Friday Night brought some intense action between Detroit Catholic Central and Orchard Lake St. Mary's Preparatory.
In a back-and-forth affair, Catholic Central earned the 27-22 victory to improve to 4-0 on the 2024 season. St. Mary's now sits at 2-2.
Of course, Michigan State has three current commitments from St. Mary's in its 2025 recruiting class: three-star tight end Jayden Savoury, three-star linebacker Charles "DJ" White and three-star athlete Bryson Williams.
Following the game, Savoury, White and St. Mary's athletic director/head coach Jermaine Gonzales spoke to Spartans Illustrated about the close loss to the Shamrocks and what is next.
Despite the defeat, Gonzales was pleased the effort from his team and praised Catholic Central head coach Justin Cessante and his staff.
"We knew it was going to be a physical game," Gonzales said. "I thought all three phases of the game we could have been a little better in, but I thought our boys fought. It was a great effort, great energy and we competed. So hats off to my guys, and hats off to Catholic Central — they're a well-coached team and they played physical."
Gonzales has seen progress from his team through four weeks in the 2024 season, but he knows that the next step for the Eaglets is finding ways to win close games against good teams.
"Week by week, the competitive nature (has stood out)," Gonzales said. "The boys want to compete, they want to play, they love playing with each other. I think we're getting better every week. We've still got a ways to go, need to clean up some things, but I thought we were better from from last week. Now the hurdle is to get over these games, to win these games (against quality opponents). So, that's the next phase of it all."
White noted that there were some execution issues by the OLSM defense and special teams units that contributed to the loss, but knows his team is close to getting things corrected.
"On the defensive side, I'll say the reason we came short, we just let up too many big plays in clutch moments," White said about the loss to Catholic Central. "We couldn't convert and stop them on third down. We gave up a fake punt (on fourth down) and gave up some yards that we weren't supposed to give up. There's always a way to bounce back from it. We've just got to get back in the lab, get back on the field, practice it, practice third-down situations — third-and-long, third-and-short — and learn how to stop teams on third down."
Savoury followed up White's comments and noted that the offense has to be more organized moving forward as well.
"I think we've just got to clean up stuff on offense as well," Savoury said. "I feel like we weren't on the same page. And special teams as well, we let up some (big plays). So, I just think (that's what we need to fix)."
Williams scored a touchdown after catching a pass from quarterback Jabin Gonzales (Jermaine's son) in the late third quarter. Williams also got the two-point conversion to put St. Mary's up 22-21 at that point.
An answer by the Shamrocks in the fourth quarter on a touchdown run by running back/linebacker Lee Krueger ultimately sealed the victory for Catholic Central, however.
The Michigan State pledges — Savoury, White and Williams — are the leaders for the Eaglets, along with a few others on the squad. The senior class as a whole has been strong in that aspect, according to the head coach.
"Great leadership, great athletes," Jermaine Gonzales said about what the three Michigan State commits bring to his team. "Obviously, just the senior group alone, we've got a great senior class. They do a good job of building up, so we've got to keep it moving."
While Orchard Lake has plenty of seniors and juniors leading the way — such as Savoury, White, Williams, offensive lineman and fellow Michigan State target Antonio Johnson, quarterback Axel Newell, wide receiver/safety Kareem Pruitt, running back/linebacker Darrin Jones, offensive lineman/defensive lineman Kinnus Paul II, defensive lineman Kyrie Williams and others — Gonzales noted that there are several sophomores on the team getting valuable experience for the future.
Previously mentioned quarterback Jabin Gonzales, wide receiver/cornerback Lorenzo Barber, wide receiver/safety Chad Willis and offensive lineman/defensive lineman Treighjan Gibson are a few of the young players who Jermaine Gonzales mentioned are making a difference.
"All of young guys (have been competing)," Gonzales said. "Those guys are just getting ready to be warriors for us in the next couple of years."
White, Williams and Savoury have all visited Michigan State for games so far in the 2024 season. White's plan is to be at every game this season, while Savoury and Williams plan to be at multiple as well.
White and Savoury both admired the game-day atmosphere at Spartan Stadium and what they've seen from head coach Jonathan Smith, defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi, tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator Brian Wozniak and MSU thus far.
"I loved the environment — the fans, the student section, everybody," White said about his previous game-day visits to MSU. "I especially loved the way Coach Rossi called his plays. The defense had to come down in some clutch moments and Coach Rossi made a perfect scheme. I think he runs his defense really, really well, and I think just the power of Michigan State defense is just amazing."
Savoury shared similar sentiments and discussed his Week One visit to Michigan State. The Spartans defeated Florida Atlantic 16-10 on Aug. 30.
"I thought it was good," Savoury said about his Week One visit to Michigan State. "I liked the energy of it. I liked how they moved the ball — kind of how they used tight ends, how they spread the offense out. So, I liked it a lot."
Rossi is White's future position coach. The MSU defensive coordinator keeps in constant contact with White and their relationship is only getting stronger.
"I talk to Coach Rossi every week," White said. "We just have simple, small conversations about family and, how the week goes for practice. He calls me every Thursday, asking about practice and he asks me what the opponent team does. So, I give him what they do, what formations, plays — key plays, trick plays, all that type of stuff. We usually go over that type of stuff, and that's kind of how me and Coach Rossi's relationship is building."
Of course for Savoury, Wozniak is his future position coach and primary recruiter. They talk constantly and their bond continues to grow as well.
"He's checking up — texting, calls after the games — just asking me how I feel and how I'm doing, how the fam's doing," Savoury said about Wozniak. "So, yeah, it's just constant communication."
Of course, Michigan State is off to a 3-0 start in 2024. Savoury and White are not necessarily surprised by this, and the vision from Smith and his staff that they believe in has already been showing signs of a promising future for the Spartans.
"I mean, 3-0, you can't have a better start to a season," Savoury said. "They've played good teams, they've played good competition, and they're just building every week. So, I'm definitely excited to see them play bigger opponents (as the season moves forward) and see how they play."
As a linebacker, White likes what he has seen from Michigan State's defense and overall performance as a team thus far.
"Like Jayden said, there's no better way to start off the season — 3-0," White said. "Especially (how the Spartans are) holding teams down to minimal points. It's just good to see them going 3-0 so far."
Next up, Michigan State has a tough challenge on the road at Boston College for the Eagles' "Red Bandana Game" on Saturday night. The environment will be tough and athletic BC quarterback Thomas Castellanos could cause problems. White is confident that the Spartans will find a way to win, however.
"I think Michigan State is going to do a great job keeping that quarterback (Castellanos) in the pocket," White said. "He's pretty mobile. So, I think they'll do a good job keeping him in the pocket. They've been doing a great job eliminating big plays. The defense is doing a great job — defensive backs, linebackers, everybody's doing a great job so far. So, I think they'll be able to keep it up and pull off a victory."
Savoury also feels that the Spartans will find a way to win on Saturday night.
"I think (Boston College) is a tough team, but I think Michigan State's got it," Savoury said. "They've been playing tough teams as well, so I think it should be a good game."
White, Savoury and Williams all remain locked in with the Spartans.
"Go Green," White said with excitement before concluding the interview.
On the other sideline, Detroit Catholic Central had plenty of standout players in the win as well, including quarterback Skyler Hunter, athlete Samson Gash, running back/linebacker Jaden Pydyn (Army commit), offensive/defensive lineman Benjamin Eziuka, offensive/defensive lineman Danilo Guberinich (Western Michigan commit), offensive/defensive lineman, Preston Houser, the aforementioned Krueger and others.
Of note, Michigan State 2026 three-star tight end target Jack Janda — who transferred to Catholic Central from St. Mary's ahead of his senior season — was unavailable for Friday night's game. He told Spartans Illustrated that he is in communication with Wozniak multiple times per week, but he is not currently making visits to any school. Janda has already visited MSU several times and potentially plans to make it back to East Lansing at a later date, but that is to be determined.
Next week, Catholic Central will look to improve to 5-0 next week on the 2024 campaign, as the Shamrocks hosts 3-1 De La Salle Collegiate High School.
Orchard Lake St. Mary's will look to get back in the win column on the road against Waterford Kettering High School.
