Bishop Gorman football, realignment dominate Nevada high school sports

The 12 Nevada high school football teams that played in this past week’s state championship games started their season more than 100 days before their final games.

The six football state champions crowned brought to an end to another exciting fall high school sports season. Across the nine fall sports, 24 Southern Nevada teams claimed state titles across all classifications.

There were plenty of storylines in football — on and off the field — and some incredible runs in soccer and girls volleyball.

Here are five takeaways from the fall sports season:

1. Still Bishop Gorman

5A or 5A Division I or Open Division. It doesn’t matter what the name of the league or classification Bishop Gorman is in; the Gaels proved again that they are the best team in the state. The Gaels won for the fifth straight year in a 44-7 win over Arbor View in the inaugural Open Division state title game.

Gorman (11-1) outscored opponents 501-64 and is ranked No. 5 nationally by MaxPreps. The Gaels’ defense allowed just its second touchdown to a Nevada opponent in seven games.

It was the final game for a senior class that includes quarterback Maika Eugenio (Hawaii commit) and defensive stars Prince Williams (Arizona commit) and Jett Washington (Oregon commit). The class won four state titles at Gorman and helped the program win its fourth mythical national title in 2023.

Gorman coach Brent Browner credited offensive coordinator Craig Canfield and defensive coordinator Michael Cosgrove for the Gaels’ dominant year and the development of the seniors over the last four years.

“You got a kid (Washington) that started at receiver and now’s the top safety in the country,” Browner said Tuesday night. “Prince, nobody thought he was any good at first and ended up being the defensive MVP in the state for the last three years. That kind of development is special.”

2. Aggies will contend again

Arbor View won’t be going anywhere. The Aggies have plenty of underclassmen who will put them in a position to return to the state title game next year.

It starts on offense with Utah commit quarterback Thaddeus Thatcher, two-way athlete Kamerion Bell and four-star prospects Damani Warren, a wide receiver, and tight end Zac Fares, who are all juniors.

The Aggies offense found success in spurts against Gorman in the Open Division title game. The unit totaled 290 yards, which was the most allowed by the Gaels against a Nevada opponent.

Arbor View defeated Liberty 41-28 in an Open Division state semifinal. It was the second victory for the Aggies in consecutive years over Liberty. The state’s two top public-school programs could play twice next year, including in another state semifinal.

3. Incredible runs

The season didn’t end the way Sloan Canyon and Faith Lutheran’s football teams wanted, but the two teams’ runs to their respective title games were among the highlights of the football season.

Sloan Canyon, in its second season playing varsity football, went 12-1 and won the 4A Southern Region title. The Pirates fell to McQueen 27-20 for the 4A crown at Allegiant Stadium.

Sloan Canyon coach Nate Oishi is in his second year leading the Pirates. His staff is made up of his former UNLV football teammates and the Pirates will have plenty of returners to contend again next season in 5A.

Faith Lutheran’s run to the 5A title was just as impressive. The Crusaders were 2-7 late in the regular season, then won a 30-24 regular-season finale against Foothill to get into the playoffs. The Crusaders (6-8) kept on winning to claim the 5A Southern Region title, rallying from 28 points down to defeat Centennial to advance to the state championship game.

The Crusaders lost to Northern champion Spanish Springs 42-23 in the 5A title game at Allegiant Stadium. It was Faith Lutheran’s third straight championship game appearance and first under first-year coach Jay Staggs. Spanish Springs (13-0) was the only undefeated football team in Nevada.

4. More realignment

The NIAA Board of Control made a drastic change to football realignment and playoff formats, before this football season ended, that will change how next season looks.

At a board meeting that took place days before the state championship games, the board voted to abandon the HRM system and implement a new system that would create a 10-team Open Division with nine league games for the top Southern Nevada teams.

5A would be 10 teams with nine league games, and 4A would be 17 teams split into two divisions. The change only impacts Southern Nevada and no Northern teams will play in the Open Division.

The proposal came from CCSD principals, who cited confusion and “credibility issues” with the HRM system — which combined NIAA rubric points, Harbin points and MaxPreps’ state ranking into an HRM score to determine who made the playoffs.

There were multiple revisions made to the NIAA’s initial final HRM rankings after an unexpected update in MaxPreps’ state rankings and later an unreported forfeited game. The new format will give the 20 teams across the Open Division and 5A Southern League, like Bishop Gorman, the opportunity to play only one nonleague game.

5. Storybook endings

Coronado’s boys soccer team, Doral Academy’s girls soccer team and Gorman’s girls volleyball team all won state titles to cap off memorable seasons.

Coronado claimed its third straight 5A boys soccer state championship with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Northern champion Hug in Reno. The Cougars’ 55-game winning streak and 187 goals scored this season are state records. They are the first team in the top classification (5A/4A) to win three straight state titles.

Senior Gavin Flickinger’s 67 goals are a state record for most goals in a season by a player in the top classification and his 127 goals are the most career goals by a player in the top classification.

Doral Academy’s girls soccer team had its perfect season end in the 2022 4A state title game, led by a group of talented freshmen. The Dragons lost in last year’s 4A state semifinals to Galena. With that group of freshmen now seniors, Doral Academy got its state title in a wild 4-3 win over Galena.

Senior Sienna Turco, one of five seniors who were freshmen on the 2022 team, scored a hat-trick in the state title win, after missing her previous two seasons with consecutive ACL injuries, and scored the winning goal in stoppage time.

Gorman’s girls volleyball team won a third straight 5A title behind a pair of record-breaking Pitt commits. Senior outside hitter Ayanna Watson set the state record for career kills (2,195) and senior setter Trinity Thompson set the state record for career assists (4,337).

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