Gorman unstoppable in championship game, may have state’s all-time best team

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L.E. Baskow

Bishop Gorman QB Tate Martell (18) joins teammates in dunking ice water on head coach Kenny Sanchez as the game winds down versus Liberty during their high school football state championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016.

Sat, Dec 3, 2016 (5 p.m.)

Bishop Gorman Dominates Liberty

Bishop Gorman QB Tate Martell (18) joins teammates in dunking ice water on head coach Kenny Sanchez as the game winds down versus Liberty during their high school football state championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Launch slideshow »

One by one, Bishop Gorman High football coaches inserted a backup player into the state championship game today against Liberty to replace one of the program’s decorated seniors.

The seniors were greeted with a massive hug from coach Kenny Sanchez and standing ovation from the fans, getting a fitting send-off in the final game of a three-year run of victories for the class of 2017 that likely won’t be seen again in Las Vegas.

Gorman easily defeated Liberty 84-8 at Sam Boyd Stadium for their eighth straight state championship to extend the program’s undefeated streak to 54 games. Eight seniors, many of the players who exited to cheers early in the second half, have been key contributors every step of the way as Gorman has built its program into the nation’s best.

The Gaels are the two-time defending mythical national champions and should be voted for a third straight crown in two weeks, especially after scoring 84 points against Liberty, the nation’s 21st-ranked team.

“They deserve it,” Sanchez said of his star players exiting the game to applause. “This is their stage. This is their classroom. They have done such a good job and put in so much work. I’m glad we got to do that for them.

Sanchez called a timeout following the first play of the second half to first remove quarterback Tate Martell, who capped his undefeated three-year career as the Gorman starter with five touchdowns, all in the first half.

“That was emotional for me. That is it; it’s all over,” said Martell, the Ohio State commit who had three rushing and two passing touchdowns. “It was a good time. I’m glad we accomplished everything we set out to do.”

Gorman seemed to be at its best in the big games. They traveled into Texas and won, emerged victorious in an overtime thriller on ESPN against a ranked Florida school, and beat ranked opponents from California and Hawaii on the way to a third straight undefeated season.

The Gaels haven’t lost to a Nevada opponent since 2008, flexing their muscles today against a Liberty program that has also built itself into a national brand. The game turned on the first play, when Liberty quarterback Kenyon Oblad’s pass was deflected and intercepted at the Liberty 36.

Four plays later, Biaggio Ali-Walsh rushed in for his first of two touchdowns for a 7-0 lead just 59 seconds into the game. By the end of the first quarter, it was 35-0 and Gorman had run just 11 plays.

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Bishop Gorman's Greg Oliver (20) intercepts a pass with the help of teammate Bubba Bolden (11) intended for Liberty's Marquez Powell (1) during their high school football state championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016.

“That first play, when we got the interception, I was like, ‘Alright, this will be a quick one,’” said Alex Perry, another one of Gorman’s three-year varsity contributors whose final act was a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second half.

In addition to the punt return, Gorman had two other defensive touchdowns, a fumble recovery in the endzone on a bad snap in the first quarter that was recovered by Austin Arnold and a late interception return for a touchdown by reserve Brock Ruggeroli. Ruggeroli’s touchdown, on one of Gorman’s four interceptions, sent teammates on the sideline into a frenzied cheer as the margin of victory continued to increase.

“This was the perfect game we imagined,” Martell said. “All year (after every game), we’d look at the film and say we didn’t execute here or there. But if you go back and look today, it was that perfect game we were looking for all year. It was easy for us on offense, and the defense locked them down all day.”

Martell had touchdown passes to Brevin Jordan and Jalen Nailor, and rushed for three more scores — all in the first half as Gorman led 52-8 at halftime. In the second half, Martell’s backup, junior Dorian Thompson-Robinson, rushed for a touchdown and connected with Nailor for another score. Nailor, Jordan and Thompson-Robinson are juniors, signaling Gorman’s dynasty is far from finished.

But today wasn’t about next season or which pieces the champs have coming back, including Sanchez as coach. There’s speculation he could follow older brother, UNLV coach Tony Sanchez, into the college ranks, but Kenny Sanchez said earlier this week he doesn’t have any job offers.

Rather, today was about celebrating arguably the best team in Nevada history. There’s four All-Americans on the roster, including three committed to Ohio State, and double-digit players have major scholarship offers.

They were so good, they scored more than 80 points against a quality Liberty program and won again by the mercy rule of the running clock. Like Gorman, Liberty also knocked off a ranked Texas school on the road this season.

“It’s something we didn’t expect,” Sanchez said. “They are better than that. Things kept going wrong for them and we were on fire.”

Liberty’s lone points came on a fourth-down play in the second quarter when Oblad connected with Darin Acohido for a 3-yard touchdown and Ethan Dedeaux added on the 2-point conversion.

“It just shows you how special the Gorman team is. We aren’t 70 points worse than them,” Liberty coach Rich Muraco said. “But when they jumped out on us 28-0 in the first quarter, it sucked the life out of us. The thing they are great at is burying teams when they have momentum going their way. We felt we had an amazing year. We beat all the great teams in Nevada — Arbor View, Desert Pines and Damonte Ranch. Today, it just wasn’t our day.”

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

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