Summary of the 2010 Brophy Broncos Varsity Football Season
By: Justin Janssen '11
A 6-6 season is certainly not as impressive as recent Brophy teams, although just like 2009, the Broncos were eliminated in quarterfinal round. Brophy won nine or more games in each of the past six seasons.
Hiccups:
This year's team dealt with more adversity than in years past, they have had more players than usual quit the team and the team has been plagued with injuries to their best players.
Two defensive captains, safety Joe Maggi '11 and linebacker Ethan Cooper '11 were lost due to season ending injuries. Maggi led the 2009 Broncos with four interceptions, but he tore his ACL before the season started. Cooper hurt his shoulder against Chandler midway through the season.
Quarterback Chase Knox transferred to Madison High School (CA) just two days before the season started allegedly because he did not want to split time with Tyler 
Bruggman '13.
Garrett Wilson '11 switched from quarterback to safety in order to get more playing time. However he hurt his ankle midway through the season against Red Mountain and would not return to play again.
Bruggman injured his ankle in what was described as a "freak accident" and his injury could lead into spring practice.
The St. Mary's Knights broke their seven game losing streak against the Brophy Broncos with a 16-13 win. On fourth and goal from the Knights 10, Brophy originally had their kicking team on the field, but after a Knights timeout, the Broncos elected to go for it. Bruggman threw incomplete to Jordan Graves '11, ending the game.
Brophy's kickers - Zac Bryan '12 and Casey Skowron '11 combined on the season to make 6 field goals in 16 tries and made 19 extra points in 29 tries. Skowron first joined the team less than a month before the season concluded; Skowron primarily plays soccer.
Fans had been spoiled by the play of kicker/punter/safety Alex Garoutte '10, who was 14/17 on field goals and 34/37 on extra points. Garoutte is now playing at Arizona State.
Highlights:
Fred Gammage '12 switched from wide receiver to quarterback before the Mesa game because Brophy did not have a healthy quarterback on their roster. Gammage played well considering the circumstances; he completed over 64 percent of his passes.
Three defensive players stood out this year: cornerback Matt Cahal '12, defensive 
end Charley Beck '11, and linebacker Robert Relf '13.
Cahal led the team with five interceptions, recorded 76 tackles (third most on team), and blocked two field goals. Although Beck is undersized for his position, at 185 pounds, but he has 14 sacks on the season (second in 5A-I), and is second on the team with 93 tackles. Relf leads the team with 113 tackles and also has three sacks.
Running back/wide receiver Josh Dennard '11 played well piling up 1100 rushing and receiving yards. Dennard led the team in scoring with 13 touchdowns.
High Hopes:
There is certainly promise for the future. Speedy wide receiver Devon Allen '13 recorded 60 catches (leads 5A-I) for 915 
yards (third in 5A-I) and six touchdowns.
Josh's brother Marche Dennard '13 should be able to fill Josh's shoes; Dennard ran for over 300 yards and averaged over six yards a carry. Over 200 of those yards came in the last four games of the season and scored three touchdowns during that stretch.
Wide receiver/punter Matt Auran '13 came on strong late in the season. He did not get regular playing time at wide receiver until midway through the season, but caught 19 passes for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns. Auran also averaged 33 yards a punt.
The season concluded with a 13-12 loss to No. 5 Mountain Pointe in the quarterfinals. Brophy earned the 13th seed in the playoffs and knocked off No. 4 Mountain Ridge 24-17 in the first round. The Broncos went on three different two game winning streaks: Deer Valley and Gilbert, Red Mountain and Mesa, and Yuma and Mountain Ridge.
In 2011, the Broncos could go on a tear because their young talent has experience in the varsity level. Brophy relied on a slew of sophomores in 2010; Allen, Dennard, Auran, Relf, Bruggman, Andrew Curtis '13, Charlie Renfree '13, and Dominic Riccitelli '13.
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