Zeger’s 30 seconds lead Gaels past Clark in Southwest opener

Evan Zeger only needed 16 seconds to take the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and give No. 1 Bishop Gorman the lead in its Southwest League opener Friday at Clark.

After the Chargers punted on their first possession, Zeger took 14 more seconds to put the Gaels in control, hauling in a Jarrett Solomon pass and raced 87 yards for a touchdown.

From there, Gorman (2-1, 1-0 Southwest) cruised to a 48-0 victory over the Chargers.

Zeger said he wanted to get the Gaels rolling right away.

“I just wanted to start things off well early,” Zeger said. “Coach said run it up the gut and don’t stop. So that’s what I did.”

Solomon, who connected on 7-of-11 passes for 180 yards and two scores, said Zeger’s second TD on Gorman’s first offensive play set the tone for the Gaels’ pass attack.

“We kind of struggled in the passing game for the last two games, so we came out and did pretty good,” said Solomon, who also had a 21-yard TD run in the second quarter. “The linemen did a great job giving me time back there to do my thing.”

Gorman’s offensive line dominated the Chargers (0-2, 0-1 Southwest), allowing the Gaels to roll up 406 yards of offense and score on seven of their first eight possessions, with the only blemish a missed 53-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Shaquille Powell led the Gorman ground game, rushing for 98 yards on four carries, including a 65-yard scoring run on the Gaels' third possession of the first quarter.

The Gaels limited Clark to 107 yards of offense, sparked by linebacker Ben Guida’s five tackles.

Defensive lineman Marquis Hunkin had an interception off a deflection, and safety Mark Philippi added a fumble recovery.

Chris Jackson led the Chargers with 63 rushing yards.

Solomon said despite his team’s traditional domination of its league, it did not come in to Friday’s game — and won’t go into the rest of division play — expecting things to be easy.

“We were not going to take this team lightly,” Solomon said. “It doesn’t matter who we play. We still have to go as hard as possible, and we are going to try to get better.”