Gaels grind down Aggies

Bishop Gorman's football team faced a couple of fourth-and-long situations near midfield on Friday night. But instead of punting, the Gaels went for it both times.

It turned out to be the right strategy.

Gorman converted both fourth-down plays, and both led to touchdowns to help the Gaels top visiting Arbor View 28-10 for their seventh consecutive Sunset Region title.

"I didn't really hesitate," Gorman coach Kenny Sanchez said. "We've got some good football players, and usually when you give them an extra down, they might make something good happen, and they did both times."

The second time was especially important, as Arbor View (10-2) had just scored to cut Gorman's lead to 21-7.

The Gaels (13-0) faced fourth-and-8 from the 50, but a false start penalty pushed them back 5 more yards. Sanchez still sent his offense back on the field, and Tate Martell completed a 39-yard pass down the left sideline to a diving Brandon Gahagan to keep the drive going.

Two plays later, Martell hit Tyjon Lindsey on a 23-yard post route for a touchdown to push the lead to 28-7 with 8:47 to play.

"Shoot, we went deep on fourth down and we got it," Sanchez said. "Sometimes you've got to not outthink yourself, and if you get an extra down sometimes, why not take it when you've got good football players."

Gorman also went for it on fourth-and-6 from their own 49 on its first possession. That time, Martell found Austin Arnold down the right sideline for a 35-yard completion. That also set up a TD pass from Martell to Lindsey, a 16-yard play on a short swing pass that gave the Gaels a 7-0 lead with 10:07 to go in the first quarter.

"A couple fourth downs they converted, God that breaks your back," Arbor View coach Dan Barnson said. "And that hurts."

Arbor View also was hurt by some missed opportunities in the passing game. The Aggies dropped two passes on their opening drive, both by receivers who were open. Quarterback Hayden Bollinger also overthrew a wide-open Bishop Jones early in the second quarter.

"If we catch one ball in the first half, then you never know," Barnson said. "But you don't know. Even if you catch a ball, they get the ball back quicker."

Biaggio Ali Walsh rushed for 111 yards on 14 carries, and had TD runs of 6 and 14 yards for the Gaels. Martell completed 13 of 21 passes for 210 yards.

The 28 points were the fewest in a game this season for Gorman, which is ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today. The Gaels had beaten all six previous Nevada opponents by at least 50 points.

"People are confused because of how well we've done and our success out of state that they think we come into the state and we're just going to roll over everybody," said Sanchez, whose team has won 75 consecutive games against Nevada opponents.

"Those kids over there believe in themselves, they believe in their team. They're in the playoffs; anything can happen. So I'm proud of my boys. At the end of the day, the winners go on and the losers go on. We're moving on. We won the football game. We feel great about it."

The Aggies also left the field feeling pretty good. They lost 56-6 to the Gaels in last year's Sunset title game.

"It used to be Palo (Verde), and we challenged our kids years ago to close that gap against Palo Verde," Barnson said. "And we're trying to close the gap now. We want to win, but we also want to close the gap, as well. And we did tonight."

Morris Jackson led the Aggies with 87 rushing yards on 12 carries, and Curtis Jones had a 1-yard TD run. Carter Andrade added a 33-yard field goal for Arbor View.

"They're the No. 1 team in the nation for a reason," Barnson said. "That's a huge accomplishment for them, for Las Vegas, for everything. I'm proud of our kids, though. They battled."

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters