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(Check for story updates with additional game summaries)
Brophy dominates rival
By Howard Schlossberg
The Brophy Prep Broncos are back.
They served notice to the rest of the Arizona high school football community with a convincing 49-0 win over St. Mary’s at Central High, in a renewal of a rivalry dating back to 1955.
Brophy scored the first seven times it had the ball and by halftime had a 35-0 lead and a 327-19 advantage in total offense.
Key plays
Brophy made key plays whenever they needed to and they all went through senior quarterback Elijah Warner, whose former Cardinal QB dad watched from his coaching perch on the Bronco sideline.
Warner threw TD passes on the Broncos’ first four possessions and his sure-handed, quick-footed receivers left Knights defenders grasping for air. Layton Duncan out-dashed everyone on Brophy’s first two scores and Carlos Dominguez did the same on the next two, including a 39-yard strike on which he showed his hands and speed.
Warner finished the first half with a 1-yard sneak for a score and capped his evening with an 8-yard swing to Brady Ruther in the third quarter. He finished the first half with 291 passing yards.
Key players, stats
In addition to his skill-position stars, Warner got great protection from his offensive line, which included Luke Whitlow, Sergio Lopez-Perez and Hayden Horn.
The defense, loaded with speed and grit, surrendered but four first downs and 46 total yards. Parker Maggio, Mardale Rowe and of course Zac Swanson recorded five tackles for loss and forced two fumbles that became scores.
Brophy finished with 472 total yards, 356 of them on Warner’s arm and another 71 on Jackson Sririo’s second-half touchdown bolt.
Quotes
Warner could hardly contain himself afterward, saying he “felt great” after missing so much time last year with injuries.
His coach, Jason Jewell, was more than content with the performance but saw room to improve.
“We played a pretty much mistake-free game,” he noted, “but we did not play a perfect game.
“We have to run the ball a little better,” and clean up 9 penalties for 75 yards.
For Jose Lucero, back at his alma mater, he knows his young team (8 seniors) will improve.
“Hats off to Brophy, but we have to clean up things. We’ve got to play better defensively too,. But the kids never quit.”
Up next
St. Mary’s gets back into it own class with a game at Poston Butte.
Williams Field dismantles Higley
Both teams looked nervous to start the game as the offenses took turns with lackluster drives. Then as the teams both got settled in, Higley was the first to strike with a smooth drive that ended with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Cash Merrell to Carter Hancock.
That drive woke up the Williams Field Blackhawks as they then went on 21-0 run in the second quarter. That run included a 43-yard touchdown catch by star wide receiver Kyler Kasper and two touchdown runs by Kaden Cloud. During this offensive onslaught the defense made life rough for both Higley quarterbacks with the defensive line providing constant pressure.
After halftime, the downpour of offense continued as Kasper caught a second long touchdown pass and Cloud ran one in for another touchdown. The Blackhawks defense smothered Higley as they forced several turnovers including an interception they returned for a touchdown. Williams Field went on to win in easy fashion, 49-14.
Star of the game
The star player of tonight’s game was Kaden Cloud. Cloud ran for three touchdowns and an abundance of yards. Cloud said, “In the off-season, I worked on my balance, breaking tackles and yards after contact.” That off-season work definitely showed in his performance.
Play of the game
The play of the game was a 45-yard TD pass from CJ Tiller to Lasjawn Hunter for Williams Field which put the game away as that put the Blackhawks up 35-14 with 11:20 left in the 4th quarter.
Up next
Next week Higley will host Queens Creek as Williams Field will travel to play at La Joya Community.
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