The Brophy Broncos managed to pull off a thrilling comeback in their trip out west against the Avondale Westview Knights, and scored a 28-27 win.

Brophy didn’t waste any time getting the ball down the field. Senior fullback Erik Dimaria was a defender away from returning the opening kickoff for a score. 

However, the tone-setting play was wasted after Brophy was forced to punt on its first two possessions. 

After two three-and-outs Brophy was forced to stop the Knights' confident rushing attack. Despite the massive size of the Broncos front seven, Knights’ senior running back David Romero was able to find a crease and burst to the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown with 6:53 left in the first quarter. 

Senior quarterback Noah Gonzales responded with a drive of his own. Gonzales put together a 9-play scoring drive for Brophy.

Junior wide receiver Garrett Argetsinger got out of his break and had a step on his defender. The small edge was just enough for Gonzales to hit him 25 yards downfield for the score with 11:16 left in the second quarter. 

Brophy head coach Scooter Molander said he believed his entire offense came up big throughout the game, but it was his quarterback who got the job done. 

“Noah Gonzales, our quarterback, really settled in tonight. He played a nice game,” Molander said. 

Gonzales had a couple of shaky throws, but overall had a solid performance completing 17 of his 25 throws for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Not to mention he finished the game with 12 straight completions. 

Brophy’s early second-quarter score sparked the defense. 

Junior strong safety Marques White managed to sneak off the edge untouched to blindside the Knights senior quarterback Scott Fallers, forcing him to fumble. Junior defensive lineman E.J. Hamilton quickly dove on the ball to give the Broncos possession. The sacks continued as the Broncos took down Fallers three times in the first half. 

After recovering the fumble Brophy was only able to salvage a 40-yard field goal from junior kicker Jackson Garcia.
The Knights led the Broncos 13-10 heading into halftime.

Fallers came out of halftime prepared to keep the Knights’ on top. 

“Their (defensive line) was tough, and their secondary was hard to read,” Fallers said.

However, Fallers seemed pretty knowledgeable of the Broncos secondary coming out of halftime as he delivered a 35-yard touchdown pass to tight end Rafael Bocanegra in busted coverage.

For the majority of the third quarter both teams struggled to find a passing attack. However, Brophy senior running back Ross Velez managed to single-handedly move the Broncos up the field.

He carried the ball 14 times for 70 yards. 

As the game clock ticked down in the fourth quarter the Knights were able to rush into the end zone one last time with 8:46 left in the game.

The Knights led the Broncos 27-13, and the game seemed all but over.

Then  Brophy methodically completed pass after pass to senior wide receiver Donovan Arthur, one of which was a seven-yard touchdown with 6:36 left on the clock. 

The Broncos quickly halted the Knights strong rushing game and took over possession. Gonzales put the team on his back and brought Brophy within scoring range with :25 seconds left in the game. After taking his team the length of the field Gonzales rifled the ball to senior tight end John Waters for a touchdown. 

Instead of taking the easy extra point, Molander decided to go for the win. He put his offense back on the field, and it paid off with the Broncos converting a two-point conversion through the air.

Brophy now led the Knights 28-27.

After the kickoff the Knights had 20 seconds to score. However, a sack and forced fumble on the last play of the drive from White sealed the comeback win for the Broncos.

“Having that football in your hands for the last play, calling the game yourself, it’s a great feeling,” White said.

However, if it weren’t for the two-point conversion the Broncos would’ve headed home with a third straight loss.

“I actually almost teared up when we got that two-point conversion,” White said. “It was just the best feeling to get a (win).”
 

Coming up, the Broncos (1-2) will take on the Highland Hawks (3-0), and the Knights (0-2) will head to Scottsdale in a competition against the Horizon Huskies (3-1) on Sept. 8.