The Brophy College Prep Broncos were upset Friday night by the Red Mountain Mountain Lions, 34-33, in a 6A Conference quarterfinal game at Central High.

This marked the end of the 8-4 Broncos’ season, which started with a promising 7-0 record.  

“It was a very good year with great senior leadership,” Brophy head coach Scooter Molander said. “We came up one point shy tonight.”

The Broncos were leading by 12 points most of the game until the fourth quarter, when the Lions outscored them 13-0.

Red Mountain was led by quarterback/running back Lance Lawson, who ran 32 times for 193 yards and scored all of Red Mountain’s five touchdowns.

“At halftime we really came together as a team,” Lawson said. “We told them we have to play with all our heart and get this win.”

Lawson started the game at quarterback, consistently running option plays out of the pistol formation.

Down 26-14 at halftime, Red Mountain head coach Ron Wisniewski decided to call an audible.

“We put Lance at tailback,” Wisniewski said. “Our O-line was coming off the ball and we were controlling the line. Lance was pretty tough with the ball in his hands and our defense got a lot of key stops down there at the end with a lot of talent.”

Both teams got off to inauspicious starts.

Brophy missed a 35-yard field goal on their opening drive, and a Red Mountain bad snap led to a safety.

Brophy jumped to a 5-0 start before a 67-yard drive helped Red Mountain take its first lead. The Broncos then threatened to put the game away in the first half after scoring two consecutive touchdowns.

The first of the two Brophy touchdowns came after a 10-play, 79-yard drive that featured a balanced attack. It was capped off with a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Ryan to running back Eric Dimaria.

The second one came off an interception by Vashaun Benton and four runs from running back Noah Pittenger for 42 yards and a touchdown.

With time running out in the first half, Red Mountain was able to score on their closing drive after a two yard run by Lawson.

But Brophy scored in the final seconds of the first half when quarterback Caleb Moore connected with Elisha Brooks for a 37-yard touchdown to put the Broncos up by 12 at halftime.

Both teams each only managed a rushing touchdown in the third quarter, a 13-yard dash from Lawson and a 62-yard touchdown by Brophy’s Ross Velez.

Down 33-21, the Lions proceeded to march down the field in 10 plays during their first drive of the fourth quarter, gaining 74 yards in the process.

Red Mountain quarterback Austin Duffy threw two completions to his big target, tight tend Mack Klafter, during the drive for 22 and 17 yard gains. Lawson ended the drive with 4 carries for 22 yards and another touchdown.

Brophy was now on its heals. An intentional grounding call didn’t help.

It didn’t take the Lions long to take the lead after a long punt return by Cody Rappoport, setting the Lions up at the Brophy 36. Two plays later, Lawson found the end zone again after a 33-yard touchdown run.

Brophy’s offense had one last shot, but it’s offense stalled during its final drive.  

“At the end of the day I was out there the last drive and I should have tried to make something happen, so I don’t have any regrets in high school,” said Moore after his last play of his high school football player.