Basha dominates first half behind Demond Williams Jr.'s 3 TD runs in win over Brophy

Chandler Basha football coach Chris McDonald will take a win any time. But after a sloppy second half that saw his Bears manage just three points Thursday, and unable to punch it in from the 1, he told his players afterwards to take the rest of the weekend off, hit the reset and be ready Monday.

That’s when the brutal 6A Premier Region competition begins with Chandler Hamilton next week.

But in Thursday's 31-13 win over visiting Phoenix Brophy Prep, the defending Open Division state champions looked very good on defense throughout, and, in the first half, great on offense with senior quarterback Demond Williams Jr., doing most of the damage with his legs.

Williams ran for touchdowns of 9, 6 and 8 yards, with backup tailback La Jai-Lynn Hardwick adding a 20-yard scoring run, in a 28-0 half.

Then, the second half began. And it was ugly, as McDonald put it to his team. McDonald didn't think his team was simply letting up on the gas.

"We talk about every play moving on to the next play," McDonald said. "And playing to the best of our ability. I'm a perfectionist and they know that. And that's what we expect. When we're not playing good football, and that was not good football in the second half, it's frustrating."

Here are some takeaways:

More: Beyond the Gridiron: Basha football grows its team chemistry as it takes on 2 storied programs

Williams wins with his legs

On Basha's first series of the game, Williams was intercepted on a deep ball by Billy Eastep, who returned it 30 yards. to the Basha 25. But Brophy's offense went no where and it missed a 45-yard field goal.

Williams, who was near-perfect on his throws in the last two games -- completing 21 of 22 passes with four TDs in a 45-7 rout of Mesa Mountain View, and 15 of 16 for 356 yards and four TDs building a 48-0 halftime lead over Sandra Day O'Connor -- tore up Brophy's defense with his legs.

With Brophy's good coverage, Williams got away from any pass rush with his quickness and speed. At times, he was zigging and zagging across the field for big chunks of yards, leaving defenders grasping at air.

"They were running a five-man box a lot of times," Williams said. "You just have to do whatever you have to do to win. We did that today."

Brophy's strong second half

Brophy (4-2) easily could have folded after being down at the half by 28 points. But the Broncos took the second-half kickoff and went on an 80-yard scoring drive that was aided by a 45-yard run by running back Hunter Chambers and catches of 15 and 18 yards by sophomore wide reciever Daylen Sharper.

The Broncos adjusted defensively, bottling up Williams. After Brophy scored to start the second half, Williams moved the Bears downfield to the 1 that included a 28-yard pass and runs of 10, 9 and 9 yards. But the Broncos didn't let Williams find that sliver of space and after two straight negative-yardage plays, Basha settled for Timothy Tynan's chip-shot field goal and a 31-7 lead. That's all Basha would score in the half.

McGinnis started targeting Sharper, who took advatange of single-man coverage.

After making a catch along the sideline for a 35-yard gain to the Basha 28 with 6:17 to play, Ohio State-bound Miles Lockhart moved over as a safety and began to bracket Sharper. That drive stalled after Jordan Howard, who was out injured most of the first half of the season, crashed through for a sack.

"It was tough," Brophy coach Jason Jewell said. "We started off all right. We just couldn't convert on a field goal. We shot ourselves in the foot with some penalties. You can't do that against a really good football team."

One of those penalties was pass interference in the end zone that led to one of Williams' touchdowns in the half.

Bleier's big night

McDonald praised his defense after the game. Linebacker Jack Bleier was mostly in Brophy's backfield, making plays. That led to others making plays. Aside from a couple of Brophy chunk plays in the first half, the Broncos struggled to move the ball.

Basha's speed and tenacity on defense is going to win a lot of games. That's what made it such a tough team to beat in the second half of last season when it went on a roll in the second half of the season after a loss to Liberty and won its first Open state championship.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Basha dominates in first half, cruises to win over Brophy