Bishop Gorman wins wild one in overtime

The road to a mythical national championship is rarely paved smoothly.

The Bishop Gorman football team still is traveling down that road after hitting a major pothole on Friday night.

Gage Wilson kicked a 26-yard field goal on the first possession of overtime, and Nicco Fertitta forced a game-ending fumble as the host Gaels survived 23-20 against Bingham (Utah).

Gorman (3-0), ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today, overcame four fake-punt attempts by the Miners — three were successful — a late fumble and a bizarre ending. The Gaels led 20-17 and were on the verge of running out the final minute of play when quarterback Tate Martell fumbled the snap and Bingham recovered at the Gaels’ 46-yard line with 48 seconds remaining.

Bingham, which is ranked No. 18 by USA Today, drove to the Gorman 26 yard line before Chayden Johnston made a 47-yard field goal with three seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 20.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Miners (2-1) were flagged for fair-catch interference, which moved the ball to the Bingham 42. Because of the fair catch, Gorman opted to attempt a free kick on the final play, and Wilson’s try, that would have won the game, fell inches short of the crossbar.

In the overtime, Gaels tight end Alize Jones nearly made a spectacular catch in the corner of the end zone on third down before Gorman settled for Wilson’s go-ahead field goal.

Bingham quarterback Kyle Gearig was stopped for a 2-yard loss on the Miners’ first play of overtime, and Fertitta came from behind to strip Gearig on second down. Haskell Garrett recovered for Gorman, ending the game and setting off a huge celebration on the Gaels’ sideline.

Martell, who came on in relief of Danny Hong late in the first half of last week’s victory at Servite (Calif.), earned the start at quarterback for Gorman. The sophomore finished 11-of-21, with 189 yards and two touchdowns.

He hit Jones for a 36-yard touchdown to give Gorman a 13-0 lead with 9:39 to play in the first half. The score came one play after the Gaels stopped Bingham on a fake punt.

The Miners answered with 17 unanswered points and had a four-point lead with 2:47 to play in the third quarter, after Johnston’s 32-yard field goal. But Martell led a 10-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with his 10-yard strike to Cordell Broadus that put Gorman on top 20-17 early in the fourth quarter.

The key play on the drive came from backup quarterback Danny Hong, who scrambled for 5 yards on a third-and-5 to keep the drive alive. Hong had to come in for one play after Martell had his helmet knocked off on the previous play.

Russell Booze ran for 118 yards on 17 carries and scored on a 9-yard run on the second play of the second quarter to put the Gaels on top 6-0.

Cameron Smith rushed for 97 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown run for Bingham’s first score of the game, making it 13-7 after the extra point. He also caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Gearig that put the Miners up 14-13 at halftime.

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.