No. 1 Bishop Gorman falls to Mater Dei in showdown — PHOTOS

Bishop Gorman’s chances at a fifth mythical national championship came down to a fourth-and-3 late in the fourth quarter Friday night against Mater Dei (California), trailing by three points.

The Gaels had come up with several key conversions throughout the game, but Mater Dei came up with a stop it desperately needed.

Gorman quarterback Maika Eugenio scrambled and found Terrance Grant, but he was tackled 2 yards short of the the first down with under a minute left for a turnover on downs.

That sealed Gorman’s fate. The Gaels, ranked No. 1 nationally by USA Today, fell to Mater Dei 27-24 in front of a sold-out, standing-room-only home crowd at Fertitta Field in a showdown between the two prep football powerhouse programs.

Gorman (4-1) is now 0-5 all-time against Mater Dei (3-1). The loss significantly hurts the Gaels’ shot at a fifth national title with one nonleague game remaining next Saturday at No. 19 Santa Margarita (California).

“We gave it away, we gave it away, “ Gorman coach Brent Browner said. “Simple point. My fault. I must have done something wrong in between preparation for this week. We weren’t prepared. We didn’t take care of stuff, so it definitely falls 100 percent on me.”

Gorman is ranked No. 2 by MaxPreps behind St. John Bosco (California). Mater Dei (3-1) is No. 8.

“I’m going to get it fixed like I always do,” Browner said. “You learn more from the losses than you do from a win. It’s a good football team that we played. We’re a really good football team. It’s razor thin, man. The margin at this level is razor thin. Two mistakes, three mistakes is the difference in the game.”

Eugenio completed 18 of 28 passes for 289 yards with two touchdowns and a rushing score. Mater Dei quarterback Ryan Hopkins threw for 245 yards and threw three touchdowns, but was intercepted.

It appeared Hopkins’ interception in the third quarter was what the Gaels needed to get momentum back in a game tied at 21. Jett Washington picked off Hopkins near midfield and Gorman had great field position, but had to settle for a field goal after the drive stalled when Eugenio took a sack on first-and-goal from the Mater Dei 5.

With Gorman leading 24-21 early in the fourth quarter, Hopkins made up for his earlier mistake. He threw a deep ball to Ohio State commit Chris Henry Jr., who reached up for the ball as it went through Washington’s hands for a 37-yard score to give the Monarchs a 27-24 lead with 6:06 left after an unsuccessful 2-point try.

Gorman had a chance to answer and was aided by a short kickoff. The drive stalled at the 30 and Gorman had to settle for a 47-yard field goal try from Hudson Borsari, but the kick missed to the left.

The Gaels forced a three-and-out on Mater Dei’s next drive thanks to a Tamatoa Gaoteote sack on third down, but the Gaels’ offensive struggles continued on the final drive and the Monarchs ran the final minute out after the turnover on downs.

“It was just simple stuff, discipline, a couple different things we just messed up here and there,” Browner said. “Again, (Mater Dei) is a hell of a football team. They got that many five-star dudes. They’re good, but we’re pretty good, too. So, you can’t make mistakes either way.”

New Mexico commit Massiah Ming had 132 receiving yards on five catches, and Kaina Watson had 78 receiving yards on five catches with a touchdown. Watson’s 5-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter evened the score at 21.

Gorman was without athlete and Hawaii commit Isaiah Nickels, who got hurt on the opening kickoff last week against East St. Louis (Illinois). The Gaels were also without standout sophomore wide receiver Zyren Menor, who was hurt on the opening kickoff Friday against Mater Dei.

“I thought the offense was amazing,” Browner said. “We lost two receivers in the middle of the first two plays of the (last two) games. Short two guys that play the game, I think the defense was amazing. Nobody will understand how much we did on offense because it was the next man up.”

Hopkins added a 19-yard score to five-star USC commit Mark Bowman on the opening drive of the third quarter to give Mater Dei a 21-14 lead. Bowman had 95 receiving yards and Henry had 128 receiving yards.

Gorman capitalized on its first drive thanks to a long kickoff return from Menor that brought the ball near midfield. A long pass play from Eugenio to Watson of 32 yards got the Gaels in the red zone. On the next play, Eugenio found DaMari Hall on a 19-yard scoring pass as Eugenio escaped pressure and scrambled to find an open Hall to put the Gaels ahead 7-0 early in the first quarter.

Both teams traded punts throughout the rest of the first quarter, then Mater Dei started moving the ball in the fourth quarter. The Monarchs scored on a 29-yard pass from Hopkins to Bowman, and a 2-point run gave them an 8-7 lead with 9:45 left before halftime.

Gorman was unable to get points as Mater Dei blocked a Hudson Borsari 45-yard field goal attempt and Aaryn Washington returned it to Gorman’s 19-yard line. The Monarchs had to settle for a 35-yard Jerry Shifman field goal to lead 11-7 with 6:31 before halftime.

Eugenio showed off his arm and legs on Gorman’s next drive. His 20-yard pass to Watson on third-and-6 set up Gorman with a first-and-goal and, three plays later, Eugenio burst into the end zone on a quarterback sneak to put Gorman back up 14-11 with over a minute before the break.

The Gaels appeared to have another score on a Mater Dei fumble that Prince Williams returned to the end zone, but a Gorman defensive holding negated the play and kept the Monarchs alive. Then Hopkins completed a 54-yard pass to Henry Jr. down the sideline to get the Monarchs deep inside Gorman territory with seconds before halftime.

Mater Dei committed a false start on first-and-goal at the 1 and it appeared the clock was going to run out on the Monarchs, but Browner called a timeout to set up his defense as seconds ticked off. That gave the Monarchs a chance at a 23-yard field goal that Shifman covered to even the score 14-14 at halftime.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.