Top 10 takes from Sollenberger Classic

1. Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) needs two wins for possible mythical national title.

Following No. 9 Bishop Gorman's resounding 42-22 win over No. 24 Chaparral (Scottsdale, Ariz.) Saturday in the Sollenberger Classic at the University of Phoenix Stadium, the Gaels look primed to make a national championship bid.

{VIDEO_61ce6131-35e1-4e29-9f28-abb6470eaab4,floatRightWithBar}Victories Friday against Armwood (Seffner, Fla.) and Sept. 30 versus Servite (Anaheim, Calif.) – both at home where it has never lost – will put Gorman in serious contention.

It won't be easy, obviously. Both foes are No. 2 in the MaxPreps national rankings – human and computer. The only team in front of those two teams is Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.), which has a few obstacles including Mission Viejo (Calif.) on Sept. 10 and St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) on Oct. 8. Traditional rival Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) might also give the Ironmen a tussle on Sept. 30.



Other than that Bosco should be home free to its second national crown.

Gorman, meanwhile, truly has no competition in Nevada other than Palo Verde, which has hung tough before losing 38-28 and 28-10 the last two seasons. In that time, the Gaels have gone 26-0 against Nevada competition and run up an cumulative score of – get this! – 1,373 to 157. That's an average score of 53-6.

Tony Sanchez, Gorman's upbeat head coach, knew back-to-back games against national powers – Chaparral entered No. 24 nationally – to open the season was a major challenge. Even moreso considering the Gaels don't even have a full week to prepare for Armwood, which reportedly has Division I offers to 11 different seniors.

"We knew it would be a six day grind," Sanchez said. "It's an eight-quarter game, not four-quarter game. We are going to see a defense next week that is extremely physical and extremely fast. But that is OK. We'll be fine." {PAGEBREAK} 2. Shaq Attack II is very early leader in clubhouse.

The two best all-around players we saw live last year were named Shaq, Gorman's Shaq Powell and Grant (Sacramento, Calif.) running back/defensive back Shaq Thompson, nicknamed Shaq Attack. We were actually hoping for a Shaq vs. Shaq showdown, but that matchup never materialized. Funny, we featured Thompson two days after Powell put his name right at the top of the National Player of the Year watch list with career highs of 300 yards rushing and all six touchdowns in Saturday's win.

{VIDEO_5af3040b-881b-4d7c-a866-158629b6a9ef,floatRightWithBar}He added an interception for good measure.



Chaparral coach Charlie Ragle said before Saturday's game he wasn't totally convinced how stellar Powell was. But after he scored five touchdowns in the second half, leading a 35-8 onslaught, the former Arizona State assistant was quite convinced.

"He's even better than I thought," Ragle said. "He's definitely the best player on their team. And that's saying something."

Indeed, Gorman's line play was dominant the second half, paving the way to 482 total yards, 368 on the ground. The Gaels kept going left behind Division I prospects Ronnie Stanley (6-6, 290), a tackle, and guard Ron Scoggins (6-3, 300). Call it Ron-Ron left. {PAGEBREAK} 3. Jarrett Solomon doesn't just pass and run.

The Bishop Gorman quarterback also blocks. The rugged 6-foot, 200-pound junior got out in front of Powell on several sweeps after quick pitches. In fact, he was so anxious to block that some of his pitches were hurried and almost too far ahead of Powell. Nonetheless, Powell appreciated his quarterback's effort.

"To see your quarterback throwing blocks – that's inspiring," Powell said.

Solomon also showed better touch and accuracy than I recall seeing last year. He was just 8 of 16 for 114 yards and a touchdown, but he had another TD dropped and another beautiful 59-yard scoring bomb called back by a personal foul call.



While Powell and Gorman's massive offensive line get most of the attention, Solomon is going to break numerous Nevada passing records considering he's already thrown 62 touchdown passes in his career against 10 interceptions. He's got at least 25 more games to play in his career. {PAGEBREAK}4. Jarvis Lewis incident is one giant distraction.

Chaparral senior defensive end Jarvis Lewis suited up but was never intended to play. That's because the Arizona State-bound standout, who had 13 sacks last season for Kellis (Glendale, Ariz.), was recruited according to some allegations.

He transferred to Chaparral in late April yet four months later his eligibility is still in question. Ragle thought there wasn't a problem until the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) hired a private investigator and a family-law attorney to look into the situation.

At this point, no one is talking publicly because so much is at stake. If Ragle plays Lewis and it's later discovered Chaparral broke a rule, then the Firebirds would have to forfeit their season. Ragle said he thought about playing Lewis anyway, but then, evidently, decided it wasn't worth the risk.

Don't think Lewis would have made 20 points difference, but the defensive line was the one place Chaparral was indeed vulnerable. And besides that, the sheer distraction of the investigation - it made Arizona Republic headlines - couldn't have helped the Firebirds. {PAGEBREAK}5. Chaparral will run the table.

We have a one-word piece of advice for Ragle: "Folsom."



Last season, we saw Folsom get embarrassed by Grant in a nationally televised opener 49-14 before running the table and avenging the loss with a 41-20 win in the Sac-Joaquin Section finals. Folsom then won the California State Division II Bowl game 48-20 over heavily favored Serra.

Ragle is quite confident the Firebirds will rebound.

So are we. With calm, composed and superb all-around talent Connor Brewer running the show at quarterback, look for Chaparral to win another state crown.

"I guarantee we'll be a better football team because of this loss," he said. "We won't see another team like that I assure you that." {PAGEBREAK} 6. The solution is simple: Get the ball to Neal.

Ragle, a no-nonsense, straight shooter, didn't hide the obvious. The Firebirds simply didn't get Davonte Neal enough touches. He had just five touches from scrimmage and finally showed what he could do when he took a short pass from Texas-bound Connor Brewer and turned it into an 82-yard touchdown with 2:12 remaining.

By that time, Gorman had the game in the bag, up 35-14. Neal, a fleet 5-11, 180-pound receiver, is the nation's No. 25 recruit from the class of 2012. He had more than 1,400 yards from scrimmage and 29 total touchdowns last year.



He earned the state's Player of the Year award by the Arizona Republic.

"Shame on us for not getting him the ball more," Ragle said. "I guarantee that won't happen again."{PAGEBREAK}7. Shaq is a total team player.

Powell appears to be a better kid than player, which is a mouthful. He constantly praises his teammates, deflects attention and he immediately hands the ball to the referee after touchdowns.

He showed great humility when after Neal scored his touchdown, Sanchez inserted Powell back into the lineup even though the game was probably decided.

Sure enough, Powell broke through the line and busted a final touchdown, this one from 36 yards out with 49 seconds to play. He seemed to slow down and look around in the final 15 yards, not in a taunting way. Quite the opposite.

"Honestly I didn't even know if I should try to score," he said. "Felt kind of bad."



More leadership qualities were displayed when asked about his recruiting process. Powell has more than 20 Division I offers, including Arizona State, Fresno State, Illinois, San Diego State, UNLV and Vanderbilt. That number should rise significantly after Saturday's performance.

"I'm not even thinking about recruiting until after (Armwood)," Powell said. "I don't want it to be a distraction to my teammates. Too much is at stake. After Friday I'll start to think about it." {PAGEBREAK}8. Randall McDaniel was weekend's biggest star.

With all due respect to Powell and Stanley and Neal, by far the biggest headliner of the weekend was NFL Hall of Fame lineman Randall McDaniel, who was honored by the AIA. I knew little about McDaniel until he spoke at Friday's press conference in front of all four teams and about 400 people. He was an offensive lineman after all and we all know how they live in obscurity compared to the skill guys.

After listening to him speak for 45 minutes, I wish I knew his story earlier. More importantly, I wish all young student athletes could hear his life tale. He's truly an inspirational gentleman not because he professed any long odds of overcoming poverty or physical limitations or childhood disease or abuse.

McDaniel just did everything right. He has lived his life to the fullest. He never missed a day of school. He built and treated his body like a temple. He always wanted to be involved.

And though he lived quite passionately, McDaniel didn't come across as a motivational speaker. Not by any stretch. He seemed very nervous and certainly not polished while reading his very poignant messages, which is very effective when speaking with teens. They can spot phonies or manipulators five miles away. McDaniel is genuine, real, gritty and most of all strong. Very strong. Literally.



He attended Agua Fria (Avondale, Ariz.) and was – and still is – a physical freak. Despite his size (6-3, 287) he ran a 4.68 40, bench pressed 425, squatted 640 and dead-lifted 650. A track and field star, his best times were 10.60 in the 100 meters and 21.90 in the 200.

A model of consistency, McDaniel made 202 consecutive starts and made 12 consecutive Pro Bowls. He also never missed a day of school from kindergarten through high school. He was the first in his family to ever earn a college degree.

Now a second-grade teacher, McDaniel still wakes at 4 a.m. to train before school. He's not a color commentator. He hasn't used his fame to sell cars or put his name on some marketing firm. He's giving back — fittingly in the trenches, where few male role models live. We young males need influencing the most.

His most general message was: "Put as much effort into the classroom as you put into athletics," he said.

He noted the very long odds of high school players making it all the way to the NFL – about 1 percent of the 1.2-million playing today. Out of the 300 players in the room, only about 18 even get to play in college. "Use sports and all that you learn from it to have a successful life," he said. "Football can open many doors but eventually those doors will close."

Asked if he had any regrets during his career, he said. "Absolutely none. I wouldn't change a thing. If you're playing before 70,000 or 80,000 fans every Sunday how can you not have fun? Every day was a ball."{PAGEBREAK}9. AIA made biggest play. Along the same lines, the biggest play of the Sollenberger wasn't a long run or touchdown by Powell but the bill signed on the field by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to implement Brainbook, an interactive concussion module that student-athletes are required to take.



Arizona became the first state in the country to mandate all athletes in sports to undergo concussion education and pass a formal test before playing. {PAGEBREAK} 10. Super Bowl stadium is spacious, spectacular and airy.

The University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Cardinals and Super Bowl 2008, is truly spectacular and a thrill no doubt for kids to experience. It's also easy to see all the action with the jumbo electronic scoreboard. But with all the vast space and empty seats it gives the feel of this being an exhibition rather than a heated contest between Nevada and Arizona rivals.

No official attendance figures were given, but it couldn't haven't have surpassed more than 5,000. The stadium – for this venue – is 63,000.

That said, it certainly didn't affect play on the field, which was surprisingly crisp for a game played two weeks before September. Impressive too, considering the game was televised regionally and with all the timeouts, took more than three hours to play. Much like a NFL game.

Normally I'd say that's about 45 minutes too long for a high school event. But in this case, it simply stretched out a unique and very worthwhile opportunity.