with the game on the line. He’s a winner. We’re happy he’s on our side.” The Goodrich defense was able to make a fourth down stand and take over possession at its own 20-yard line with 35 seconds remaining in the game. Goodrich’s last chance was slammed shut by Divine Child junior defensive back Michael DiSalvo, who picked off a pass from Goodrich senior quarterback Tanner Mazich to end the game. It was DiSalvo’s second interception and third interception forced by the Divine Child defense. DiSalvo forced a game-altering fumble in last week’s 10-6 win over Harper Woods and stepped up again for the Falcons’ defense today. “Michael has been great all season,” Laney said. “Sometimes I feel like he gets lost in the shuffle with the Vittis back there, but Michael is a good player himself. He’s come up big for us in our biggest games.” Goodrich, the defending Division 4 state champions, controlled the better part of the first half but had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard. A 27-yard missed field goal and an interception by Divine Child junior defensive back Adam Garcia at the Divine Child 8-yard line halted a pair of Goodrich first half possessions. “You can’t do that in games like this,” Goodrich head coach Tom Alward said. “I don’t know how many times we were down there and came away with no points whatsoever. You got to give credit to Divine Child. They kept us out of the end zone. We made our fair share of mistakes, but that’s a good football team.” The Martians leaned on its run game throughout this season but were forced to utilize the pass game more due to Divine Child’s ability to stop the run. “We’ve always been able to throw,” Alward said. “We weren’t as effective today as we’d like to be, but we were moving the ball and then just shoot ourselves in the foot. It felt like we’d make the wrong mistake at the wrong time. They forced a lot of those mistakes.” A 32-yard field goal from Divine Child senior kicker Lucas Rollan extended the Falcons’ lead to 10-0 with 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but the Goodrich offense was able to find some positive yardage on its ensuing drive. The Martians drove into Divine Child territory behind the powerful running of junior Colton Burnett. Divine Child junior Giancarlo Vitti and the Falcons defense held strong from there with Vitti tackling Goodrich senior running back Jakoby Lagat for a loss on first down and senior defensive end Chris Hammock bringing down Mazich for a sack to force a 3rd and 14. Hammock again found his way into the Goodrich backfield, batting down a Mazich pass to force a turnover on downs. “We knew what they were going to bring. It’s a physical brand of football,” Laney said. “Our defense has been there all season for us. They’ve competed well this year. We knew we were going to have to grind it out, and that’s exactly what happened.” The Goodrich defense, which played well for the majority of the matchup, reenergized the Goodrich sidelines with a forced fumble recovered by junior defensive end Drew Aagesen just two plays after the turnover on downs. “We made some mistakes and had some missed tackles, but overall you’re doing pretty good when you hold (Divine Child) to 10 points,” Alward said. A 12-yard connection from Mazich to Aagesen and a Divine Child personal foul were capped off with a 5-yard touchdown run from Lagat. Goodrich’s onside kick took a Goodrich bounce and momentarily seemed to be in favor of Goodrich judging by play reactions, but Divine Child emerged with the ball from the bottom of the pile. Divine Child will now face Hudsonville Unity Christian (12-1) in the MHSAA Division 4 state finals on Nov. 28 at Ford Field. Goodrich is set to graduate a talented senior class that brought the program its first-ever state championship last season. Alward said they’ve been instrumental to the program and said it’s now time for the underclassmen and juniors to step up next season. “They’re huge. They’ve been spectacular their whole career,” Alward said. “We’ll dearly miss them. It’s going to be soon to see who is next up. We’ll celebrate the seniors as much as we can this season, but now it’s time to move on with the next group.”.
https://www.mlive.com/highschoolsports/2025/11/divine-child-downs-goodrich-10-7-advances-to-first-state-finals-since-1985.html
