Sollenberger Classic: No. 13 Bishop Gorman shows brillant flashes in opening-night victory over Brophy

LAS VEGAS – Bishop Gorman's highly touted football team showed flashes of why at least one national outlet thinks it's the best team in the nation on Friday.

The Gaels showed off their three-headed running attack and a stout, fast, hard-hitting defense in a 44-0 win over Brophy College Prep (Phoenix) in the first game of the ninth-annual Sollenberger Classic at Fertitta Field.

Russell Booze, Jonathan Shumaker and Biaggio Walsh combined for 192 yards rushing and five touchdowns, while the defense allowed a scant 150 yards.

Add in a brilliant 80-yard catch and run by UCLA-bound tight end Alize Jones to start the second half and it was indeed an impressive and thorough victory.

But coach Tony Sanchez wasn't exactly doing cartwheels after, giving that the Gaels — No. 13 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Football rankings — an overall grade of B-minus.

"We have athletes and we made some athletic plays for sure," he said. "We did a good job of running the ball too and our defense did a great job.

"But it's Week 1 and we really gotta clean a few things up."

Such as, the passing game was a little hit and miss. The Gaels didn't get the ball out in space as they'd probably like to playmakers Cordell Broadus and Tyjon Lindsey. Broadus, a transfer from Diamond Bar (Calif.) and one of the top receivers in the country, had three short receptions in the first half.

Still, the son of rapper Snoop Dogg, gave his team a little bit better grade than his coach.

"I gave us an A-plus," he said. "I felt like we executed the game plan. Yes, we had a couple of mistakes, but at the end of the day, we left it all on the field."

It was an exciting day for the 6-foot-3, 180-pound receiver, who is ranked the No. 114 recruit overall by 247Sports.

"I couldn't sleep all night," he said. "I don't think I've ever been so nervous before a game. But we got the win, we have great fan support and I'm just glad to be part of the community."

Sanchez said his trio of backs would share the load and indeed they did, each scoring touchdowns to take a 21-0 lead. The first was a 1-yard plunge by Walsh, a nimble 5-11, 185-pound sophomore who is the grandson of Muhammad Ali. He finished with five carries for 36 yards.

"It felt great to get the first one," he said. "I hope there's lots more."

Booze, a punishing 5-10, 180-pound senior, had two touchdown runs of 4 yards and finished with 75 yards rushing and speedy 5-9, 190-pound Shumaker added 76 yards and touchdown runs of 35 and 6 yards. 

"Our running backs coach asked me how we should roll these guys out and I said, ‘I don't care, do what you want, they're all darn good,'" Sanchez said. "Keep ‘em fresh, keep ‘em going. If one guy has the hot hand feed him the rock, get him out the next series and let another guy do the job."

All the guys did the job on defense, including Nicco Fertitta (eight tackles, fumble recovery), middle linebacker Nela Otukolo (12 tackles) and Bryce Garcia and Ikem Okeke, who each recorded interceptions.

"We came out and played like our heads were on fire," Fertitta said. "We played a great game tonight and we're only going to get better."

They'll probably need to. In the next five weeks, the Gaels play two nationally ranked teams and three others on the cusp.

"It's Week 1 and maybe we can't expect perfection," Sanchez said. "We have a long way to go."