Near the end of Friday’s Holy Cross-Bishop Brossart football game, one of the Indians thought what happened was self-induced.
The Mustangs had a lot to do with it, too. Keegan Gulley ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third in a 35-14 Homecoming win at Munninghoff Family Stadium.
Brossart’s defense gave Holy Cross (4-3, 0-1 in Class A, District 4) a rough night in multitudinous ways. The Mustangs: surrendered only 11 rushing yards; recorded five sacks; and allowed just one third-down conversion in 12 attempts and one of three on fourth down.
“We did a good job defensively,” Brossart coach Paul Wiggins Jr. said.
Holy Cross coach Bruce Kozerski rightly credited Brossart.
“We got manhandled, and that’s not something we’re used to,” Kozerski said. “We’ve got some young bodies, and every now and then we play young. I’ve got to watch the video before I get too critical because if it’s what we’re calling, we’ve got to fix it; if it’s how we’re executing what we’re calling, then they’ve got to fix it. It’s a total team thing – we all take a loss.”
Both Brossart (3-4, 1-0) and Holy Cross stumbled at first. The Mustangs lost a fumble, but the Indians didn’t take advantage thanks to a sack and two false start penalties.
Holy Cross had trouble containing Gulley (12 carries for 78 yards) and Luke Schroeder (16 for 55). Schroeder replaced leading rusher Cameron Mandel, who was recovering from an ankle injury.
“They’re massive up front, and we’re not,” Wiggins said. “So what we were trying to do is beat them to spots … Schroeder filled in a spot that is really hard to fill in a running back spot.”
Gulley and Alex Amin opened the scoring late in the first quarter. Rolling left, Gulley found Amin beyond the linebackers and in front of the secondary for a 55-yard score.
“I was running the hook route, where you run up and do a little curl behind the linebackers,” Amin said. “That route’s been open almost every single time this year I’ve ran it.”
Holy Cross rebounded a little more than three minutes into the second quarter when Donovan Ambrocio (9-of-17, 126 yards) hit Andrew Bales with a 61-yard score.
Gulley on the ground covered 32 yards and a touchdown with 3:41 left in the half.
Three Mustangs accounted for the second-half scoring: Schroeder’s five-yard run late in the third quarter, Gulley’s 17-yard run, and a Landon Geyer 35-yarder.
“Second half, I could kind of tell after we scored the first time, they started yelling at each other,” Schroeder said. “It seemed like they kind of started to get a little angry at each other, too.”
Bishop Brossart travels to Ludlow next Friday, while Holy Cross hosts Trimble County.
MUSTANGS 35, INDIANS 14
HOLY CROSS— 0-7-0-7 — 14
BISHOP BROSSART — 7-7-7-14 — 35
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(BB)-Alex Amin 56 pass from Keegan Gulley (Tyler Smith kick), 1:35
2nd Quarter
(HC)-Andrew Bales 61 pass from Donovan Ambrocio (William Fisk kick), 8:55
(BB)-Gulley 32 run (Fisk kick), 3:41
3rd Quarter
(BB)-Luke Schroeder 5 run (Smith kick), 0:53
4th Quarter
(BB)-Gulley 17 run (Smith kick), 10:34
(HC)-Trevin Figgs 9 run (Fisk kick), 5:45
(BB)-Landon Geyer 35 run (Smith kick), 2:44
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Holy Cross 126 (Ambrocio 9-17, Maddox 0-3); Bishop Brossart 85 (Gulley 4-7, Holtz 0-1).
Rushing Yards: Holy Cross 11 (Figgs 7-23, Colegate 4-1, Ambrocio 14-(minus-13)); Bishop Brossart 183 (Gulley 12-78. Schroeder 16-55, Geyer 2-41, Mandel 2-11, Holtz 5-(minus-2))
Receiving: Holy Cross 126 (Bales 3-73, Ryan 3-25, Hunt 2-20, Thornberry 1-8); Bishop Brossart 85 (Amin 1-56, Kitt 2-27, Schuck 1-2)
Turnovers: Holy Cross 0, Bishop Brossart 1
Penalties: Holy Cross 6-56, Bishop Brossart 5-36
Records: Holy Cross (4-3, 0-1); Bishop Brossart (3-4, 1-0)