By Don Ketchum

There were plenty of points. There were plenty of yards. There were plenty of heroes.

This game had the pace that normally is reserved for one after which a championship trophy is presented.

Phoenix Brophy Prep coach Scooter Molander said it best:

“It was the last man standing.’’

His team was the one standing at the end of this Division I first-round game, outlasting visiting Chandler 54-44 at Phoenix College on Friday night (Nov. 2).

Both teams combined for 1,065 yards of offense.

Both quarterbacks were brilliant. Chandler’s Darell Garretson completed 26 of 33 passes for 390 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for a TD. Brophy’s Tyler Bruggman was 22 of 27 for 318 yards and a pair of scores. He also ran for a TD.

Fourth-seeded Brophy (10-2) will play host to No. 5 Mesa Red Mountain (9-2) next Friday in a quarterfinal game at Phoenix College. Red Mountain, which advanced with a 45-6 win over Sierra Vista Buena, defeated Brophy 33-31 earlier this season.

“I’m proud of our players and our coaching staff. We never gave up,’’ Molander said of the win over Chandler.

Brophy trailed No. 13 seed Chandler (7-4) 31-28 at the half after the coaching staff fell asleep at the wheel late in the first half and didn’t get its kickoff team on the field in time following a Chandler field goal. Chandler essentially kicked off to itself, and that led to a go-ahead TD pass of 18 yards from Garretson to Mitch McCulley.

Brophy got the lead back with 9:54 left in the third quarter, taking a 34-31 lead with the help of some Chandler penalties.

An interception by Brian Woodward led to another Brophy TD, this one a 37-yard pass from Bruggman to Clarence Clark with 3:41 left in the third. Clark caught 9 passes for 173 yards and 2 TDs.

Chandler pulled closer on a 34-yard run by Myles Smith with 2:05 left in the third. A 2-yard TD pass from Bruggman to Matthew Auran made it 48-38 with about 9 ½ minutes left in the game.

Garretson hit Smith with 12-yard middle screen pass for a TD to make it 48-44 with 6:46 left.

Will Edwards, filling in at tailback for the injured Marche Dennard, scored his third TD of the night for Brophy with 3:50 left to make it 54-44. Edwards rushed for 82 yards on 13 carries.

Chandler was trying to get closer again, but fumbled the ball away in Brophy territory and the Broncos returned the ball to the Chandler 31.

“Turnovers were huge for us in the second half,’’ Molander said.

Brophy star receiver Devon Allen had a solid effort with a 40-yard TD on an end-around, finishing with 69 yards on 3 carries and catching 5 passes for 64 yards. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the fourth quarter and sat out the remainder of the game as a precaution, but is expected to play against Red Mountain.

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