Thursday, October 6, 2011

Brophy wins wild game on FSN



Justin Janssen

Brophy (7-0) hadn’t played a tight game or faced a tough foe all season. That changed when they took on Westview (5-2) in front of a raucous student section and a large TV audience on FSN.

The Broncos escaped a wild contest consisting of questionable officiating and coaching calls, along with game-changing plays, and they survived 11 penalties for 130 yards.

Kicker Zach Hudson nailed the game-winning 46-yard field goal with 1:53 remaining to finish off the Knights.

On the first drive of the game, Brophy looked like they had all season and stormed down the field, taking a 7-0 lead in 1:48. Tyler Bruggman hit Fred Gammage on a 30-yard touchdown strike. But their offense later had trouble protecting Bruggman leading to a slew of tipped passes.

Westview’s offense stalled as well in the first quarter, but started to pick up momentum in the second behind their run-oriented Wing-T attack.

On a fourth down and 10 from their own 20, Brophy coach Scooter Molander made a surprising call by going for it. Bruggman threw his first pick of the season on the season, jump-starting the Westview offense.

After receiving great field position, Westview took the lead on a three-yard touchdown run by Shayne Miller. The Knights had just scored two touchdowns in a two minute window to take their first lead of the game.

At the half, Brophy trailed 14-7, the latest they’ve trailed in a game all season. But in the third quarter, Bruggman found Gammage again in the end zone, this time for 12 yards tying up the score.

After a huge gain by Westview's back Seivion Morris, the Knights had the ball at the Brophy three. However, on second down, they fumbled the football and Brophy linebacker Andrew Curtis recovered. Three plays later Fred Gammage hauled in a nice one-handed 82-yard touchdown that he said he ran the wrong rout on. Gammage scored all three Brophy touchdowns and had 183 yards on five catches.

Early in the fourth quarter, Westview tied the game on a 60-yard strike. Blake Hohn found receiver Ivan Towsend, catching Brophy's defense napping.

Midway through the final quarter, the Brophy had a 4th down and four from midfield. Brophy appeared to be going for it, but the Broncos had punter Matt Auran in the backfield. Auran’s surprise punt was downed inside the Westview five yard line.

Westview could not get a first down on the drive and was forced to punt. Devon Allen returned the kick all the way to the Westview 25 yard line, setting up great field position for the Broncos.

Four plays later, Zach Hudson nailed the game-winner.

In another stunning move by Molander, Brophy went for onside kick, but didn’t recover. On the very first play from scrimmage, Blake Hahn threw an interception to Brophy safety Jake Faust, who returned it into Westview territory. Brophy ran the ball three times to work the clock down to five seconds. Bruggman was sacked on 4th down, and somehow only three seconds elapsed on the play.

Westview took over on downs from their own 35 yard line, needing 65 yards for the winning score. They threw a check-down pass, turning a short pickup into a huge gain on laterals. Visions of the “Music City Miracle” and Trinity’s miracle permeated through the eyes of every fan watching. Westview’s coach hurt himself on play, and ended up in crutches.

Westview nearly ran the ball in the end zone, but were stopped 20 yards short. The Brophy fans stormed the field for the second time this game, but there was a flag on the field. Confusion ensued and there was a sideline warning on Brophy - a dead ball foul.

Brophy's fans could finally storm - for a third time - but this time they were assured the victory.

No comments:

Post a Comment