Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Sun Standout Awards:

Bishop Gorman, Liberty high football teams enjoyed memorable seasons

Liberty

John Gutierrez

The Liberty Patriots celebrate their 21-14 victory over Westlake High in Austin, Texas, Friday, Sept. 2, 2016.

Click to enlarge photo

Bishop Gorman players run sprints as they warm up to meet Cocoa in their game on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016..at the Sun Standout Awards. Bishop Gorman HS football is a Team of the Year Finalist at the Sun Standout Awards.

Award for Excellence

The Bishop Gorman High football program promoted 10 sophomores to the varsity team in 2014. With those players helping to lead the way, the Gaels never lost a game in three seasons. The three USA Today national championships they won account for the greatest dynasty in state history. The players receiving the Sun Standout Award for excellence include:

• RB Biaggio Ali-Walsh (Cal)

• WR Austin Arnold (UNR)

• S Bubba Bolden (USC)

• S Greg Francis (UNLV)

• DE Haskell Garrett (Ohio State)

• LB Farrell Hester (UNLV)

• DB Malik Hausman (Arizona)

• WR Tyjon Lindsey (Nebraska)

• QB Tate Martell (Ohio State)

• DB Alex Perry (Arizona State)

The Liberty High football team was expected to lose in Texas, and many predicted it would be by a lopsided margin. This was Texas, after all, the mecca of high school football. And Liberty, a Las Vegas power, was relatively unproven on the national stage.

But something didn’t go according to plan that day against Austin Westlake, Texas’ top-ranked team. The Liberty passing game was unstoppable, with Kenyon Oblad throwing for three touchdowns and the defense limiting Westlake to just one touchdown through three quarters.

A forced fumble inside the 10-yard line late in the game sealed a 21-14 victory. Soon, the Patriots were celebrating their improbable win, relishing in a program-changing victory that silenced more than 10,000 fans in attendance. It was the Moment of the Year for the Sun’s high school sports awards show, the Sun Standout Awards.

“I remember catching a ball, going out of bounds and looking up in the stands to see hundreds of flashes of cameras on top of thousands of students and families,” said Liberty’s Darion Acohido, who had a touchdown and over 100 receiving yards. “It was just exciting. It was the biggest atmosphere me and any of my teammates had been in, and it was a great team win.”

It was the second time in as many weeks that a Las Vegas team went into Texas and won. Bishop Gorman had opened with a victory at Cedar Hill of Texas in a nationally televised game, grabbing the first of five wins against notable out-of-state foes on the way to winning a third consecutive mythical national title. USA Today slotted the Gaels No. 1 in its final ranking.

Thousands of schools field high school football teams. Yet because of the wins in Texas, two from Las Vegas were ranked in the top 25 nationally.

“We wanted to show that Nevada had more than Bishop Gorman,” Liberty coach Rich Muraco said.

Bishop Gorman, rightfully, gets most of the attention. Ten players from its senior class have been key contributors since they were sophomores, meaning they never lost a game in solidifying themselves as the nation’s best team. Those players are recipients of the Sun Standout Award, which is reserved for excellence.

The players are going to schools such as Ohio State, Nebraska and Southern Cal.

“Us 10 guys, I feel like we are the best to ever do it,” said Bubba Bolden, Gorman’s safety who will play at USC. “We tried to schedule the toughest teams and play against the toughest players, and we dominated.”

In one of the rare games in which Gorman faced a challenge, it was Bolden who saved the season. He blocked a 24-yard field goal attempt in the first overtime against St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to give Gorman a chance to prevail, 25-24, in triple overtime. Biaggio Ali-Walsh scored on a 2-point conversion for the win to cue a massive celebration.

Gorman, arguably for the first time in its three-year run, was fortunate to have won.

“That game defined everything we did,” Bolden said.

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