Brophy 54
Chandler 44
By George Liddy ’14
THE ROUNDUP
“Chandler is explosive … they deserve a lot of credit for playing as well as they did” said head coach Mr. Scooter
Molander about Brophy’s first round opponent Nov. 2.
Brophy football defeated Chandler 54-44 after a back and forth battle, helped by three Will Edwards ’14 touchdowns.
Chandler was able to keep the game close the entire night and even had a 31-28 lead at the half. They also had the ball for more than 33 of the 48 minutes in the game.
However, they were plagued by penalties, committing 16 of them for a total of 106 yards.
Chandler jumped to an early lead when they scored a touchdown off of a 20-yard run on their first possession. This was set up by a kickoff return that went all the way to Brophy’s 33 yard line. However, the Wolves were unable to complete their two point attempt after the touchdown, so they led 6-0.
Brophy responded quickly scoring their own touchdown in about 40 seconds. The drive lasted four plays and ended when Devon Allen ’13 ran for 40 yards to the end zone. Phil Mourikes ’14 made the point after giving the broncos a 7-6 lead still early in the first quarter.
The Wolves would get the lead back on their next drive. This drive was kept alive by Chandler’s offense that converted five third downs. They also scored on a third down pass. This time they were able to get the two points after on a lob pass to the corner of the end zone to take the lead 14-7.
The Broncos responded with another quick touchdown on a drive of six plays. It started with a 46-yard pass from Tyler Bruggman ’13 to Clarence Clark ’13 and was capped off by a seven yard run by backup running back Edwards. This tied the game at 14-14 still in the first quarter.
Brophy got the ball back after the first defensive stop of the game. They capitalized on this with another quick drive, consisting of a 25-yard run by Edwards and a 34-yard touchdown pass to Clark. The Broncos regained the lead at 21-14 and they held it until the end of the first quarter.
Chandler would not be stopped on their next drive. They quickly moved the ball down the field and scored on a 33-yard pass to even the score at 21-21 early in the second quarter.
Brophy answered with one of their longer drives of the game consisting of seven plays. Edwards finished it with a three-yard touchdown run for a 28-21 lead.
On their next possession, the Wolves ate up a lot of clock time with multiple running plays, but they were eventually stopped on a third and long situation. They were forced to settle for a field goal and the Broncos still held the lead at 28-24.
On the kickoff play Chandler kicked the ball before Brophy was on the field. The referees allowed this play the Wolves recovered the ball at Brophy’s 47 yard line.
“He (the referee) blew the whistle a couple of times, and I didn’t have the team ready…that’s on me,” Mr. Molander said about the onside kick.
Chandler took the ball down the field and scored on an 18-yard pass. This gave Chandler a 31-28 lead at the half.
On their first possession of the 3rd quarter, Bruggman took the ball into the end zone himself to cap off a quick drive that was assisted by a costly 15-yard penalty on the Wolves. The Broncos went for two but were unsuccessful so they lead by only three, 34-31.
Brian Woodward ’14 intercepted a pass several drives later and gave the Broncos the ball at Chandler’s 35 yard line.
Brophy took advantage of the turnover on the next play when Bruggman threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Clark. After making the point after Brophy took a 41-31 lead, their biggest of the game.
Chandler responded with its fastest drive of the game. They scored on a 34-yard touchdown run after four plays, cutting the Broncos’ lead to 41-38 at the end of the third quarter.
Brophy scored another touchdown off of a pass from Bruggman to Matt Auran ’13. This gave Brophy a 48-38 lead.
However, Chandler was able to bounce back with a few long passes on third down to score a touchdown. On the point after attempt, D’Amani Grayer ’13 ran around the Wolves defensive line and blocked the kick to keep the Broncos lead at four, 48-44.
Brophy would score on their next drive that was then capped off by a 24-yard touchdown run by Edwards, his third of the game, which gave Brophy a 54-44 lead with about three minutes to go.
The Wolves would not go down easily. They threw a 22-yard pass for a first down followed by a 40-yard pass that put them at the Broncos four yard line with over two minutes left. However, on the next play the Chandler fumbled the ball and Jordan Robinson ’14 picked it up and took it all the way to Chandler’s 31 yard line.
Andrew Curtis ’13 iced the game with an acrobatic 12-yard run that consisted of him backpedaling for about 5 yards before being dragged down. After that, the Broncos were able to take a knee and end the game.
“I came into the game knowing that I had to step up, my offensive line did a great job … they made all of the holes,” Edwards said about his three touchdown, 80-yard rushing performance.
Brophy will face Red Mountain in the quarter final game Friday, Nov. 9 at Phoenix College.
“We have a couple of guys banged up … we need to rest up and we will be ready,” Edwards said.
Notes:
- Brophy only had the ball for about 15 minutes. This means they scored all 54 of their points while they only had the ball for 30 percent of the game compared to Chandler having it for 70 percent of the game.
- Brophy will play Red Mountain next week at home. This is a rematch of a game Brophy lost 33-31 earlier in the season.
- This was Brophy’s seventh game in which they scored more than 50 points and their fourth straight of the same accomplishment.
- Brophy was only forced to punt once.
- Chandler converted first downs on 13/16 of their third downs.
More Photos from the Game: