Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

kickoff 2015:

Gorman football has new mountain to climb

high school football media day 2015

Christopher DeVargas

Bishop Gorman football players McKay Wilson, Brandon Gahagan and Alec Lazarou are shown before the 2015 season.

Bishop Gorman video preview

High School Football Media Day 2015

Liberty High football players Tyus Toomalatai, Kaimi Batoon, Calvin Tubbs, and Nick Tapuala before the 2015 Season. Launch slideshow »
Prep Sports Now

Kickoff time

Las Vegas Sun sports reporters Ray Brewer and Case Keefer spend some extra time on the three biggest games of the week — Arbor View at Desert Pines, Chandler (Arizona) at Bishop Gorman and Liberty at Saint Louis (Hawaii) — before getting to their full picks. They also discuss the hypothetical first pick of a high school football fantasy draft.

When Kenny Sanchez took over last January as coach of the nation’s best high school football program, he didn’t need to make many changes. You, after all, don’t fix something that’s not broken.

Aside from moving his belongings into a bigger office in the Bishop Gorman football complex, it’s been business as usual this offseason for Sanchez in preparing the Gaels to defend their mythical national championship.

Same training schedule, methods and terminology. Same intensity and attention to detail.

“Everything has been kept the same,” said Michael Geraghty, Gorman’s senior defensive lineman. “We are going to keep doing what we have been doing. We come in every day and bust our butts and go as hard as we can all day. From hard work breeds excellence and success.”

Sanchez was elevated from defensive coordinator to replace his brother, Tony Sanchez, who after winning a sixth straight state championship and national championship last season was hired at UNLV.

Just don’t discount Kenny Sanchez’s contribution to the dynasty.

For all of Gorman’s successes the past six seasons, transforming from a good team in Nevada to a regionally respected program to a national power, Kenny Sanchez was a significant part of the evolution. He organized the defense, everything from calling plays and making adjustments on game day, to coaching and motivating players during the week.

“Any job you get, act like it is your last, and work hard at it,” he said.

Gorman, like it does every offseason, arrived the first Monday in January to begin preparing for a new season. That’s when the Gaels closed the book on the national championship, a season which will be celebrated for years to come, and turned their attention to a new beginning.

“You have to forget about it,” junior quarterback Tate Martell said. “That was last year’s team.”

Gorman again will play a who’s who of opponents in nonleague play, starting at 7 p.m. Saturday against defending Arizona state champion Chandler on ESPNU. Six days later, it travels to the Salt Lake City area to face Bingham, who it needed overtime to beat last season. Both Chandler and Gorman are ranked in the top-five nationally.

Other national opponents include Long Beach Poly, Washington state power Bellevue, Servite of California and Don Bosco Prep of New Jersey, who if Gorman is still undefeated Oct. 23 the outcome could determine if it wins another mythical title.

Asked about playing so many tough opponents, senior offensive lineman Julio Garcia II gave an answer typical with the mindset at Gorman since the Sanchez brothers arrived in 2009, “The first game is all we have to worry about. We are only worried about Chandler.”

Chandler, too, should be worried about Gorman.

The Gaels return some of their key offensive players from last season and most are juniors. Martell was the difference-maker last season, completing 124 of 200 passes for 2,537 yards and 40 touchdowns with just two interceptions in being named the national sophomore of the year.

Tyjon Lindsey (884 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2014) and running back Biaggio Ali-Walsh (12 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns) are juniors with elite speed.

Senior wide receiver and kick returner Brandon Gahagan and lineman Jaron Caldwell, a UNLV commit, both will be key contributors to an offense looking to equal its 51.7 points per game effort from last season.

Defensively, Gorman is led by four-star 2017 recruit Haskell Garrett, who last season had 79 tackles — 20 for a loss — and 11.5 sacks. The Gaels also have talent in the secondary with Arizona State commit Alex Perry at defensive back and Bubba Bolden at safety.

Ikem Okeke, who has scholarship offers from UNLV and UNR, leads the linebackers, and Geraghty, who missed last season with a leg injury, will make an immediate impact on the defensive line.

“Once we got back to the grind again in early January, we started to work on a new mountain to climb,” Kenny Sanchez said.

That journey begins in a familiar place Saturday: Against a top opponent on national television. Yes, nothing has changed at Gorman.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy