Two state championships and three national championships, with five total championships in just eight seasons between the Muskegon Mona Shores Sailors and the Ferris State Bulldogs. That’s the accolades of the Bulldogs’ slot receiver, senior Brady Rose.
Rose’s high school career is nothing short of legendary in Michigan high school football, his legend starting in the 2019 MHSSA Division Two semifinals against Walled Lake Western. Rose was named the starting quarterback after starter Caden Broersma, who had a broken hand, was unable to play again, which necessitated Rose starting two games in the regular season.
Rose took the opportunity and ran with it, literally, running 22 times for 207 yards and five touchdowns, while going four for seven with 105 yards through the air. His fifth and final touchdown came with 17 seconds left in the game to make the score 55-56, before getting the gutsy two-point conversion to give Mona Shores the win. Rose and his team went on to defeat Detroit Martin Luther King in the state championship by a score of 35-26.
Rose spoke about that magical 2019 playoffs run.
“We had a really good all-state quarterback during my sophomore year,” Rose said. “So during my sophomore year, I knew he was going to be the starter, so I trained as a slot receiver. He got hurt late in the summer, and so I played the first two games of the season, then he got healthy and I went back to slot. Then he got hurt again during the semifinals and that’s when I took over and helped lead my team to the championship.”
The following season, he led his team yet again to another state championship, this time against one of the powerhouse schools in Warren De La Salle, which had won the prior two championships. De La Salle had been a thorn in the side of Mona Shores, defeating them in the 2014 and 2018 state titles. Rose led the Sailors against De La Salle, passing 8-11 for 122 yards and a touchdown while running for 90 yards and three touchdowns en route to a 25-19 victory.
After winning the 2019 championship, most believed Mona Shores was going to be rebuilding, but Rose knew that was not the case.
“I knew people were saying that we weren’t going to be very good and that we’re rebuilding,” Rose said. “We ended up winning it, I knew we had a really good class of guys, we had been playing football with each other for years.”
Being a two-time champion, winning the 2020 MLive Michigan High School Player of the Year, and being a finalist for the 2020 Michigan Mr. Football award. Rose was highly decorated after his high school career ended. Despite all of his successes and accolades, Rose was not highly recruited. Only being rated as a two-star recruit on 24/7 Sports, but Ferris gave him an official offer, and he committed only a month later.
For fellow receiver, senior Jeremiah Lee, Rose is always there to guide and help the younger guys whenever he can.
“Brady is a great teammate,” Lee said. “He’s one of the hardest workers we’ve got on the team. He’s always willing to help the younger guys whenever and wherever he can. We can always count on him.”
In his time with the Bulldogs, Rose has been used all over the field, with his primary position being at slot receiver, where he has 1,013 yards and four touchdowns in the air. While also being seen throwing the ball on trick plays, where he has accumulated 297 yards and three touchdowns, with one of his most important coming in the 2024 national championship, where he threw a 61-yard touchdown pass.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Wyatt Bower spoke about how important it is to have a player like Rose on the field with him.
“Brady is a great teammate,” Bower said. “He has such a tremendous veteran presence on the team, and I feel like they fuel everyone else, but having him on the field gives me confidence in our offense knowing he will make plays and help us succeed.”
Rose looks to help his team take another win this coming week against Lake Erie, after putting up 81 all-purpose yards and a touchdown against Pittsburg State.