Gorman football to be included in Sollenberger Classic, after all

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Thursday, April 14, 2011 | 11:48 a.m.

A month ago, Bishop Gorman High athletic department officials received word they wouldn’t be participating in this year’s Sollenberger Classic football game.

The event, held each August featuring defending state champions from Nevada and Arizona at a neutral site, was changing formats to include a second game. Under the format change, however, Nevada’s representative would be a lower-classification school, meaning back-to-back large-school classification Gorman wouldn’t be included

That changed Thursday.

Gorman received an invitation to face Chaparral High of Scottsdale (the 5A Division II champ) on Aug. 20 at Northern Arizona University — initially, Gorman was told Mullen High of Denver would be playing Chaparral. In the lower-level game, 3A runner-up Moapa Valley of Overton will face Arizona’s Show Low High.

Chaparral, led by five-star quarterback prospect and Texas verbal commit Connor Brewer, is expected to be ranked in the top 20 — if not higher. Gorman will also be ranked, meaning the game will be one of the most anticipated nationally of the early season.

Officials from both the Nevada and Arizona athletic associations in late March told the Sun that Gorman wasn’t going to be included. The change of plans this week was welcome news at Gorman, which six days after the Sollenberger Classic will host Armwood High of the Tampa, Fla., in another battle of top 20 teams.

“We’ll have to make sure to sharpen our swords early,” Gorman coach Tony Sanchez said.

In last year’s Sollenberger Classic, Gorman lost in the final minutes to Hamilton High. Despite an awful first half of turnovers and other mistakes, Gorman led in the fourth quarter and could have won. Hamilton finished the year ranked in the top 10.

“Last year, it took us a few minutes to get going,” Sanchez said. “I don’t think we will do anything different (in getting ready). A lot of that has to do with maturity, and we started 16 underclassman last year (against Hamilton).”