New-look Bishop Gorman out to extend winning streak, defend title

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Not much, you can argue, has changed with the Bishop Gorman High football program.

The Gaels at 6 p.m. Friday, like many seasons before, will open their schedule against a national opponent on ESPN. They’ll bring a 54-game winning streak dating back to 2013 into the game against visiting DeMatha of Maryland, a team featuring many college-ready players and with a national pedigree.

It’s one of four games against a nationally ranked foe to open the season, following a script of past seasons when the Gaels loaded their schedule with a who’s who of opponents to build a national championship resume. They are the three-time defending mythical champs.

Gorman is again nationally ranked, coming in at No. 4 in USA Today’s preseason poll and in the top-5 of the others. And their top players, led by quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA), tight end Brevin Jordan (Miami) and linebacker Palaie Gaoteote (USC), are All-American candidates and celebrated college recruits.

Gorman’s Fertitta Field earlier this summer went through a small — but significant — addition. They added "2016" to the exterior of the training complex where the program’s past two national championships are documented. Adding "2017" to the wall may be easier said than done.

For as much as everything appears to be the same, this is a different team.

Gorman will have many first-time contributors in key positions, especially in the defensive secondary, as it replaces a graduating class labeled as one of the best in Nevada history. Some of the group of about eight players were three-year starters, including national player of the year Tate Martell at quarterback, and key secondary members Bubba Bolden and Alex Perry.

But coach Kenny Sanchez isn’t concerned. His confidence comes from repetition. While the pieces are different, including losing one coach to UNLV’s staff, they followed the same offseason training schedule — everything from weight training to breaking in new players with on-field work.

“We get back in the weight room in January when we get off from break and we get back to grinding,” Sanchez said.

Instead of being considered the favorites to again go undefeated, many can’t see them surviving the four games against ranked challengers to open the season. Next week, for instance, Gorman plays at No. 1 Mater Dei, whose quarterback JT Daniels threw a record 67 touchdowns last season and is committed to USC.

But before strategizing against Mater Dei, De La Salle of California or Miami Central later in the season, there’s sixth-ranked DeMatha on Friday. One of the keys to Gorman’s success, Sanchez says, is attacking the schedule one game at a time, and DeMatha is the only opponent on the radar.

That’s when the new starters, such as the heralded Thompson-Robinson, will be called upon to continue the winning ways. Thompson-Robinson is a four-star recruit who had more than 20 scholarship offers and ultimately picked UCLA over Michigan. But his meaningful action last season came at wide receiver and he threw just 31 passes.

The Gorman offense will look similar to last season because both Martell, now at Ohio State, and Thompson-Robinson are dual-threat quarterbacks. And Gorman’s receivers, the big-bodied Jordan (6-foot-3, 250-pounds) and Arizona State commit Jalen Nailor (52 catches for nearly 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2016), are one of the Gaels’ strengths.

“This team, we really don’t care what other people have to say,” Thompson-Robinson said. “We are going to focus on ourselves.”

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