Ronnie Stanley (left) and Shaq Powell pose with trophy after resounding victory.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
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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."
Always positive Gorman coach Tony Sanchez praises squad after impressive victory.
Photo by Chris Pondy
