Brophy 45
Boulder Creek 33

By Erik T. Masingill ’12
THE ROUNDUP

Last week against Mountain Ridge on Aug. 26, the Brophy football team witnessed its defense shut down Mountain Ridge 32-0.

In their second game against Boulder Creek Sept. 2 at Phoenix College, the Broncos’ defense did not shut out the Jaguars, but made key stops to maintain the lead all game, contributing to a 45-33 win.

“You are going to have success sometimes, and you’re not going to have success every time,” said head coach Mr. Scooter Molander of the Bronco defense the first two games. “I’m proud of our kids for bouncing back. They (Boulder Creek) got the momentum a little bit there for a while, and we kept coming. I’m very proud of that.”

Brophy’s offense quickly went to work after Devon Allen ’13 returned the game-opening kickoff to Boulder Creek’s 30-yard line.

On the fourth play of the set with 10:27 left in the first, Tyler Bruggman ’13 tossed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Fred Gammage ’12 to take an early 7-0 lead.

The Bronco defense responded with a three-and-out on the Jaguars’ first set. A botched snap on the punt by the Jaguars allowed Brophy to begin its next drive at Boulder Creek’s 11-yard line.

The next play, Bruggman found Gammage again for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 8:34 left in the first to increase the score to 14-0.

With 2:01 left in the first, Boulder Creek conducted an eight-play, 78-yard drive that resulted in a 14-yard touchdown run by quarterback Trevor Bonifasi to tighten Brophy’s lead 14-7.

After a fourth-down fake-punt rush by Boulder Creek to obtain another first down, the Jaguars scored again on another trick play where wide-receiver Marquis Bundy threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Bonifasi. A missed extra point maintained Brophy’s lead at 14-13 with 9:32 left in the half.

It only took one minute later for D’ Amani Grayer ’13 to run a 14-yard touchdown carry to set the score at 21-13.

Grayer scored once more in the first half with a 5-yard touchdown rush to change the score to 28-13 at halftime.

Brophy’s offense continued to increase its lead to 35-13 with a third-quarter 59-yard touchdown pass from Bruggman to Allen.

However, the Jaguars responded in a two-play drive. Stephen Landeros carried an 18-yard rush for a touchdown to make the score 35-20 with 8:40 in the third.

At 1:38 left in the quarter, Boulder Creek crept closer to the Broncos after a three-yard touchdown rush by Bonifasi to close the gap at 35-26 after Matt Cahal ’12 blocked the extra point.

Brophy went down into Boulder Creek’s territory again and scored on a 31-yard field goal by Zach Hudson ’12 to grasp a larger lead at 38-26 with 11:15 left in the game.

At 9:31 left in the contest, the Jaguars answered with a three play drive that ended in a 64-yard touchdown run by Bonifasi to close the gap to 38-33.

The Bronco offense came right back its next drive, scoring on a Grayer one-yard touchdown run to expand the lead to 45-33 with 8:22 left.

Brophy’s defense stopped the Jaguars on fourth down with 3:12 left. The offense ran the rest of the clock out as the Broncos improved to 2-0 after a 45-33 victory.

Bruggman went 16-26 passing for 223 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Grayer ran for 138 yards on 18 carries and also scored three touchdowns.

Gammage and Allen were practically identical in receiving. Gammage caught six passes for 104 yards along with two touchdowns while Allen caught six passes for 103 yards along with a touchdown.

“We got a lot of weapons,” Mr. Molander said. “Our offensive line did a great job protecting tonight for the most part. Receivers ran really good routes. Tyler (Bruggman) is a super smart young man. He really understands football.”

Grayer said his success was a result from the offensive unit’s success as a whole.

“The o-line handled their job,” he said. “They got a great push off the snap count. Pulling, they were quick, and they were fast. They turned one way and allowed me to make the cut. They did their job great. (Clarence) Clark (’13), Allen, Gammage, (Matt) Auran (’13). All four of them blocked exceptionally well for me.”

Mr. Molander said Grayer had a big impact on the game.

“D’amani (Grayer) had an excellent game,” he said. “He came out tonight. Not only did he have speed, he had power, he had vision, and he passed-protected well and even blocked well on a couple of times. He played tremendously.”

The Broncos will play their next and first road game of the season Sept. 9 at Red Mountain who is 1-1.

Click here to see more photos from the game