Bryce Underwood and the Belleville offense brought the fireworks in the Division 1 MHSAA district finals against Saline in front of a packed house at Belleville High School.

The Tigers stomped Saline, 42-7, to advance to next week’s regional finals in front of a crowd that filled both sets of stands and lined up against the fence surrounding the entire field. The Tigers jumped out to a 28-7 lead in the first half and kept rolling in the second half to come away with the 35-point win.

Belleville wasted no time taking a commanding lead. The Tigers scored on three of their four possessions in the first half and returned an interception for a touchdown. Saline came out desperate but failed on fourth down on their first two second-half possessions, leading to a pair of Belleville touchdown passes to make it 42-7.

"That set the tone for us so we could do some of the other things we like to do," Belleville co-head coach Calvin Norman said.

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Underwood completed 11 of 19 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns, including an 87-yard TD at the end of the first half, and two interceptions. He also rushed six times for 63 yards and a touchdown.

Belleville, which improved to 10-1, is looking to finish with three state championships over four seasons, after losing to Southfield A&T in the Division 1 championship last year. Saline finishes the year at 7-4, after suffering its first loss on the field; the Hornets had to forfeit the first three games for using an ineligible player, but won seven straight before being eliminated.

"They are a hell of a team," said Saline head coach Kyle Short, who was the offensive coordinator for Belleville two years ago. "Kudos to Belleville. And it's a bittersweet moment being with the freshman and sophomore class who are now seniors."

Belleville will play Novi Detroit Catholic Central, which beat West Bloomfield, in the regional final next weekend.

Belleville's forced turnovers lead to dominant 1st half

Belleville received the opening kick and drove 62 yards in four minutes to take a 7-0 lead. Senior running back Ray-mond Smith Jr. started things off with a first-down run, followed by an Underwood scramble for 19 yards. Smith had a 30-yard touchdown taken off the board because of an illegal shift, but two defensive pass interference penalties put Belleville inside the red zone, and Smith powered in for an 11-yard run.

The Hornets put together a 13-play drive from their own 6 all the way to the red zone, but couldn’t put points on the board. Saline tried a wide receiver screen inside the 15, the receiver fumbled and Belleville recovered, leading to a touchdown.

Belleville pushed it to 21 with a pick-six from senior linebacker Andre Thomas Jr., who dropped from the line of scrimmage and leaped to intercept Tommy Carr and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown. Saline scored a touchdown with 20 seconds left in the half when Carr hit tight end Cole Kreuzer for a 12-yard touchdown.

"He's up to five defensive touchdowns from fumbles and interceptions," Norman said of Thomas. "The work that he keeps putting in every day is the result that you see out there on the field."

Underwood rebounds from early interception

Saline went three-and-out on its opening drive with a short punt and Belleville marched right back to the red zone after Underwood escaped pressure and hit Trey Graham over the middle for 31 yards while taking a hit. But, Underwood tried to force a throw into a tight window on the next pass and was intercepted by Saline sophomore Princeton Jones.

But the LSU commit didn’t make many big mistakes after that, outside of a missed deep ball. On the next drive, Belleville drove 90 yards and Underwood completed three of five passes for 62 yards while rushing for 24, including a bruising touchdown where he escaped a free rusher, tip-toed the sideline and barreled through four Saline defenders for an 11-yard touchdown run.

"He doesn't really let the interceptions get in his head," co-head coach DeJuan Rogers said.

On the first play after Saline’s touchdown, Underwood climbed the pocket and launched an 87-yard moon shot to Antwon Thomas to make it 28-7 before half. Underwood threw it from his own 10-yard line and landed it perfectly in Thomas’ hands at Saline’s 40-yard line.

He completed his first two passes in the second half for 28 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown to Graham in the back corner. After another fourth-down stop, Underwood completed two passes, including a 12-yard slant to Charles Britton III for a touchdown. With less than two minutes, Underwood forced a deep shot that was intercepted by James Rush.

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Michigan connections in the box and stands

Belleville athletic director Joe Brodie confirmed to the Free Press that former Michigan football assistant Connor Stalions is “around” but did not officially hire him as a member of the coaching staff. Stalions was in the Belleville coaching box with a headset on. Stalions was vocal over the headset when Belleville had the ball. Earlier this week, Norman told the Free Press he is not on staff.

Stalions, who resigned from Michigan after he became the subject of the Wolverines’ NCAA investigation for sign-stealing, was the defensive coordinator for Detroit Mumford (who finished 1-8) and also served as head coach for one game.

Stalions was not available for an interview postgame, but Norman told the Free Press that he is helping with the offense and "observing Bryce (Underwood)".

There was a large contingent of Michigan fans in attendance to watch Underwood as the Wolverines ramp up their recruitment of the top player in the 2025 class. There were Michigan flags in the stands and shirts that read “Bryce and E Dot” referring to Underwood and four-star defensive back Elijah Dotson, who is committed to Pittsburgh.

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Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Belleville buries Saline 42-7 in MHSAA Division 1 district finals