The Knight the Streak Died

On the eve of September 11th, 2010, the St. Mary's Knights stunned the #3 Brophy Broncos 16-13. The Broncos came in with a 7 game winning streak against the Knights.

Right from the get go, the Broncos looked jittered. On the second play from scrimmage, Brophy turned it over on a fumble. This play gave St. Mary's excellent field position; the Knights converted two fourth downs on the drive leading to a touchdown.

Preseason concerns were exposed in the loss to St. Mary's. Losing Max Leonesio '10 and Alex Garoutte '10 to graduation hurt. Leonesio ran for over 3000 yards the last two seasons; on Friday Brophy as a team had only 20 yards rushing on 9 carries.

In the second quarter, the Broncos started to gain momentum. Josh Dennard '11 caught a screen pass and scored to close the gap to 10-7. With Brophy down by this score late in the half, coach Scooter Molander dialed up a perfectly excecuted hook and lateral. This play put Brophy in position to tie the game, but they missed the field goal twice. On the first attempt the snap was botched; on the second try Zach Bryan's field goal was blocked.

Brophy and St. Mary's share the stadium at Phoenix College. Normally, Brophy has their DJ playing at games, even on the road. This year DJ Ra stepped up to the mic after DJ Bryce Muzzy '10 graduated. But St. Mary's was worried that a disk jockey would ruin their homefield advantage. St. Mary's hired their own "professional" DJ, but he was drowned out by the raging Brophy fans.

Late in the game, Brophy was mounting a comeback. With the Broncos down 16-7, Tyler Bruggman '13 hit Devon Allen '13 for a touchdown. The extra points, however, were a nightmare. After the first and second attempts were good, penalties called them back. On the third try a St. Mary's penalty gave Zach Bryan '12 a fourth and final shot. He missed it, but Brophy was not done. After St. Mary's nearly turned it over on the kickoff, Brophy forced a three and out. The directional punt was atrocious, giving the Brophy excellent field position at the 23.

The key play was 4th and 10 from the 11 yard line. A field goal would have sent the game into overtime. St. Mary's called timeout to ice Brophy's kicker; instead the Broncos sent the offense back onto the field. They could not convert the fourth down play, and Brophy's 7 game winning streak against St. Mary's was over.

photos by the Arizona Republic