By Erik T. Masingill ’12
THE ROUNDUP
First Down: Brophy eliminated from playoffs after loss to Mountain Pointe
After beating Mountain Ridge in the first round of the state football playoffs Nov. 12, the 13th seeded Broncos looked to add another upset to their list when they traveled to Mountain Pointe to battle the fifth-seeded Pride on Nov. 19.
However, Mountain Pointe beat the Broncos 13-12. The Pride’s defense scored the only touchdown for the team on an interception return by Izzy Marshall and limited Brophy’s offense to 12 points.
“Our defense was excellent,” said head coach Mr. Scooter Molander. “Those guys really played their tails off. We’re six inches away from winning that football game.”
Brophy is now eliminated from contention as Mountain Pointe will advance to the semifinals Dec. 3 to face the Hamilton Huskies.
The Broncos finished the season including the playoffs with an even 6-6 record.
This is also the second consecutive year where Brophy was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs. The Broncos lost to the Mesa Jackrabbits 13-3 last year Nov. 21 at Phoenix College.
Second Down: Brophy offense limited to 12 total points
Unlike the Mountain Ridge game where the offense put up 24 points, Brophy was bound to 12 points against Mountain Pointe.
Brophy had six points each half. The first six points came from a Josh Dennard ’11 one-yard rushing touchdown in the first after a turnover by Mountain Pointe on the opening kickoff.
In the second half, Brophy scored on a Fred Gammage ’12 13-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter on a long third down play.
Gammage finished 11-19 with 101 yards and two interceptions along with his 13-yard rushing touchdown.
Josh Dennard had 35 rushing yards and a touchdown as well as 31 receiving yards. Marche Dennard ’13 had 64 rushing yards.
Devon Allen ’13 had two catches for 24 yards and had 12 total rushing yards.
The Broncos finished the year 1-3 when they scored 12 points or less. The other three games the offense scored 12 or fewer points were in losses to Centennial (30-7) and Hamilton (27-0) and a win at Mesa (9-7).
Third Down: Turnovers lead to key touchdowns for both teams
There were a total of four turnovers in the game. Two turnovers were committed by each team.
The Broncos had two intercepted passes in the first half. Mountain Pointe fumbled the opening kickoff and fumbled on a carry in the fourth quarter.
The Pride scored their only touchdown off of an interception return on a pass from Gammage.
The Broncos were able to score their second touchdown, a Gammage 13-yard run, on a drive produced from a Danny Riggs ’11 forced fumble and recovery.
Besides two Mountain Pointe field goals, there were no touchdown drives from the offense in which the drive was not the result of a turnover.
Fourth Down: Another crew of seniors say goodbye to Brophy football
Another season of football may be completed, but this year is the last football season for the seniors.
The seniors are the only Brophy class as of now who have experienced a state championship victory as students of the school.
At the time, the future graduates of 2011 were freshmen in 2007 when Brophy won their latest 5A-1 State Championship defeating the Desert Vista Thunder 34-21 Dec. 8.
There are 27 seniors on this year’s team including Charley Beck ’11, Riggs and Dennard.
However, with the seniors graduating, it opens up an opportunity for the sophomores such as Allen, Tyler Bruggman ’13, Marche Dennard and Matt Auran ’13, and juniors such as Gammage, Jake Faust ’12 and Matt Cahal ’12 to fill that leadership on the team next year.
