Brophy 52
Pinnacle 7
By Erik T. Masingill ’12
THE ROUNDUP
A 35-0 lead at the end of the first quarter led Brophy not only to playing its second and third string players in the entire second half, but to a 52-7 road victory over the Pinnacle Pioneers Oct. 28.
This win marked a 10-0 undefeated regular season for Brophy. The last Brophy team to have an undefeated season was the 1978 team.
“The number one contribution we have each and every week are our scout teams,” said coach Mr. Scooter Molander of the success this season. “Our alternate players bring it. They bring it every day. That is the number one reason why we are playing well.”
The Brophy defense struck first on Pinnacle’s opening drive when Ryan Castellani ’14 intercepted a pass at the Pinnacle 30-yard line and returned it for a touchdown to gain a quick 7-0 lead.
Brophy’s first offensive drive resulted in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Bruggman ’13 to Devon Allen ’13 to make the score 14-0 with 9:42 left in the first.
The Broncos’ next drive only took two plays and a little over a minute for Bruggman to connect a 58-yard touchdown pass to Clarence Clark ’13 to give Brophy a 21-0 lead.
The defense forced another turnover and Robert Relf ’13 recovered a Pinnacle fumble at the Pioneers’ 25-yard line.
Two plays later, D’ Amani Grayer ’13 ran for a one-yard touchdown carry to increase the score to 28-0 with 6:47 left in the first.
Pinnacle’s third turnover led Brophy to score quickly again with a Bruggman 24-yard touchdown pass to Fred Gammage ’12 that gave the Broncos a 35-0 lead.
The Broncos scored on its first play of the second quarter after Bruggman found Clark again for a 14-yard touchdown pass providing a 42-0 lead.
On Brophy’s next drive, Bruggman threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Gammage with 4:03 left in the second quarter to gain a 49-0 lead.
A 36-yard field goal by Zach Hudson ’12 ended the first half where the Broncos led 52-0. The Broncos scored at least a field goal or more on every drive in the first half.
Pinnacle was able to avoid the shutout in the fourth quarter with a Michael Sanders 42-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cappellini to make the score 52-7 with 3:31 left.
Brophy was able to run out the clock and seal a 52-7 win.
Bruggman went 14-16 passing for 221 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Allen caught three passes for 59 yards with one touchdown along with two rushes for 30 yards.
Gammage caught six passes for 81 yards including two touchdowns. Clark nabbed three passes for 76 yards along with two touchdowns.
The defense caused four turnovers and five three-and-out drives for the Pinnacle offense.
“Our offensive line gave him (Bruggman) tons of time to throw,” Mr. Molander said.
“We ran the ball effectively, and our defense. To do what we did defensively against a team like Pinnacle and to hold them to a touchdown late. We are proud of our guys,” he said.
Pinnacle was not able to move the ball past the 50-yard line and into Bronco territory until five minutes into the third quarter.
“We knew we we’re going to have to come out and hit them hard and make them lay down,” Allen said. “That’s what we did. We kept pounding the ball at them and just kept scoring.”
“We just have to get better all around,” Allen said in preparation for the playoffs. “Every team is going to be bigger, faster, stronger so we just have to keep lifting, keep practicing, keep playing hard and keep doing what we’re doing.”
The Broncos’ 10-0 season gave them enough power points to clinch the No. 2 seed in the Division I playoffs.
The Broncos will face the No. 15 seed Mountain Pointe Friday, Nov. 4 at Phoenix College. Brophy defeated Mountain Pointe earlier in the season 31-14 on Sep. 30.
Click here to see the 2011 Football Division I playoff bracket
More photos from the game:
