High school football: No. 4 Bishop Gorman, No. 5 Chaminade-Madonna clash in GEICO State Champions Bowl Series

As the high school football season wraps up in several states this weekend, a MaxPreps Top 25 battle between No. 4 Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) and No. 5 Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, Fla.) is featured on the ESPN as part of the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series on Saturday.

Bishop Gorman (13-1) won its 12th Nevada state title in 13 seasons Nov. 19, beating Bishop Manogue (Reno) 70-6 in the Class 5A championship game.

Chaminade-Madonna (13-0) grabbed the Florida 1M title Dec. 8 with a 48-14 win over Clearwater Central Catholic for its fifth banner in seven seasons. The game will be televised on ESPNU

How to watch
When: Saturday, Dec. 17, 1:30 p.m. PDT
Where: Fertitta Field, Bishop Gorman High School (Las Vegas)
Television: ESPNU

Bishop Gorman, competing in its first GEICO State Champions Bowl Series game, outscored Nevada competition 574-23. Gorman's lone loss came against Mater Dei, which was No. 2 in the MaxPreps Top 25 at the time. The Gaels led much of the contest against the Monarchs before Mater Dei scored 10 unanswered in the fourth quarter, capped by a 25-yard game-winning field goal.

The Gaels are led by junior quarterback Micah Alejado, who threw for 3,403 yards and 53 touchdowns while completing more than 75 percent of his passes. His favorite targets senior Trech Kekahuna, who had 1,240 yards receiving and 22 scores, along with five-star USC commit Zachariah Branch, who has 753 receiving yards and 11 scores.

Defensively, Gorman is fueled by senior linebackers Jamih Otis, a Hawaii commit, who led the team with 103 tackles and Boston College-commit Palaie Faoa who added 57 tackles and 22 tackles for loss.

Chaminade-Madonna's path to an unbeaten state title included outscoring opponents 658-140. Key wins included preseason victories over St. John's (Washington, D.C.) 35-28 and Northwestern (Miami) 49-28.

Junior quarterback Cedrick Bailey threw for 3,355 yards and 45 touchdowns with a 70 percent completion rate. Junior running back Davion Gause ran for 1,142 yards and 19 scores while Jeremiah Smith was the leading receiver with 1,073 yards while finding the end zone 20 times.

Senior Jeno Junius led Chaminade-Madonna in tackles with 129 including 17 tackles for loss ad 6.5 sacks. Sophomore Chris Ewald had four interceptions, leading a secondary that totaled 23 takeaways on the season.

Chaminade-Madonna is participating in the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series for the second straight season after beating Highland of Arizona in 2021.