Against its toughest opponent yet this season, Phoenix Brophy Prep showed again why it's one of the best teams in the state.

The second-ranked Broncos trampled Chandler Hamilton Friday, 44-21, in 6A Conference football victory at Phoenix College’s Hogan Field. 

Brophy (7-0) started the game off hot, scoring on its first possession. After methodically driving down the field, senior quarterback Matt Ryan lofted a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mathew Kempton to put the Broncos up 7-0. 

It was a very different story for Hamilton (5-2). The Huskies came into the game ranked fourth in the state, but they struggled with holding onto the ball, giving up six turnovers.

On their first possession of the game, junior quarterback Tyler Shough underthrew his receiver, and Brophy sophomore safety Marques White snatched away the ball. White then sprinted down the sideline for his second pick-six of the season to give Brophy a 14-0 lead.

White’s night wasn’t done there, as he added another interception and a fumble recovery. Brophy’s ability to cause turnovers consistently provided easy scoring opportunities for the offense.

After a fumble recovery late in the second quarter to put Brophy on Hamilton’s 10-yard line, senior running back Noah Pittenger spun out of a tackle to score a 6-yard touchdown run. 

The Broncos offense received another easy opportunity after an interception by White, putting Brophy at Hamilton’s 39-yard line. Two plays later, Pittenger notched his second rushing score of the night, a 4-yard run to increase the lead to 31-7. 

“We lost to (Hamilton) two years in a row, so we came into this game really focused on trying to get a victory,” Pittenger said. “We’re just hitting our peak at the right time. Football is a game of inches, so we just got to keep working hard on all the little things and we’ll get better and better.”

Pittenger had 205 yards rushing to go along with his two touchdowns on the night.

It was a tough loss for a Hamilton team that is considered one of the best in the state. Coach Steve Belles found little to be proud of after the crushing loss.

“You’re not going to get a positive out of me,” Belles said. “That was average football. You name it and we probably need to work on it, [and] you can’t win if you’re going to turn the ball over six times. We might be the best of the worst, but we are surely the worst of the best right now.”

Brophy had a lot more positives to celebrate after getting a big win over a rival team, and coach Scooter Molander was pleased that his team maintained their perfect record.

“We’ve got a good spirit on our team this year,” Molander said. “Great senior leadership. And when things don’t go well so far this year we’ve done a nice job of being mentally tough. Our defense was incredible, and we capitalized on offense when we did get those short fields, so it was a full team effort. 

Molander said that while the victory over Hamilton was an important one, there is still a whole lot of football left to be played this season.

“That’s our goal every week, simply to go 1-0,” Molander said. “We know there are a lot of really great football teams out there and we know we are one. There’s plenty that we can improve upon, but I’m proud of where we are right now.”