Jonah Simkin England is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Central High School for AZPreps365.com. 

 

Fans loomed over the crater-like dirt pit surrounding the Browne High School football field, which gave the illusion that whoever dared enter the field stayed. The Central High School football team took its sideline just before the 7 p.m. kickoff, ready for the beginning of a highly anticipated rivalry game.

“It's quite a rivalry,” said Ezekiel Hanford, a Central High School videographer. “Honestly, I don't like Browne, so I really do hope we beat this team.” 

Central football, which beat Brown 7-3 on Friday, October 18, entered the matchup 1-5 and are now 2-5 behind first-year head coach, Chris Barrett, while Browne is 0-7 on the season. This marked the only regular season matchup between the two rival schools this football season.

Dorian “DJ” Turner Jr., defensive end for Browne, played the rivalry game in brown and orange for the first time. The senior transferred from Central to Browne at the beginning of the 2024 school year. 

Turner was a staple on a Central team that won the Division 5A Arizona State Championship in back-to-back years. The first of the two trophies came in 2022 followed by another in 2023. In his junior year with Central, Turner recorded 43 total tackles in eight games.

As a senior for Browne, Turner has 10 total tackles in four games so far this season. 

“Just a bunch of love for the sport,” Turner said reflecting on the game. “We are all hungry. We all wanted to win, but at the end of the day, it’s still all love.”

Despite the low score, Browne and Central played a hard 48 minutes of football. The only touchdown of the game was scored on a pass to Maxwell Miles for Central in the last moments of the first quarter. Browne responded with a field goal at the beginning of the second quarter. 

Emotion ruled the turf as neither team could hold the ball in the second half. Central and Browne traded turnover for turnover throughout the October night until the final minutes of the game. 

“Since I’ve been here, our main focus is trying to focus on the little things and getting the little things right,” Barrett said after the game. “The little things kick our ass. I truly believe our record should be 5-2 right now. I won a state championship in California with guys that wouldn’t start on this team. Talent isn't everything.” 

With just over four minutes left in the game, Browne had the ball on their 47 yard line and lined up to punt on fourth-and-9 but ran the ball instead. Brown picked up 30 yards on the fake and found a first-and-goal later that drive. 

Brown ran three run plays in a row that were all stuffed by the Central defensive line. With time running down and nowhere to run, Browne decided to pass. 

Browne quarterback Kenyon Hale floated the ball to the back corner of the endzone that tipped off his receiver’s hands before falling incomplete.

Central took the field with intentions to end the game, but after two strong defensive plays, found itself head on with a third-and-9. Central promptly fumbled, giving up the ball at the 9-yard line. Still, Browne came up short and returned to Central to kneel the game out. 

Central quarterback Josiah Fowlkes snapped what would have been the last game only to get tackled by a disgruntled Browne defender. The two teams immediately broke into a fight that ended with Fowlkes being ejected along with linebacker, Jose Cardenas. 

“I just had the ball in my hand,” Fowlkes said. “I didn't really touch anybody. It was all just words, but I incited a fight so I get why [I was ejected].”