Brophy 24
Mountain Ridge 0
By Erik T. Masingill ’12
THE ROUNDUP
It took the Broncos a while to get the engine running Nov. 13 in the first round of the 2009 playoffs, but by night’s end No. 3 Brophy drove to a 24-0 shutout over No. 14 seed Mountain Ridge.
There were a total of eight turnovers in the matchup, and 20 penalties between both teams.
“This game was not a pretty win, but not every game of high school playoff football is pretty,” coach Mr. Scooter Molander said. “We will look at the film tomorrow morning and see what adjustments we can make for next week.”
The Broncos started by recovering an onside kick. However, three plays for only seven yards brought a 60-yard field goal attempt for Alex Garoutte ’10. The kick was short by about a yard.
The Lions’ first play of their drive was a long half-back pass for 59 yards. It set up a 31-yard field goal attempt. However, it was blocked by the Brophy special teams.
Both teams then turned the ball over twice leading to the first quarter’s end with no score.
A Jose Molina ’11 interception set up the first points of the game early in the second quarter. Chase Knox ’12 took it in for a one-yard touchdown and a lead of 7-0 with 10:12 remaining in the half.
Some trickery at the line of scrimmage by the Lions gave them more yardage to build on, but yet again, the Brophy defense came up big as Tom Woodward ’10 caused a fumble and recovered it at their own 17 yard line. At halftime the scoreboard showed Brophy up 7-0.
In the third quarter Ross Luther ’10 grabbed the third Brophy interception, setting up a Garoutte 50-yard field goal attempt. He connected to give Brophy a 10-0 lead with 7:33 left in the quarter.
The Bronco defense shut down the Lions for the rest of the game and Bryan Gomez ’10 came up with a fourth quarter interception.
Backup running back for Max Leonesio ’10, Kevin Molloy ’11, contributed with a 36-yard touchdown run for a 17-0 lead with 8:45 left in the game.
Another one-yard touchdown run from Knox finished the game as Brophy triumphed 24-0.
Leonesio had 117 yards rushing from 17 attempts on the ground only playing the first half. Molloy played the second half and brought in the touchdown rush for the running back duo.
Knox was busy with two rushing touchdowns, both from one yard. He went 11 of 22 in passing with 121 yards in the air and 59 yards rushing.
“I was never worried we were going to lose this game after we played like we did in the first half,” Knox said. “Every time I go out there, no matter who we play, I feel we can come back from a deficit and win the game.”
Mr. Molander said his team was able to capitalize on big plays and a quality start by Knox.
“Tonight was a great job managing the game. We converted on third downs and made big plays that helped us a lot. I feel that (Chase) Knox is doing a tremendous job as the starting quarterback of this playoff team considering he is a sophomore.”
Next week, the Broncos will take on the Mesa Jackrabbits in the second round at Phoenix College. Brophy beat Mesa 26-18 in the regular season at home.
Follow live updates of the Mesa game online at http://roundup.brophyprep.org or www.twitter.com/brophysports.
