By Brittany Bowyer
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PHOENIX — For Brophy College Prep, the goal isn’t just to make the playoffs this year, but to remain in until the very end. After falling short in recent years, the Broncos are entering this season with the renewed hunger to turn playoff appearances into a championship run.

Every practice, every game and every challenge along the way is another step toward the ultimate destination: the state championship game. Brophy knows the road will be demanding, but this team isn’t looking to settle for another early exit. The Broncos have their sights set on finishing what they started and making a run that ends with them on top.

“We took a big step last year and we made the Open and we won an Open game,” Brophy Head Football Coach Jason Jewell said. “I’ve been telling them since the end of last season, we want to earn two more weeks and get to ASU. We’ve been very, very close the previous two years, but we feel like we’ve taken the next step and there’s only one more step for us to take, and that’s for us to go win the whole thing. We’re striving for that. Every workout, every practice and every day.”

“All I know is playoff losses,” senior wide receiver and cornerback Ryder Noche said. “I think this team is so motivated to finally get that win.”

“The ultimate goal is to make a run deep in the playoffs and get a ring,” senior linebacker Braxton Tate said.

Jewell said the team has done a great job of upholding the standards they’ve established throughout the year at Brophy.

The offense is going to look a little different from last year for the Broncos. Not only does Brophy have a number of holes they’re filling on the field going into the year, but the team also lost its offensive coordinator Tony Cotton, who took over at Sunnyslope as the new head coach of the Vikings.

“We’ll be different, but we’ll be good,” Jewell said. “We lost some really, really good players, but we return very good players, as well.”

Some of those returning players he mentioned include senior wide receivers Ryder Noche and Donovan McNabb Jr. Both are expected to lead the offense this year.

Helping to provide coverage to the quarterback, Jewell said this is one of the most experienced offensive lines he’s had in his eight seasons at Brophy.

“We’re as deep as we’ve ever been on the offensive line,” Jewell said. “All five of them have scholarship offers. Four of them have Division I offers.”

Jewell said last year, the team had two freshmen starting on the offensive line and they had some learning curves they had to work through. This year, he said the team’s big and physical, so he feels good about the bodies they’ll be able to move.

“There’s about eight or nine kids that I feel comfortable if we had to start any of them, I’d feel really good about,” Jewell said.

One of the open positions offensively on the field going into this year was the role of quarterback. Jewell said junior Noah Stewart will be stepping into the position and gave him praise, saying he believes he will do just fine.

Jewell also said there will be more two-way players this year than any of his other years at Brophy. One of those two way players in Noche, who also plays as a cornerback.

“I’m so motivated to go out there and give everything I’ve got,” Noche said.

Defensively, the Broncos return most of their starters, which helps Jewell feel confident in their abilities this season. Jewell noted their secondary is loaded with D-I players and said he’s confident in what Coach Kevin Scott, the team’s defensive coordinator, will do this year.

Tate said the team is very versatile in their defense and can run a lot of different schemes, which is going to help them this season when it comes to preparing for opponents and different looks.

Junior defensive back Ezra Benjamin was mentioned by both Noche and Tate as a player who they expect big things from this year. They both said they anticipate him to have a breakout season, and note they expect him to help lead the defense.

“He’s a great leader,” Tate said. “Smart kid, knows football well. He’s going to be very important to our defense and our scheme.”

When asked what his team’s identity will be on the field this year, Jewell said his team will be extremely physical. Both Jewell and Tate referenced their slogan, BST, which stands for Brophy Standard Tough and said it’s something they practice everyday.

“I want everyone to know when they leave a football game ... When they get out of a game against Brophy, win or lose, they had a battle.”

“I want to be a merciless team,” Noche said. “I don’t want to bow down to anyone just because we’re the underdogs. I also don’t want to play down to anyone’s level. I want to be the most merciless team out there.”

Brophy, playing in 6A, has a loaded schedule. Jewell said the team needs to go out and prove themselves every game if they want to make it all the way this year. The Broncos will face three teams ranked in the nation’s top 25 preseason poll in Basha, Chandler and Hamilton.

“They’re all tough,” Jewell said about Brophy’s slate of games. “They’re all brutal, and it starts with a really good team.”

Brophy opens up the season against Hamilton on Thurs., Aug. 27 at Central High School. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“We’ve got a great schedule, and we wouldn’t change it for anything,” Tate said. “We want to be able to compete, and we can compete, at that top level against the top competition.”

“We’re as strong as we’ve ever been, and we’re as fast as we’ve ever been,” Jewell said. “But if we want to say we’re one of those big dogs, we’ve got to beat one of those big dogs.”

Brittany Bowyer is a Report for America corps member, covering sports for Independent Newsmedia in Arizona. Report for America places talented journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and regions.