De La Salle Scouting Report vs. Muskegon

<p>A few days ago I had the pleasure of going to see a matchup between two state powerhouses. Muskegon and De La Salle are two teams considered to be at the very top of Michigan's Division 2 and two teams who have their goals set to Ford Field. This article will cover seven De La Salle players who caught my eye! </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">QB | [player_tooltip player_id='899473' first='Sante' last='Gasperoni'] | <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/16329914/Sante-Gasperoni/about">Hudl</a></h2>   <p>We have to talk about the new starting QB for De La Salle. The winner of the starting QB job, Sante replaces Cincinatti's Brady Drogosh. It's unfair to expect Sante to reach the level of Brady, and although I didn't see D1 levels of greatness from Sante, I still have a lot of praise to give out. </p>   <p>First off, Sante looked like he'd started a million games before. At no point in the game did I get the impression that Sante lacked confidence, was flustered, confused, etc. He stepped out there against an excellent opponent and executed his job with confidence. A lot of times with QBs, regardless of varsity experience, I see them get flustered, out of tune, and generally lacking confidence against stronger opponents. You don't have to worry about that with Sante. </p>   <p>As for his actual game performance, he did his job and did it well. The Sante-run DLS offense relied heavily on runs in general, but still had moments where he aired it out. With the designed QB runs, the offensive line did an excellent job at opening up running lanes for him to sprint through. I don't think Sante is the greatest athlete, but he still ran hard and picked up a ton of yards on the ground. He also showed some promise in the pass game, but the sample size was a tad small. There were a ton of screens and other short-range passes where Sante got the ball out quickly and was accurate. I remember one or two very deep throws, and Sante tossed the ball well in those instances. </p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">ATH | [player_tooltip player_id='563422' first='Damion' last='King'] IV | <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/18025699/Damion-King/about">Hudl</a></h2>   <p>Damion showed out. Getting several touches, Damion really showed what he's made of in the open field. He served as a phenomenal speed-in-space player, truly exposing some poor tackling from the Muskegon D. He got a few outside runs, ran several slants/short routes, and had one great play on a slugo/post route for a TD. Damion had 3 total TDs on the day. He also showcases a ton of great blocks on film which I didn't notice until now! I don't say this lightly because there were several amazing athletes on the field- but Damion was easily the best open-field athlete on either team. Huge credit to him for being able to consistently make people miss and turn it upfield. </p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">MLB | Sam Wakula | <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/15063741/Sam-Wakula/about">Hudl</a></h2>   <p>A number of De La Salle front 7 players impressed me, but one impressed me more than Linebacker Sam Wakula. Wakula first caught my eye during pregame warmups where I noted intense focus, playing fast, and passing the eye test. He got going early in the game, and I didn't see him slow down one bit until the final whistle. Sam played fast, smart, and was one of the best tacklers on the field. There were several occasions where he got off the ball extremely quickly, filled a gap, and punished a ballcarrier on an inside or slightly off-tackle run. He also had a few good block sheds and blitz's. The one criticism I can point out is that I didn't see a ton of sideline-to-sideline speed. If Sam can improve his speed while keep playing how he played against Muskegon, he's a future D1 linebacker. </p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">DB | [player_tooltip player_id='1124975' first='Kandakai' last='Sherman'] | <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/15656427/Kandakai-Sherman-Jr/about">Hudl</a></h2>   <p>I came into writing this article thinking I'd found a hidden gem, but with an ounce of research I learn [player_tooltip player_id='1124975' first='Kandakai' last='Sherman'] is a Division 1 prospect. I am not surprised! </p>   <p>Because of the nature of the Muskegon offense, I was not able to see Sherman in many pass coverage scenarios. What I did see was his ability to work around blocks and make plays in the run game. Time and time again, Sherman easily got past his opposing receiver and made great plays in the run game. He also came on blitz packages and played like a great off-ball linebacker in many instances. Muskegon has several amazing athletes who can and will make most people miss, but not Kandakai. He played a major role in stopping the run and I have several plays on film demonstrating that ability. </p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">OLB/EDGE | [player_tooltip player_id='1290459' first='DeWayne' last='Williams III'] | <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/16384271/Dewayne-Williams-III/about">Hudl</a></h2>   <p>DeWayne was a huge shock as he made a few great plays against future D1 offensive linemen. Playing as an on-ball edge type, Williams consistently got around his blocks, especially pass blocks, leading to free reign in the Muskegon backfield. He had a great arsenal of speed rush moves where he fired off the ball quickly and sped around his block with a nice rip, swim, or something similar. He was a menace on slower-developing plays, made several great tackles, and even got a sack.</p>   <p><strong>Other players I liked</strong></p>   <p><strong>#26 | RB | Mike Lopez | <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/16384009/Michael-Lopez/about">Hudl</a></strong></p>   <p>Bulldozing runner</p>   <p><strong>#5 | WR | Skyler Hunter | <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/16234288/Skyler-Hunter/about">Hudl</a></strong></p>   <p>Very quick, made a few plays, TD</p>

A few days ago I had the pleasure of going to see a matchup between two state powerhouses. Muskegon and De La Salle are two teams considered to be at the very top of Michigan's Division 2 and two teams who have their goals set to Ford Field. This article will cover seven De La Salle players who caught my eye!