Colin Kirkpatrick is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication student assigned to cover Basha High School for AZPreps365.com.

On a night filled with celebration, spirit and a sea of pink, the Basha Bears transformed their homecoming game Friday night into a showcase of superiority, dismantling visiting Salpointe Catholic 58-6. 

With the stands buzzing with proud parents, a fervent student section and a thunderous DJ fueling the homecoming atmosphere. Basha rolled out classic gold-sparkled helmets and pink-numbered jerseys for the festivities and looked like a team on a mission from kickoff to the last whistle.

Basha’s intentions for destruction began relatively slowly, considering the team was ranked no.18 in the nation by MaxPreps and no.1 in Arizona. A turnover on downs on the Lancers’ 2-yard line on the second drive were the only signs of life for a Salpointe Catholic team also coming off a bye last week. 

Then the floodgates opened.

Junior Marc Duerson opened up Basha’s eight-touchdown night with a 62-yard punt return in the first quarter to make the score 10-0. 

The Bears’ defense was able to capitalize on a mishandled snap within Salpointe Catholic’s own 5-yard line. Wyoming commit Dante Burley scored Basha’s second touchdown of the night with a sack and fumble recovery in the end zone. 

“I’m just always looking to make plays,” said Bruley. “It's really my teammates out here helping me set it up; we set it up every day in practice, so we just go out and execute every play.”

Then came Basha’s offensive explosion. Senior quarterback and North Texas commit Brodie Vehrs connected with senior wide receiver and Colorado State commit Kash Brock on two wide-open touchdowns over 30 yards.

“Once he settled down and got going and understood what we were trying to accomplish, he played a lot better,” said Basha coach Chris McDonald. “Those first two drives, [he] kind of made some mistakes, and ran out of bounds one yard too early, so I had to rip him on that, and hopefully he just learns from that.”  

“But once he did, we got rolling,” said McDonald

Brock now sits tied with junior running back Noah Roberts for a team-leading six touchdown scores on the season, and first on the team in yards per game with 61.5. 

“The key is watching film and then going against my teammates,” Brock said. “I think we have the best defense in the state, and just going against those guys makes me better every day.”

The scoring frenzy continued as Vehrs connected with Roberts for his third touchdown pass over 30 yards with 11.4 seconds remaining before halftime, leaving the score 38-0. A running clock continued for the second half, their second straight game doing so. 

The gold and green defense remained dominant for the Bears. Bruley finished with two sacks, while juniors Matthias Crosby, Caleb Jordan and sophomore Landen Wade each provided their own on the stat sheet. 

“We're blessed,” Burley said. “We knew what was going to happen just because the way we practiced and executed in practice.” 

“It's just another win, and we just got to keep moving forward and keep getting them dubs (victories).”

Basha’s defense wasn’t done there, an interception from senior cornerback Mason Lewis and two fumble recoveries from Burley and senior Sam Rohloff, respectively, helped suffocate the Lancers’ offense all night. Basha has now kept teams within 14 points in six out of their seven games so far this season. 

Basha’s gas pedal remained smashed down in the second half with a go-ahead rushing touchdown from senior running back Joshua Gaines and two more scores from junior quarterback Jake Rogers, who played the entire second half as Vehrs coached from the sidelines. 

“If you look at all our games, offensively, we’re only getting in like 40 plays; Well, that's not a whole lot,” McDonald said. “Reps are just huge, so it's like, ‘no, we're gonna keep them in and continue to play football.’”

It was all Rogers in the second half as he was able to find sophomore running back Justin Miller for his only passing touchdown of the night and a second score using his legs to put the nail in the coffin for Basha at 58-0. 

“We love it, We love it, the student section was out tonight and then we had the DJ, so it was bumping,” Brock said. “It obviously showed how we all played together and we got the dub.” 

The Lancers rallied on their last drive of the game to prevent the shutout with a go-ahead touchdown by junior running back Chris Chaney. 

Basha was supremely dominant in most other facets of the game, having two fewer penalties than Salpointe Catholic’s six and scoring four out of five times in the red zone.

Salpointe Catholic reached the red zone for the first time all night in there last possession.

Basha next will play the No.2 team in Arizona, Hamilton, in a non-region matchup Friday in what could be a preview of the 6A state championship. 

“Tomorrow we'll break down film and go over our mistakes and whatnot, put this game to bed,” McDonald said. “Then get focused on Hamilton.”