MaxPreps Game of the Week: Bishop Gorman relishes underdog role against Mater Dei

"Our guys aren't going to all those camps," Gorman coach Kenny Sanchez said.

In addition, the Gaels have only seven 3-star recruits.

This from the 2016 MaxPreps national champions, who have gone 120-6 over the last nine years and 20-6 against Top 25 opponents. By comparison, Friday's opponent Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), the defending national champions, possesses 11 4- or 5-star players from its junior and senior classes, and 10 other 3-star players.

The MaxPreps Game of the Week will be televised live on ESPN and starts at 6 p.m. local time.

"That's great," Sanchez said. "Good for them. Frankly, we could care less about stars. We just care about producing great football players, great young men and great teams. We've done OK over the years."


The following week, against nationally ranked Central (Miami), they squandered a halftime lead to lose 24-20, before running the table with 12 straight wins and a ninth straight Nevada 4A title.

"We're 18 points from winning a fourth straight national title and people think we're falling off," Sanchez said. "When you're playing our kind of schedule, the margin of error is small."

They've won utilizing a lot of college-worthy talent, including MaxPreps 2016 National Player of the Year Tate Martell (now at Ohio State) and All-Americans, linebacker Palaie Gaoteote (USC), safety Bubba Bolden (USC) and tight end Brevin Jordan (Miami).

But there wasn't a single Gorman player on the MaxPreps 2018 preseason All-American squad.

None of that matters to Sanchez, who somewhat relishes the "underdog" role.

"We have six kids who are offered by major colleges," he said. "We'll have more by the end of the season. I think those colleges recognize good players." Gorman's top recruit is 6-foot-4, 240-pound defensive end Treven Ma'ae, who has 20 college offers, including USC, Oregon, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

Other top seniors for the Gaels are cornerback Kyu Kelly, a Stanford commit, and UCLA-bound guard Beau Taylor (6-5, 285).

The team's junior class is stacked, led by dual-threat quarterback Micah Bowens (6-1, 180), who played cornerback last season, and 5-11, 225-pound tailback Ikaika Ragsdale, who has a handful of Pac-12 offers.

Bowens takes over at quarterback for his senior year replacing Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who moved from wide receiver while Martell ran the offense. Thompson-Robinson accounted for more than 3,700 yards and 45 touchdowns and is now vying for the starting job at UCLA.

Sanchez is optimistic that Bowens can make that quick transition to quarterback.

"He's a dual-threat with good speed," Sanchez said. "We're throwing him right in there against the defending national champions. He looks ready." Other top juniors are linebacker Dahlin Mesake (6-3, 230) and receiver Rome Odunze (6-1, 185).

They'll all be facing a squad with an abundant of talent, led by 5-star senior athlete Bru McCoy (6-3, 212), and 5-star juniors, cornerback Elias Ricks (6-2, 180) and dual-threat quarterback Bryce Young (6-0, 176).

Last week, senior running back Glenn "Shakobe" Harper rushed for 162 yards and two scores and Oregon-bound back Sean Dollars added 119 yards rushing and three touchdowns in a 42-14 win over Bishop Amat (La Puente, Calif.).

The victory, however, was short-lived.

One of Mater Dei's many transfers (reported at between 13 and 24) was ruled ineligible after playing and the Monarchs had to forfeit the game.




MaxPreps National Football Editor Zack Poff and National Director of Photography Todd Shurtleff are on the ground in Las Vegas and will provide coverage the next two days.