Bishop Gorman ‘probably’ on road to third straight national title

Bishop Gorman’s thrilling triple-overtime win over St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida) on Friday was enough to keep the Gaels atop USA Today’s national high school football rankings.

The question now is whether Gorman (6-0) will be able to stay there and finish No. 1 for the third consecutive season.

“The short answer is probably, if Bishop Gorman goes on to win the state championship again,” said Jim Halley, who compiles the national rankings at USA Today. “However, there’s a strong possibility that there will be postseason games on ESPN involving state champions, and that could complicate things for the Gaels.”

The 25-24 win over Aquinas was the final out-of-state opponent for Gorman, and the Raiders gave the Gaels their toughest test of the season. Gorman, which has won 45 consecutive games, hasn’t lost to a Nevada opponent since 2008.

“That was a great game,” Halley said. “At any level of football you’d have to consider that a great game. They came across three time zones and gave Gorman a better game than anybody has in 45 games.”

Gorman secured the win when Biaggio Ali Walsh scored on a 2-point conversion in the third overtime.

“The whole thing about (coach) Kenny (Sanchez) going for it, I think that is everything you need to know about Bishop Gorman,” Halley said. “They’re willing to schedule tough teams and make tough decisions. They’re not afraid to lose, and that’s why they’ve been so successful.”

Gorman’s nonleague schedule was brutal, with the Gaels facing five out-of-state programs. Four of them were ranked in the top 25 by USA Today at the time they played Gorman.

None of those games was more impressive than the win over Aquinas, which actually moved up from No. 9 to No. 8 in the rankings after losing to Gorman.

“It was a great game,” Sanchez said. “It was good to get a win, and I’m proud of our kids for once again pulling through and working hard and staying resilient.”

Sanchez said the team has put the Aquinas win behind it and now is focused on winning the Southwest League. The Gaels, 1-0 in the league, play at Spring Valley (1-3, 0-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.

“This is the start of our second season,” Sanchez said. “Hopefully we do well enough to get to the playoffs so that we can get to play our third season.”

Sanchez conceded that winning a third mythical national championship is probably on the minds of some in the program, but he said capturing an eighth consecutive state title is more important.

“We’ve got to win state right now,” Sanchez said.

Gorman would be the first team to win three consecutive mythical national titles since De La Salle (Concord, California) won four in a row from 2000 to 2003.

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters