Grace Hand is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Brophy Prep for AZPreps365.com

With 1:07 left in the third quarter, the top-seeded Brophy Prep Broncos were staring down a 17-0 deficit at home to No. 8 seed Casteel. Then, a high snap on a Casteel punt was mishandled and kicked through the back of the end zone, resulting in a safety. Just under six minutes later, Broncos quarterback Charlie McGinnis kept the ball for an 8-yard touchdown to make the score 17-9. 

While the Colts’ 17-point lead in the 6A quarterfinal game took some of life out of the crowd gathered at Central High School Friday night, the Broncos bench was anything but quiet. With their season on the line, they kept their belief in themselves alive.

“It was just a whole lot of kids that didn’t want to quit,” Brophy coach Jason Jewell said. “That’s really what it was. It wasn’t any special calls or anything like that, it was our kids that had no quit in them.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Casteel jumped onto the board just over six minutes into the second on a 3-yard fourth-and-goal run from sophomore Mason Lewis. Those were the only points until a 40-yard field goal by senior Cyrus Aguinaga put the Colts up 10-0 with eight minutes left in the third. 

Less than a minute later, a pass from McGinnis was intercepted by senior Gerayas Grimes and taken 22 yards into the end zone to give the Colts a 17-0 lead.  The pick was McGinnis’ second of three on the night. 

“We had a couple turnovers and were not able to score in the red zone from the 1-yard line,” Jewell said. “It was just about finishing, and finishing on defense as well.”

McGinnis added a second rushing touchdown to his total with 6:16 left in the fourth quarter. A two-point attempt was successfully converted by sophomore running back Harrison Chambers to tie the game at 17. 

A squib kick by Brophy took a bounce off of a Casteel player and was recovered by the kicking team, setting the Broncos up on the Colts’ 48-yard line. Six plays later, the go-ahead touchdown was caught by sophomore Daylen Sharper, who finished with 51 receiving yards. 

“I trust my quarterback and he trusts me,” Sharper said. “We knew the one-on-one matchup was good and we knew I could beat that guy, so he just trusted me and kept airing it out. Obviously, that worked for us.”

Casteel got the ball back with 3:31 left with a chance to go down the field and tie it. The first snap of their drive, Brophy defensive lineman Josh Finch-Logan forced a fumble from the hands of Casteel quarterback Jeremiah Newcombe. 

Brophy running back Carlos Estrada sealed the game with a 4-yard carry into the end zone with 1:43 on the clock. Estrada finished the night with 65 rushing yards, 32 of which came in the second half.  

“Casteel had a great defensive line and we were working all night to find some holes,” Estrada said. “Toward the second half, we really started to exploit their defense and our O-line really stepped up, which made it all that much easier for me.”

Despite the offense turning up the heat at the right moment, it was the Brophy defense and special teams play that kept them in the game. 

“Our defense, I believe they’re the best in the state,” Estrada said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are right now and with our record.”

Jewell shared a similar sentiment toward his defense and special teams players.

“They’re what won the football game ultimately,” Jewell said. “Our kids could’ve easily hung their heads and chose to quit and they didn’t, so we earned another week.”

Still, Jewell acknowledged that his team has a lot to work on before their semifinal matchup next week.

“We can’t not score any points for three quarters,” Jewell said. “We’re not going to get this lucky again. So we’ve got to start fast and we have to finish drives.” 

Brophy will host No. 12 seed Red Mountain on Friday at 7 p.m. Red Mountain upset Pinnacle on Friday, winning 27-24 in overtime.