Gorman ready to battle the elements, Reed in state semifinals

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Friday, Nov. 27, 2009 | 10:35 a.m.

The Bishop Gorman High football team hasn’t faced this type of challenge all season.

It’s a challenge that some of Southern Nevada’s best teams haven’t been able to overcome in years past.

The Gaels (13-0) have breezed through their schedule with relative ease this fall in outscoring opponents 675-93 and only trailing twice — mind you, for a combined three minutes.

But come Saturday in the large-school state semifinals against host Reed High of Sparks, the Summerlin Catholic school will have to worry about more than the team it faces.

Beating a Reno-area school in its own backyard requires handling the travel, battling the always frigid-cold Northern Nevada weather and playing in front of a hostile crowed.

The winner advances to the state championship game Dec. 5 against the winner of the Sunrise Regional title game between Basic and host Del Sol.

The Gaels’ players are confident they will be playing for the title. While the challenge of battling the elements to beat Reed will be unique, it’s nothing this team that includes at least eight with Division I scholarship offers can’t handle.

“You can’t use any of those things as an excuse,” Gorman senior tight end Xavier Grimble said. “It’s still a football game.”

The national weather service lists the kickoff temperature at 39 degrees and cautions for snow flurries. It’s a formula that doesn’t favor the warm-weather schools from the Las Vegas Valley.

Palo Verde, which had played in the last seven state semifinals until losing to Gorman in the playoffs three weeks ago and is widely considered one of Las Vegas’ top teams, has struggled in the games at Northern Nevada schools. The Panthers failed to score in their first two appearances and lost last year in the state title game to McQueen.

Gorman coach Tony Sanchez has preached to his team all week to ignore what’s being said about why they can’t beat Reed. He jokingly said his players would be ready to play if they had to hike through snow packed mountains to get to the stadium.

“They have to play (in the cold weather), too,” Sanchez said. “We aren’t going to be a team that makes excuses. We are going to be a team that goes out and plays our type of football.”

Las Vegas High has won in its last two appearances at Northern Nevada schools, including a 21-14 victory against Reed in the 2005 state semifinals — a game Wildcats coach Chris Faircloth refers to as “The Blizzard Game.”

“It was bitter cold,” Faircloth said. “We probably played in 3 feet of snow, but only after they plowed the field before the game. ...You have to be able to focus on the task at hand. You talk all week about challenging their toughness. They weren’t allowed to talk about how cold it was going to be.”

In addition to the elements, Gorman will be facing a physical Reed team led by a pair of offensive linemen with multiple Division I offers.

The Raiders (11-2) have won their last 10 games, including a 26-3 victory against Galena High in the Northern Regional title game last week, and won’t alter their style of play against an athletic Gorman squad.

Except Reed to run its offense behind senior linemen Garrett Corbett (6-foot-6, 270 pounds) and Kyle Roberts (6-foot-6, 275 pounds), who will challenge Gorman’s defensive line that includes Alex Turner (a Stanford commit) and Jalen Grimble ( a junior with offers from the likes of LSU and USC).

“If there is one thing we hang our hat on, it’s our running game,” Reed coach Ernie Howren said. “But Bishop Gorman is as physical of a team that I have seen on film this year. They have some big guys who are going to play smash-mouth football.”

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected].