By Mason A. Smith ’11 & Erik T. Masingill ’12
The Roundup
September 11 marked yet another game in the historic rivalry between St. Mary’s and Brophy College Prep.
Brophy came into the game against rival St. Mary’s with momentum from the past two wins against Gilbert (41-9) and Deer Valley (28-7). Meanwhile, the Knights carried a 1-1 record after losing to Hamilton (73-15) and barely escaping Sandra Day O’Connor (28-26).
“It’s one week where you truly hate each other, but other than that, I don’t hate St. Mary’s, except for this week,” said varsity football player, AJ Steimel ’10.
When asked if the rivalry should be continued, Steimel said, “it’s so hard to throw away that rivalry that we have had for so many years, I don’t think that they should do that right off the bat.”
Brophy has beaten St. Mary’s in football for the past six years. This season, the Broncos looked to extend that streak to lucky number seven.
Thanks in large part to quarterback Chase Knox ’12, along with the assistance of running back No. 23, Max Leonesio ’10, Brophy routed St. Mary’s by a score of 44-7.
Five plays after receiving the kickoff to start the game, Knox delivered a 19-yard touchdown pass to No. 13, Josh Dennard ’11 to get the 7-0 lead with 10:17 in the quarter.
Defense quickly stopped St. Mary’s attempt from moving the ball, which brought another good drive from the Broncos that resulted with a Leonesio 5-yard touchdown run.
The score was 14-0 Brophy with 5:19 left in the quarter.
The same process happened again. Defense prevailed and the offense got another touchdown with a 3-yard Leonesio run. The Knights found themselves in a lot of trouble with the game still in the first quarter and losing by 21 points.
The damage kept on coming early in the second quarter. Knox threw another touchdown pass to Peter Kelly ’10. Even though Alex Garoutte ’10 missed the point after attempt, his only miss all game, Brophy found themselves leading 27-0 with 11:56 remaining in the half.
St. Mary’s finally got to the Bronco “D,” scoring a touchdown by a 21-yard run. However, that would be all for the Knights the entire night.
Knox threw a TD pass to Steimel, which put seven more on the board for Brophy with 4:10 left in the quarter. At halftime, Brophy led St. Mary’s 34-7.
To kick off the second half, Gaurotte recovered an onside kick to give the Broncos the ball again. The offense ran the ball for the rest of the drive, and got the touchdown with a Leonesio 5-yard run.
As Brophy led 41-7 with 10:08 in the third quarter, both Knox and Leonesio were replaced by backup running back Kevin Molloy ’11 and backup QB, Garrett Wilson ’11.
Knox had a total 178 yards passing and went 12 for 16 with 3 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Leonesio had 152 total yards (46 receiving and 106 rushing) along with three touchdowns. Both contributed to 41 of the 44 points.
Brophy will carry their 3-0 record to Centennial on Sept. 17. Centennial is projected to be the best team in the state ahead of Hamilton and the Broncos, even though they are a 5A-II school.