Defense lays foundation for Broncos’ win

It’s not the end of the regular season yet, or even the final home game, but Brophy College Prep chose Friday night to honor their seniors during prior to kickoff. It’s a big group (27 in all) and they’ve been a part of putting the Broncos among the upper echelon of 6A.

For the seniors that played Freshman ball and are now on their third year of varsity football, they’ve helped Brophy post a record of 31-10, including Friday night’s victory over Shadow Ridge.

It was the 6A Central Region opener for both teams and Brophy led the way with a bend, but don’t break defense, besting the Stallions, 43-7 at Ray Laing Field on the campus of Central High School in Phoenix.

Just two weeks ago, Hamilton lit up the Bronco defense for 70 points, but since then, Brophy has allowed just 17 total points in stacking a pair of wins.

”That’s where we’ve improved,” Brophy head coach Jason Jewell said of the run defense. “But, it probably doesn’t show on the stat book tonight.”

Shadow Ridge ended up with a pair of rushers that had big games with Michael Cruz (98 yards) and Joel Cooper (103), but the Stallions were limited to just one touchdown as they turned the ball over three times.

The Standouts

Brophy ATH Ryder Noche

The 5-8, 175-pound junior is in his second year on varsity and made plays in all three phases. Noche was part of a secondary that limited SRHS to just 3-of-13 passing (36 yards). He didn’t intercept any passes on Friday, but has three for the season. In the second half, he played running back and had three carries for 39 yards with two touchdowns. Late in the game, Shadow Ridge attempted a field goal. On a high snap, Noche was there to make the tackle on the holder for a turnover on downs.

Brophy QB Case Vanden Bosch

The 6-2, 205-pound dual-threat quarterback had his third game this year with a trio of touchdown passes. Vanden Bosch started out hot completing his first seven passes and had 121 yards in the first quarter. He didn’t have to run as much as he has earlier this year, but still had a pair of first down scrambles. An Air Force commit, Vanden Bosch is in his second year as the Broncos’ starter and also carries a 4.40 GPA.

Brophy WR Devin Fitzgerald

The Notre Dame commit scored his ninth touchdown of the season on the Broncos’ first drive when he caught passes of 33 and 32 yards. While he wasn’t needed as much as some of the other games this season, Fitzgerald made the most of it with 87 yards on his three catches. He creates separation and has the size (6-2, 205) to have mismatches against defenders. And yes, his father Larry walked down the field with him during pregame.

Brophy RB Harrison Chambers

Earlier this week, the senior earned an offer from Division II South Dakota School of Mines. On Friday, Chambers showed his speed and vision with a 54-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He is in his third year on varsity and is approaching 2,000 career yards (Chambers is at 1,851 after Friday). Vanden Bosch is currently leading the Broncos in rushing. More performances like Friday’s by Chambers makes the Brophy offense less predictable and more lethal.

Brophy DE Evander Vargas

The sophomore defensive lineman (pictured at the top of the article #96) played on the inside during the first four games, but has moved to end for the last two. He had another big game with the heavy dose of running that Shadow Ridge brought (31 running plays and just 13 passes). Late in the second quarter, the Stallions drove inside the Brophy 10-yard line, but fumbled on a pitch play. Vargas was there to make the recovery to squash the threat.

Every Play Counts

• On its opening possession, Shadow Ridge pulled off a fake punt from its own 22-yard line. Ryan Seymour, the punter, ran it 12 yards for a first down.
• On his first pass attempt, Case Vanden Bosch hooked up with Devin Fitzgerald for a 33-yard play to set up the Broncos’ first score. Brophy outgained SRHS in the opening quarter, 201-43.
• In the second quarter, Brophy punter Rudain Khoury boomed a 61-yard punt that was downed at the 8-yard line making a long field for Shadow Ridge.
• Sophomore quarterback Christian Normandin completed a 37-yard pass to Michael Cruz for the biggest play of the Stallions’ most impressive drive of the night. Shadow Ridge went from its own 8 to the Brophy 6-yard line.
• But at the 6-yard line, the Stallions tried a pitch play and it was fumbled. Evander Vargas recovered it for the Broncos. Still, Shadow Ridge outgained the hosts 105-41 in the second quarter despite trailing on the scoreboard.
• On Brophy’s first possession of the third quarter, the Broncos were going to settle for a field goal. However, the kicker was hit and a roughing penalty was called giving Brophy a first down (and the Broncos tacked on a TD on the very next play).
• Freshman cornerback Bishop Allen intercepted a pass for the Broncos at their own 37-yard line. The offense turned that takeaway into a touchdown.
• Shadow Ridge lined up to attempt a field goal in the fourth quarter. But the snap was high and the holder had to chase after it. That allowed Ryder Noche to come through and make the tackle.

Box Score

Broncos 43, Stallions 7

SR	0	0	7	0	7
BCP	15	7	14	7	43

First Quarter

BCP – Devin Fitzgerald 32 yard pass from Case Vanden Bosch (Brady Powell pass from Vanden Bosch), 6:38
BCP – Harrison Chambers 54 yard run (Jack Carson kick), 2:51

Second Quarter

BCP – Powell 10 yard pass from Vanden Bosch (Carson kick), 11:56

Third Quarter

BCP – Ryder Noche 9 yard run (Carson kick), 9:22
BCP – Noche 25 yard run (Carson kick), 6:11
SR – Michael Cruz 24 yard run (Yousif Clemens kick), 2:13

Fourth Quarter

BCP – Donovan McNabb Jr. 30 yard pass from Vanden Bosch (Carson kick), 1:27

Team Statistics

	Shadow Ridge	Brophy
First Downs	11	14
Rushes-Yards	31-200	24-157
Comp-Att-Int	3-13-2	13-17-1
Pass Yards	36	234
Total Yards	236	391
Fumbles Lost	1	1
Penalties	5-40	3-25

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Shadow Ridge – Cooper 13-103, Cruz 16-98, Seymour 2-(minus 1). Brophy – Chambers 7-74, Noche 3-39, Vanden Bosch 8-26, Tobias 4-12, Kinkel 1-4, Fitzgerald 1-2.

Passing

Shadow Ridge – Normandin 3-13-2, 36 yards. Brophy – Vanden Bosch 12-16-1, 202 yards, Sharper 1-1-0, 32 yards.

Receiving

Shadow Ridge – Cruz 3-36. Brophy – Fitzgerald 3-87, McNabb Jr. 2-62, Sharper 5-61, Powell 1-10, Kubica 1-9, Chambers 1-5.

Sound Off

Brophy CB Ryder Noche on the play of the defense: “Defense definitely came out strong. That first quarter was a really good quarter. Second quarter, we let up some big explosive plays. At halftime, we fixed our mistakes.”

Shadow Ridge head coach Mike Zdebski: “We had some new kids out there starting in their first varsity game. The lights were a little big. As they settled in, we played a better second quarter. We tried to get back in the game and we didn’t execute.”

Brophy WR Devin Fitzgerald on the early strategy: “The game plan was attack what’s open. We pushed down the field with the hitch route (32-yard catch). The coach saw them run Cover Zero, he audibles a post and it worked out perfectly (33-yard TD catch).”

Brophy head coach Jason Jewell on the plans for the bye week: “We’ll start working on Higley tomorrow. We have next Friday off of school, plus Monday and Tuesday the following week. Next week, we’ll go Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.”

Next Week

It’s a bye week for both schools next week. Shadow Ridge (3-3 overall, 0-1 6A Central Region) will host Williams Field in Surprise on Thursday, Oct. 16. The Black Hawks (4-2, 0-0) will also be off next week. WFHS has won 2 straight, including Friday over Boulder Creek (52-35). The Black Hawks bring a big and talented offensive line and they’ve scored 101 points the past two weeks.

Brophy (4-2, 1-0) begins the first of three road games on Oct. 17 in Gilbert at Higley (4-2, 1-0). The Knights ended a two-game skid with a 24-17 win over Saguaro on Friday. Higley held on after taking an 18-3 halftime lead. Like the other schools in the region, Higley is also off next week.