By Ian C. Beck ’12
THE ROUNDUP

First Down: Running back trio works to perfection

Brophy’s three running backs shared carries against Sandra Day O’Connor Sept. 16, and each scored in the Bronco’s 50-0 victory.

Coming in to Brophy’s 50-0 victory, sophomore running back D’Amani Grayer ’13 led the team with 287 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

D’Amani Grayer ’13 started the game and carried the ball five times for 52 yards and a touchdown.

Senior Andrew Simon ’12 had the bulk of the team’s second half carries, led the team with 53 rushing yards and scored from six yards out in the fourth quarter.

Marche Dennard ’13, making his season debut after missing three games with a broken left foot, scored a seven-yard touchdown run on his first carry of the season and added another 17-yard carry later in the game. Dennard also played linebacker against Sandra Day.

Grayer and Dennard look to have a lion’s share of playing time in coming weeks.

Dennard expressed his excitement about being a part of a dual-threat with Grayer after the game.

“It’s great,” Dennard said. “We feed off each other. If he gets in, I get in. If I do something good, he does something good.”

Second Down: Broncos improve to 4-0 for first time in years

With consecutive wins over Mountain Ridge, Boulder Creek, Red Mountain and most recently Sandra Day O’Connor, the Broncos are 4-0, a record they have not achieved in several years.

In 2006, the Broncos opened the season with a 2-2 record through their first four games. In 2007, they won three of their first four contests.

Brophy went 2-2 in their first four games in 2008 and won their first three games of the 2009 season before falling to Centennial in their fourth game.

Last season, the Broncos opened their year with two consecutive victories before losing three straight.

Brophy is now the No. 2 team in their division, tied with Chandler Hamilton, Chandler Basha and Desert Vista with 4-0 records.

Of the six teams remaining on the Bronco’s schedule only three have winning records: North Canyon (3-1), Westview (3-1) and Pinnacle (4-0) and none rank in the top five teams in the division.

Third Down: Opposing teams avoiding Cahal

Sandra Day threw the ball to a receiver senior cornerback Matthew Cahal ’12 was covering just once in Brophy’s win, a pass attempt that was almost intercepted.

Pass attempts that go Cahal’s way seem to be infrequent and practically nonexistent so far this season.

As a junior, Cahal came away with two interceptions. This season he has none but that largely has to do with the fact that the ball hasn’t been going his way.

Whether or not teams are intentionally avoiding him or if it just happens to be coincidence, the ball simply has not been directed to Cahal’s half of the field so far in 2011.

Head coach Mr. Scooter Molander noted how important it was to have a corner like Cahal after the game.

“He is a great cover corner,” Mr. Molander said. “It’s really important to have a guy like that because every team has a great wide receiver. It’s good to have a guy that can lock them down.”

Fourth Down: Red Army out in full force again

It has been a good season for the Brophy Red Army. The Broncos have played in three home games so far and in each of those contests, fans have filled the stands at Phoenix College with a sea of red.

In Brophy’s opening win against Mountain Ridge, the Brophy Student Council encouraged fans to arrive wearing “crazy hats” and sure enough students came wearing Spartan helmets, lamp shades and various other unusual headwear.

Against Boulder Creek in the second game of the season, a beach theme was instituted and fans came wearing swimsuits and board shorts.

And Friday night, in honor of the Back to School dance’s “Beauty and the Geek” theme, students donned their nerdiest attire with high socks, wide-brimmed glasses and shorts pulled up to their belly buttons.