No. 1 Bishop Gorman prepared for physical tussle with Don Bosco Prep

Video: Pregame - Bishop Gorman (NV)

LAS VEGAS — Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) football coach Kenny Sanchez stopped the team's weekly team dinner on Thursday and said he wanted to address the group downstairs inside the Fertitta Athletic Training Center. 

"It will only take a few minutes," he told the nation's No. 1 ranked team and defending national champion.

"OK to video tape it coach?" he was asked by an out-of-town reporter.

"Probably not," Sanchez said. "It's kind of personal to the boys."

By the end of the unscripted, prolific, heated 10-minute barrage of words and emotions, Sanchez had the Gaels worked to a lather.

"Are you with me?" were his last words.

"Yes sir!" the 70 Gorman players said in perfect unison. Sanchez flung open the team room doors, and the boys, excused for the night, were bopping, weaving, hollering and generally charged.

Even electrified. You could hear and feel the buzz.

"I honestly wish we were playing right now," said four-year letterman Michael Geraghty, a 6-foot-3, 242-pound senior defensive end and tight end.  Said junior five-star quarterback Tate Martell: "That was about coaches' best. And he's given some good ones."

Sanchez, a chiseled 34-year-old who looks like he could still mix it up on the field, wanted to make the point that Friday's opponent — two-time mythical national champion Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) — didn't claim the corner market on toughness.

Sure, Gorman is blessed with perhaps the most lavish facilities in the country, a state-of-the-art training center and upward of a dozen different bright and beautiful uniforms supplied by Nike.

"But we get pushed to the edges," junior five-star receiver Tyjon Lindsey said. "We get two weeks off a year and spend the rest of the time working."

The Ironmen (4-2), befitting of their name under legendary New Jersey coach Greg Toal, relish their tough and physical reputation and have earned it. They play a punishing brand of football with their running attack on offense and particularly on the defensive end, where they always excel.

"Watching them on film, those guys are real big and physical and get after it," said Gorman sophomore cornerback Brendan Radley-Hiles. "But that's how we play too, so something has to give. I know it won't be us."

That's what Sanchez, Gorman's defensive coordinator the last six years who took over for his brother Tony Sanchez at the start of the season, was trying to get through to his team.

The Gaels (8-0) soaked it in, loud and clear.

"They fight to the whistle," senior offensive tackle Jaron Caldwell said. "That's why we need to sustain our blocks and don't let up."

Caldwell said the Gorman backs — especially fleet junior tailback Biaggio Walsh (1,216 yards, 15 touchdowns) — need a just a little crease to break it open.

"Those guys tackle well," Walsh said. "They fill the gaps. It's going to be a big challenge but I'm totally confident in my team and coaching staff."

Said Martell: "I know (Bosco) probably thinks the same thing, but nobody works harder than we do. We've earned our spot and we're not letting anyone move us off of it."