Las Vegas. Try to pick a more dramatic – or possibly tougher – location for the nation's top-ranked team to put aspirations for its first mythical national championship on the line.
That's what lies ahead for No. 1 Washington (Miami) Friday night when it takes on No. 25 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) in a much-anticipated nationally televised game. A preview of this one kicks off the latest edition of the MaxPreps Top 10 Games of the Week.
Turning the spotlight to other key games involving Xcellent 25 teams; on Saturday No. 16 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) heads south to Orange County to take on Servite (Anaheim) in a rematch of the 2010 Open Division final. Meanwhile, last season's national champ, Curtis (River Ridge, La.), is playing a featured game for the fourth time in five weeks. The No. 20 Patriots are taking on top-rated running back Leonard Fournette and his St. Augustine (New Orleans) Purple Knights.
Stephen Spiewak's correct selections in seven out of 10 games last week was just enough to allow him to remain in first place in our season-long predictions contest. Spiewak's overall record of 40-19-1 is one better than that of Leland Gordon's and two ahead of GOTW author Jamie DeMoney.
Here's a look at this week's Top 10 games along with predictions by MaxPreps staff writers and contributors Mitch Stephens, Stephen Spiewak, Kevin Askeland, Leland Gordon, Colin Ward-Henninger and Jamie DeMoney.
MaxPreps Top 10 Football Games of the Week
South Beach will meet Sin City in Friday's huge matchup between No. 1 Booker T. Washington and No. 25 Bishop Gorman.
Photos by Jann Hendry/Stuart Browning
Washington trying to take another gigantic step toward a mythical national championship. The Tornadoes (5-0) have beaten every opponent by double-digit spreads and have a cumulative margin of victory of 212-30.
Their most recent conquest was previously undefeated Monsignor Pace (Opa Locka) last week. Despite Florida State-committed quarterback
Treon Harris sitting out with both a sore ankle and upset stomach, his team rolled to a 49-7 victory. Even Washington's wins earlier in the season against then-nationally ranked Norcross (Ga.) and eighth-ranked rival Central (Miami) looked almost easy. However, this week's game presents a unique set of circumstances. Flying more than 2,500 miles away from home into a distraction-rich environment like Las Vegas while wearing the tag as the nation's consensus No. 1 team to play against No. 25 Bishop Gorman might be coach Ice Harris and company's biggest challenge to date. As for Bishop Gorman, this will be its sixth-consecutive interstate game to open the season. The Gaels (4-1) were idle last week after returning home from New Jersey with a 20-17 win against Bergen Catholic (Oradell) on Sept. 21. Quarterback
Randall Cunnigham Jr. continues to impress in his first year as the starter. The senior dual-threat has 690 passing yards, 449 rushing yards and eight total touchdowns.
Just the facts: This is the third-consecutive year that Bishop Gorman has hosted at least one nationally ranked opponent. In their only other game against a Florida school, the Gaels lost, 20-17, at home to then-No. 2 Armwood (Seffner) in 2011 – but it was later changed to a win due to forfeit. … Washington wants to become the first Miami school to claim the national championship in at least one poll since Miami Northwestern did it in 2007. It would be the sixth time since 2005 that a Florida school finished No. 1 in one of the major polls.
Mitch Stephens: Washington 21, Bishop Gorman 14
Kevin Askeland: Bishop Gorman 35, Washington 24
Jamie DeMoney: Washington 38, Bishop Gorman 27
Stephen Spiewak: Washington 35, Bishop Gorman 24
Leland Gordon: Bishop Gorman 35, Washington 29
Colin Ward-Henninger: Washington 21, Bishop Gorman 20
