Eric Sorenson
Well, well, well…you figured the Open Division would possibly make the first round games somewhat more evenly matched but who would have expected some of the upsets we saw Friday night?
Bye, Bye Brophy
Jason Jewell did an excellent job in his first-season as head coach at BCP. The Broncos finished the regular season 8-2 but ran into a buzzsaw in 15-seed Mountain View, who pulled away for a 35-19 win at Phoenix College.
#TOROSBEATBROPHY pic.twitter.com/S39IxD50Ok
— Toro Nation (@MVToro_Football) November 9, 2019
The Toros went up 21-0 which is a recipe for disaster for the run-heavy Brophy offense who plays best with the lead. Jewell said afterwards he felt his team may have overlooked Mountain View since they beat them handily 26-3 back on September 20th.
“They outcoached and outplayed us,” Jewell said. “They did a great job. Hats off to the Toros. I take 100 percent of the blame for not having our kids ready to play.”
The Toros’ 35 points scored is impressive considering Brophy only surrendered 124 total in 10 games coming into the contest. MV will next travel to Liberty who smoked La Joya 76-28 at home.
Padre Pride
Winning on the road can be a tough task this time of year, especially when you have to drive to Tucson.
However, it wasn’t a problem for the Marcos de Niza Padres who went into the Old Pueblo and took out third-seeded host Canyon del Oro 13-7 in 4A opening round action.
The #14 Padres upset the #3 Dorados 13-7 #PADREPOWER #Meraki #OnToTheNext #Elite8
— MdN Football (@FootballMdn) November 9, 2019
The Dorados season headed south quickly. After starting the year 7-0, CDO stumbled dropping three of their final four to finish 8-3. Hopefully talented 2021 prospect Stevie Rocker will be healthy next year after missing most of 2019 due to injury.
The 14-seed MDN moves on to play at #6 Mesquite who shutdown Pueblo 21-6.
Three and Out
1. Casa Grande beats Walden Grove (again) 26-19.
Tonight the Casa Grande cougars won a playoff game for the first time since 1994. On to the elite 8! pic.twitter.com/4Xl4voGalp
— Jake Barro (@CoachBarro) November 9, 2019
As I mentioned earlier in my “Zone Read” column, the 12th-seed Cougars knew they could pull off the “upset” and Friday night in southern Arizona they did it. Next up a trip to Desert Edge who pasted Prescott for the third-straight time in two seasons.
2. Peoria and Cactus ready for Round Two.
Who doesn’t love a rivalry game in the second round of the playoffs? They two traditionally successful west Valley programs each allowed single digits as the second-seeded Cobras rolled past Tempe 43-6 and #7 Peoria dispatched 10th-seeded Greenway 22-7.
Cordts 31 yard TD to TJ Rucker pat good 36-0 Cobras…
— Cobra Football (@CHSCobraFB) November 9, 2019
These two teams met back on November 1st with host Cactus rallying for a 14-0 second half deficit to win 20-14.
3. 11-seed Yuma Catholic takes out 6th-seeded Valley Christian 25-14 in Chandler.
Trojans battle but can’t convert on some key opportunities and fall short verses Yuma Catholic, 24-15. Proud of our guys for a great season and for building a great foundation. First time since 2008-09 Trojan football recorded back to back 8+ win seasons. pic.twitter.com/cpxAdkGFb3
— Valley Christian Athletics (@vctrojans) November 9, 2019
You just knew VC head coach Kirk Sundberg cringe when he saw Rhett Stallworth’s Shamrocks as the Trojans opening round draw. Yuma Catholic already defeated Valley 54-28 and had no problem taking two on the visitor’s turf this week.
The 3A 11-seed will play at Northwest Christian in the second round.
