Gorman regains form vs. Desert Oasis

Last week, Bishop Gorman junior quarterback Jarrett Solomon suffered a defeat at home for the first time in his career.

Friday in their Southwest Division opener against Desert Oasis, it didn't take long for Solomon and his Gaels teammates to get back that winning feeling.

Solomon tossed a pair of first-half touchdown passes as No. 1-ranked Gorman built a 42-0 halftime lead and cruised past the visiting Diamondbacks, 52-0.

"Mentally, we just needed to come out and get back to our winning ways," said Solomon, who connected on 8 of 12 passes for 139 yards in one half of play. "We just had to grind it out in practice this week, then we came out (tonight) and finished."

It didn't take the offense long to finish the opening drive of the game -- just 33 seconds. Solomon connected with Jamir Tillman on a 44-yard pass on the Gaels' first play, and senior running back Shaquille Powell finished the drive on the next play with a 36-yard run to give the Gaels the lead for good.

Solomon said he actually was shooting for the score on his first pass to Tillman, who could not keep his feet after making a diving grab.

"We tried to get a one-play-and-done, but that didn't work out," Solomon said. "But we got two."

Powell added a 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and finished with 93 yards on just five carries.

Nathan Starks had touchdown runs of 4 and 58 yards in the first half for Gorman (2-1, 1-0). Tillman added a 7-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter and finished with four receptions for 97 yards, all in the first half.

Gael coach Tony Sanchez said he was pleased with the way his team responded against Desert Oasis, not just after losing to national power Armwood (Fla.) 20-17 last week, but after playing two high profile games to start the year.

"Monday was a tough day after coming off of those two games," Sanchez said. "Tuesday was a little better, and by Wednesday we were kind of back. So it definitely took a couple of days to get our kids' minds right this week.

"Tonight, I thought they did a good job of being even-keeled and settled early on offense. The defense took a little longer to settle down, but overall, I thought it was a pretty good night."

Defensively, Gorman did not let Desert Oasis establish much on offense, holding the Diamondbacks to 36 passing yards and 105 overall. In the first half, the Gaels outgained Desert Oasis, 304-56.

In the second half, Gorman rested its starters on both sides of the ball and was still dominant.

The Diamondbacks were playing their first game of the season and had the misfortune of facing a Gorman team not only in its third game of the year but coming off a loss.

"It's not easy to come out to play your first game against a team that has two games under their belt. They are a better team than they showed," Sanchez said of Desert Oasis. "I really think that is going to be the best team in our league."