Brophy Prep bounces out of its bye week with a 51-10 victory
October 18, 2024 by Ethan Ignatovsky, Arizona State University
Ethan Ignatovsky is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Brophy Prep for AZPreps365.
PHOENIX - It was a cold and windy Friday night in the desert when Brophy College Prep traveled to Desert Vista to take on the Thunder. With the temperature just above 60 degrees Fahrenheit at kickoff, the summer heat in The Valley seemed to disappear as if the seasons finally decided to change.
The weather wasn’t the only thing entering a new act on October 18 as the Broncos were coming off of a bye week following a narrow 35-32 loss to Basha, the only blemish of the year for head coach Jason Jewell and team.
With the game at 7:00 p.m., Brophy Prep started off the second act of the regular season with a bounce-back win in just in two hours and eight minutes, defeating Desert Vista (1-6) 51-10.
For Jewell, it’s important to take things one week at a time.
“I told our boys we control our own destiny, ” Jewell said after the game. “I know it’s a coaching cliche but now we move on to Corona and again, we control our own destiny. If we do what we’re supposed to do, we can have a chance to accomplish one of our goals, which is to play in the open.”
Brophy Prep’s defense gave up three points (the other seven points were scored on a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown) and pitched a shutout in the first half. The Thunder had multiple chances to score but junior cornerback Deshawn Krein and his teammates played a physical brand of football to keep Desert Vista off the scoreboard for most of the game.
“We’re a physical defense,” Krein said. “It’s just the way we are. It’s how we play our best.”
The offense was also a story of teamwork. Junior quarterbacks Case Vanden Bosch and Rylan Umphrey split time at the helm of the offense.
Vanden Bosch was under center for most of the first half. His 14-yard keeper touchdown near the end of the second quarter made it 42-0 going into halftime and was his fourth touchdown of the half, running for another and throwing for two earlier, to help his team bounce back after the bye week and a loss.
“We put our head down and grinded through the bye week, grinded through this week and really just kept working, knowing that this is a game we should win, and we came out and executed and we did what we had to do,” Vanden Bosch said.
Umphrey also played a major role on a first-half drive when he marched the team downfield before handing the ball off to senior running back Carlos Estrada for an 11-yard touchdown. Umphrey stepped in as quarterback for the second half of the game, something Vanden Bosch didn’t mind.
“It’s all about the team,” Vanden Bosch said with a smile. “I come out and do my job early, I think that was good, it allows my teammates to get in and get reps. If anything happens, we have our teammates getting that experience.”
Umphrey credited the team's preparation throughout the week for their performance as well as its intensity, adding that the win set them up better for the next act.
“We set up a good base, and I think we got to keep it going through these region playoffs,” Umphrey said. “We started off really well with this win, and we’re trying to get it going against Corona next week, too.”