UTICA — Orchard Lake St. Mary’s proved Friday night at Jimmy John’s Field that it is one of the most dominant teams in the state, earning a 49-10 Catholic League Central Division win over Warren De La Salle.

St. Mary’s — 3-0 and ranked No. 3 in The News Super 25 poll — showed it is primed to defend its Division 2 state championship, ending a five-game losing streak in the series with No. 9 De La Salle (1-2).

De La Salle sophomore quarterback Grayson Thurston looked impressive on the first drive, hitting on 5 of 7 passes for 56 yards to set up a 37-yard field goal that missed the mark.

St. Mary’s then tightened its defense to give Jabin Gonzales short fields to work with and he did the rest, leading to a 28-point second quarter and a 28-3 halftime lead.

First, Gonzales scored on a 3-yard run to cap off a 57-yard, eight-play drive which included one play where St. Mary’s offensive line helped push Jamari Givhan for a 15-yard gain.

St. Mary’s opened up a 14-3 lead when it blocked a punt and Reece Hurst scooped the ball up at the 5-yard line and ran into the end zone less than two minutes later.

St. Mary’s showed its explosive big-play offense on the next two drives, both led by Gonzales.

Gonzales showed his arm strength on St. Mary’s next drive that started at its own 25, going up top on the first play and finding Daniel Taylor for a 75-yard touchdown and a 21-3 cushion.

“D.J. can do it all. I honestly looked to the wrong side so I kind of threw it late, but D.J. ran a great route and I threw it, kind of took a hit, and he grabbed it. Big play,” Gonzales said of his long TD pass to Taylor.

St. Mary’s defense again stepped up, forcing a Thurston fumble that Gage Nessen recovered at the St. Mary’s 35-yard line. On the ensuing play, Gonzales broke loose for a 65-yard touchdown run to make it 28-3 with 35 seconds remaining in the half.

“My O-line opened up the hole great for me, I ran through and made a couple of guys miss, ran somebody over and took it to the crib,” Gonzales said.

De La Salle advanced into St. Mary’s territory during the final minute, but defensive end Ryan Harrington stopped the drive with his third sack of the half.

“We were unstoppable,” Harrington said. “They couldn’t run the ball on us and when they were trying to pass, we were getting back all the time. We practiced hard all week and it paid off.”

And, on his sacks?

“I was just thinking, get off the ball and get to the QB. We hadn’t beaten these guys in five or six years and I’m sick of having that feeling of not beating them, so I’m happy to beat them 49-10, which is crazy,” Harrington said.

Thurston was 12-for-15 passing for 131 yards in the first half, but he was also sacked five times, leading to just 18 yards on the ground on 16 carries for De La Salle.

St. Mary’s received the ball to start the second half and continued its dominance, marching more than 90 yards for another score. Gonzales hit Brandon Adams for 35 yards to set up a 45-yard TD pass to Lorenzo Barber on the following play for a 35-3 lead with 10:48 left in the third quarter.

So, just how impressive was St. Mary’s?

Givhan ran for 36 yards to set up Gonzales’ touchdown toss to four-star junior receiver Chad Willis, but the score was wiped out due to a penalty. Givhan took the handoff on the next play and scored on a 33-yard run for a 42-3 lead with 8:22 left, putting the running clock into play against a De La Salle team that won Division 2 state titles in 2021 and 2022 and lost in the state championship game in 2023.

De La Salle moved the ball inside St. Mary’s 40-yard line, but a fumble on the handoff exchange ended the drive as Treighjan Gibson recovered it.

St. Mary’s quickly took advantage of the turnover when Givhan broke loose for a 32-yard run to De La Salle’s 31, setting up Gonzales’ TD pass to Angelo Chapman on the next play for a 49-3 advantage.

Gonzales was 5 of 6 passing for 196 yards and three TDs and ran for two scores through three quarters.

De La Salle didn’t get into the end zone until Damion King’s 3-yard TD reception with 7:45 remaining.