Fifty-one weeks ago,
Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) pulled off one of the biggest come-from-behind upsets in recent high school football history. Trailing 24-7 to
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) with 1:05 left in the game, the Huskies engineered an 18-point comeback that featured a field goal, two onside kicks and a gutsy, go-for-two-call for the 25-24 victory.
Let's just say Friday's sequel didn't live up to the original.
Bishop Gorman, which finished 12-1 last season (the lone loss was to Hamilton) and won its 18th Nevada state title, scored 38-straight points in the opening half to make a comeback nearly impossible. In fact, the game went to a running clock before intermission, eventually resulting in a resounding 45-0 win for the host.
The Gaels, playing without dinged up five-star receiver
Zachariah Branch, got on the board with a 34-yard field goal from
Gunnar Myro. Following a Huskies' punt, Gorman drove the ball 80 yards in six plays capped by a 26-yard scoring strike from
Micah Alejado to
Trech Kekahuna to bump the lead to 10-0.
Hamilton ended the first quarter on the move, facing a fourth-and-2 from the Gorman 28 to start the second 12 minutes, but the Gaels' defense got in on the act to force the turnover on downs.
Trech Kekahuna, seen earlier this season against Corner Canyon, caught three TD passes from Micah Alejado as Bishop Gorman downed Hamilton on Friday.
Photo: Jann Hendry
Two plays after getting the ball back, Alejado scrambled to his left on second down and found tight end
Elija Lofton on a broken route down the home sideline and the four-star prospect with offers from Colorado, Hawaii and Nevada outraced the defense and gave the Gaels a 17-0 lead just into the second period.
The Huskies' next possession didn't fare any better as they again gambled on fourth down, this time deep in their own territory. Hawaii commit
Aiden McComber filled the hole and stopped the Hamilton runner short. On the next play, Alejado capitalized on the short field, finding Kekahuna on a dig route near the 5 and the Hawaii commit did the rest finding the end zone for a 24-0 lead with 10:08 left before intermission.
Following another three-and-out from Hamilton, Alejado marched the Gaels down field and
Micah Kaapana busted up the gut, untouched, for a 12-yard TD run and a 31-0 lead. The following Gorman possession Alejado again found Kekahuna, on the drive's first play, a post route that went for 52 yards to boost the host's edge to 38-0 with just over five minutes remaining before halftime.
Kekahuna caught three Alejado TD passes as the Gaels compiled 418 yards of total offense, including 239 yards in the air. The Huskies had 40 yards of total offense, including just one yard rushing.
Gorman had another scoring opportunity in the waning second of the second quarter, but opted to let the clock spin rather than try a field goal. The entire second half was played with a running clock.
