Aidan Hansen is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Maryvale High School for AZPreps365.com.

PHOENIX – The Maryvale Panthers lost to the Trevor G. Browne Bruins 53-0, Friday night in "The Pride of Westview" battle that is now even after their 14th game against each other.  

The Panthers fought hard against the Bruins and are looking for their first win following several blowout losses. They are in the process of rebuilding their football program, remain good sports and are always thinking positively. 

Panther’s quarterback Devin Murphy rushed for 27 yards in the first half and completed one pass for nine yards, but threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

“I saw some improvement, but at the end of the day, if we don’t have it upfront, then we don’t have it," Panthers head coach Byron Traylor said. "If we improve that part of the passing game, we will be a whole lot better."

Murphy finished the game with three completions for 25 yards and 12 rushing attempts for 47 yards.

“Every time he [Murphy] gets the opportunity, he does his best," Panthers quarterback coach Devante Stokes said. "You can only control what you can control, everything else is out of your hands, just play your game."

Panthers running back De’Kyndrick Evans had a hard time getting around the Bruins tough defense as he only rushed for 11 yards on 10 carries. Evans is also fighting injuries that sidelined him midway through last week’s game against Younker High School.

“He’s running hard, he’s giving it his all” Murphy said “He wants to stay in the game, he’s tough, he’s been banged up since last week. He still came out here running hard. He got injured again and came back in. I love having him on my team.”

Bruins quarterback Mannie Campos rushed for 51 yards in the first half, scoring on a 40-yard rushing touchdown. He completed 3-of-9 passes for 28 passing yards and an interception at the end of the first half. 

Campos finished the game 4-of-10 for 42 yards and two carries for 51 rushing yards.

Luis Ponce was the star player of the game.

Running all over the Panther’s defensive line, Ponce carried the ball 10 times for 157 rushing yards and a touchdown. 

“Focusing more on who has the ball, rather than just taking the first early read, which isn’t bad but allowed for a lot of those big plays to happen,” Maryvale offensive and defensive line coach Gil Morales said.

One improvement that shined bright from all previous games was the Panthers receiving core.

“I’m glad he [Murphy] is looking to pass more, and on the receiving end I'm glad they're starting to take more initiative and keeping their opportunities high with trying to get open and understanding player recognition,” wide receiver coach Allante Shines said.  

Another improvement from last week that Traylor had stressed was the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on the Panthers. They didn't have any misconduct penalties called on them Friday night.

Traylor also believes in understanding his team and knowing the mood of it. Traylor promised himself to not yell during the game because his players needed to understand where they lost focus.

 “Little mental mistakes had us down, that’s why I went in there and was kind of in more of a calming voice," he said. "I could see they were down on themselves and you have to know the mood of the team that they're in."

The Panthers play Moon Valley High School next Friday.