No. 3 seeded Brophy came into its 5A-I first-round playoff game strong Friday night and finished the game strong, as the Broncos eliminated the No. 14 seeded Mountain Ridge Lions 24-0 at Phoenix College.

Matchups of No. 3 vs. No. 14 are often blowouts. That was not the case Friday night, for at least the first half. Brophy led 7-0 at the half.

“This game was not a pretty win, but not every game of high school playoff football is pretty,’’ Coach Scooter Molander said.  “We will look at the film tomorrow morning and see what adjustments we can make for next week.”

Next week, the Broncos will take on the Mesa Jackrabbits in the second round at Phoenix College. Brophy beat Mesa 26-18 in the regular season at home.

Brophy’s Max Leonesio carried 17 times for 117 yards Friday night despite only playing the first half. Kevin Molloy played the second half and ran for a touchdown.

Brophy quarterback Chase Knox scored twice on 1-yard runs. He completed 11 of 22 passes for 121 yards.

The Broncos  started the game by recovering an onside kick. However, three plays went for only 7 yards and brought a 60-yard field goal attempt for Alex Garoutte. The kick was short by a yard.

The Lions’ first play of their drive was a halfback pass for 59 yards. It set up a 31-yard field goal attempt that Brophy blocked.

After three running plays on the next drive for the Broncos, Knox threw an interception at midfield that was returned to Brophy’s  45. The Brophy defense had the offense’s back though. Josh Dennard intercepted a pass in the end zone.

However, another turnover for the Bronco offense came when Knox was stripped of the ball, and the Lions recovered it at their 39 yard line. Brophy’s  Jose Molina  intercepted  a pass and took it to the 46 yard line.

Brophy then got things rolling when Knox took it in for a 1-yard rush for a touchdown and a lead of 7-0 with 10:12 remaining in the half.

Some trick plays by the Lions gave them more yardage to build on, but yet again, the Brophy defense came up big. Tom Woodward caused a fumble and recovered it at the Brophy  17.

In the third quarter, Ross Luther made the third interception for the Broncos, setting up a Garoutte 50-yard field goal to give Brophy a 10-0 lead with 7:33 left in the quarter.

Bryan Gomez  came down with Brophy’s fourth interception.

Brophy got some big plays in the fourth quarter. Garoutte had another 50-yard field goal attempt, but it was blocked this time. Molloy scored on 36-yard run to give Brophy a 17-0 lead with 8:45 left in the game. Another 1-yard touchdown run from Knox finished the scoring.