Las Vegas' David Flipping blocks a punt by Bishop Gorman's Lorenzo Sartini in the Wildcats' 34-19 victory over the top-ranked Gaels on Friday night. Photo by Isaac Brekken. Bishop Gorman's Nick Errichetto (83) beats Las Vegas' Jamal Lomax to a fumble in Friday night's game. Photo by Isaac Brekken.

With Las Vegas High trailing Bishop Gorman 12-7 early in the second half Friday night, Wildcats fans began chanting "give the ball to Jamal."

The Wildcats did just that, and Lomax, a senior running back, responded with 132 second-half yards and three rushing touchdowns to lift No. 6 Las Vegas to a 34-19 victory over the top-ranked Gaels.

"That's just the kind of back he is," Las Vegas coach Chris Faircloth said. "He wants the ball on every play. He's going to get the tough yards, and that's what he's getting for us right now."

Las Vegas had two drives stall inside the Gorman 20 to start the second half, but then Lomax took over. His 18-yard run on the Wildcats' third possession of the half took the ball to the Gorman 4-yard line, and he plowed up the middle for a touchdown on the next play to give the Wildcats a 13-12 lead. O'Ryan Bradley's two-point conversion run put Las Vegas ahead 15-12 with 2:32 left in the third quarter.

"We stalled a few times, but we found a way to get through it," said Lomax, who finished with 216 yards on 30 carries.

Las Vegas' special teams got involved as the third quarter wound down. David Flipping blocked a punt, and Evan Walton scooped the ball up and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown with six seconds left in the quarter to put the Wildcats ahead, 21-12.

"We spend a lot of time on special teams here, probably as much time as we do on offense and defense," Faircloth said. "And we count on our special teams to make plays for us every week."

After a Gorman punt to start the fourth quarter, Lomax took an inside handoff and weaved untouched through the Gorman defense for a 43-yard touchdown run. David Medrano's extra point made the score 28-12 with 10:16 left.

Gorman's next drive ended with quarterback C.J. Sedoris being sacked for a 16-yard loss on fourth-and-15. Three plays later, Lomax scored on an 11-yard run to push the lead to 34-12.

Las Vegas took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Bradley to D'Angelo Saulsberry.

Gorman responded with Keola Antolin making a diving catch of an 11-yard pass from Sedoris to cut the lead to 7-6 with 13.9 seconds left in the first quarter.

DeMarco Murray then put Gorman ahead 12-7 on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Sedoris. Murray caught the ball near midfield, made one tackler miss, ran through a tackle at the 20 and reversed his field for the touchdown.

But the Wildcats toughened in the second half, limiting Gorman to minus-8 yards in the third quarter. The Gaels had 40 yards of offense in the second half. They drove 62 yards on their final possession, with Corey White scoring on a 1-yard run to cap the scoring.

"We were disappointed in our (defensive) performance at half," Faircloth said. "We got after them pretty good, and the kids responded real well."

Lomax said playing the top-ranked team was unusual for Las Vegas, which has played in three of the last four state championship games.

"I guess it's something different," Lomax said. "It was kind of different for us playing on the other side and them coming in as the No. 1-ranked team. But we don't really worry about that."