Hayley Brown is an ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chandler High School for AZPreps365.com 

CHANDLER – The Chandler Wolves survived a second-half scare Friday night to defeat the Brophy College Prep Broncos, 42-34, and advance to the semifinals of the Open Division playoffs. 

Chandler will go on the road to face No. 1- ranked Hamilton for a rematch next Saturday at 6 p.m. On Nov. 7, the Huskies defeated the Wolves, 55-41.

Mencl showed his dual-threat ability against Brophy, passing for over 200 yards and two touchdowns while also running for 224 yards and three touchdowns. 

Chandler took an early 7-0 lead after Mencl finished off an impressive 75-yard drive with a 5-yard rushing touchdown. 

“It’s playoff football, so all chains are off,” Mencl said. “We’re not worried about saving anything. My O-line did a great job blocking, too, and it’s special when everybody starts clicking and you get to be a playmaker.

As Mencl said, everything was clicking for the Wolves in the first half. 

Defensively, Chandler forced Brophy to punt on their first three possessions, and finished the half with an interception from junior free safety Austin Reese. 

Offensively, the Wolves looked unstoppable, finding the end zone on their first three possessions to take a 21-0 lead into halftime. 

“We got off to a fast start offensively,” Mencl said. “The defense not letting up a single point was really special so we leaned on them a lot. They’re the reason for a lot of our points.” 

Brophy received the ball to begin the second half and wasted no time trying to get back into the game. 

The Broncos marched down the field in just three plays and 50 seconds to score their first touchdown of the game, a 42-yard pass from senior quarterback Case Vanden Bosch to senior wide receiver Devin Fitzgerald to cut the Wolves' lead to 14. 

The Wolves answered, however, finishing off a 10-play, 60-yard drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Mencl to junior wide receiver Jai Jones. 

Both teams traded touchdown drives on their next six possessions. Mencl added two more passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown to his two touchdowns in the first half. 

“We fought. We waited too long to get started though,” Brophy coach Jason Jewell said. “I’m proud of the kids for fighting until the end. We had the ball with a chance to go and tie, so you can’t ask for more than that.” 

Despite a convincing effort on the offensive side from the Broncos, their defense had no answer for the Wolves’ rushing attack. 

Chandler had four rushing touchdowns in the game, three from Mencl and one from sophomore running back David Douglas. Mencl and Douglas combined for over 300 yards on the ground. 

“I was super proud of the kids, they really battled,” Chandler coach Ty Wisdom said. “Brophy’s a good football team. We knew they were going to score some points, but I thought our defense played tremendous.” 

In addition to shutting Brophy out in the first half, the Chandler defense won the turnover battle, coming up with five sacks and three interceptions on Vanden Bosch. 

The Brophy quarterback finished the game with 341 passing yards and three touchdowns. But, two second-half interceptions proved costly for the Broncos’ attempt at a comeback. 

“Winning a championship would mean everything,” Mencl said. “This is what we’ve been working towards since last spring. I know these seniors are hungry for it, the whole team is hungry for it. It would mean the world to us and our coaches for sure.”