Brophy 32
Mountain Ridge 0
By Ian C. Beck ’12
THE ROUNDUP
In an interview with The Roundup previewing the 2011 football season, head coach Mr. Scooter Molander pointed to consistency on offense and great defensive as the keys to success.
Both of those themes were on display in the Broncos’ 32-0 victory over Mountain Ridge in their first game of the season Aug. 26 at Phoenix College.
Brophy scored on five of their nine possessions, two of which were spent running out the clock late in the fourth quarter with the game already in hand, and the defense shut out the Mountain Lions, forcing four turnovers.
“Our defense was Bronco defense tonight,” Mr. Molander said. “At times we bended, never broke, always rallied to the football and created some turnovers.”
Brophy’s success was spread across its roster.
Four different Bronco defenders forced turnovers, three wide receivers had more than 75 receiving yards and two running backs had seven carries.
Andrew Curtis ’13 and Jack Stamets ’12 both recovered fumbles for Brophy and Freddy Gammage ’12 and Robert Relf ’13 both came away with interceptions.
Gammage led the team’s wide receivers with 81 yards on five catches, including a four-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of the first half to put Brophy ahead 20-0.
Devon Allen ’13 had 78 yards on three catches and hauled in a touchdown of his own, a 29-yard score to put the Broncos on the board with 6:20 remaining in the first quarter.
Matt Auran ’13 also had 76 receiving yardsand caught a team-leading seven passes, including a 44-yard touchdown pass.
D’Amani Grayer ’13 and Andrew Simon ’12 had seven carries, Grayer for 77 yards and Simon, who was making his debut as a Bronco after transferring from the east coast, for 22 yards.
Simon scored with an 11-yard touchdown run.
“It was great,” Mr. Molander said of Simon’s run. “He was shot out of a cannon, he hit it with trust, he trusted the offensive tackle that was going to lead him through the hole and I’m really excited for him. He was fresh and boy he hit it, he did a great job.”
In his first game back after a season-ending injury last year, Tyler Bruggman ’13 threw for 235 yards, completing 15 of 25 passes and tossing three touchdowns.
After the game, Bruggman said he was happy to be out on the field again
He also said it was a great opening game but there were still things for the team to improve upon.
Mr. Molander echoed the idea that the team still had areas to address.
“There’s plenty to work on, there’s plenty of mistakes,” he said. “For a first ball game our guys played well.”
Mountain Ridge had the ball 12 times and could muster only three drives of 10 plays or longer, their longest drive consisting of 11 plays which ended in an interception.
Their only trip to the red zone ended in a missed field goal.
Brophy scored three times in the first half and led 20-0 at the break. Mountain Ridge received the ball to start the second half, looking to chip into the Bronco’s lead but on their first play a botched snap rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety giving Brophy two points and possession.
The Broncos would march downfield on the back of a 50-yard reception by Gammage and knocked in a 22-yard field goal to go up 25-0 and put the game away for good.
