Brophy 34
Desert Vista 7
By Chase Bayless ’15
THE ROUNDUP
The Broncos were able to come away with a much needed victory Friday, Nov. 1 against Desert Vista as they scored the third most points all season and allowed only one scoring drive.
Brophy finished their season with back-to-back wins over Dobson and Desert Vista to secure a spot in the playoffs, as the No. 12 seed with a first round matchup against Westview.
“If we lost there was still an outside chance we could still get in with the 16th seed, we obviously are a lot happier in this situation,” said head coach Mr. Scooter Molander.
On Desert Vista’s first drive, the Thunder converted on multiple fourth downs and took the ball all the way inside Brophy’s 20-yard line. But the defense finally made a fourth down stand after the eight minute drive.
The Broncos were unable to put points up on its only drive of the first quarter, but went on to score five touchdowns in the final three quarters.
Sophomore running back Ryan Velez ’16 saw a heavy workload with 25 carries for 129 yards and two touchdowns.
Quarterback Brian Woodward ’14 also added 56 rushing yards, a season-high for him.
“We knew that we needed to be able to run the ball and our offensive line did a great job,” Mr. Molander said.
Woodward threw just 12 passes for 130 yards the entire game, but was efficient as three of those went for touchdowns, including a 46-yard bomb to Streator Bates ’15 who made a one-handed over the shoulder catch.
The Thunder’s lone score came halfway through the third quarter.
“Gary Galante, our defensive coordinator, put together a great game plan.” Mr. Molander said. “We did a nice job of running to the football and gang tackling.”
Brophy came into the 2013 season with the challenge of replacing almost all of its starters from the 2012 team and had the added pressure of playing some of the toughest teams in the state.
“Certainly the most challenging schedule our school has ever played.” Mr. Molander said. “We’ve overcome a lot. I’ve never coached a team with as many injuries as we’ve had this year.”
The Broncos will face off against No. 5 Westview Nov. 8.
