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Stumbleprep football:
Bishop Gorman football ranked No. 23 in preseason poll
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
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Nevada's best high school football team also is one of the nation's top squads.
Defending large-school state champion Bishop Gorman is ranked No. 23 nationally by Maxpreps.com in the prep sports website's preseason poll released last week.
The ranking partially can be credited to Gorman's dominating 2009 season. The Gaels outscored opponents, 798-137, in finishing 15-0 and ranked in several polls — they were No. 25 by National Prep Football Poll, No. 46 by Rivals.com and No. 106 by Maxpreps.
Gorman opens the 2010 campaign Aug. 21 against perennial Arizona power Hamilton High in the Barry Sollenberger Classic at Northern Arizona University. The event annually pits the Arizona and Nevada large-school champions from the past year.
Hamilton of Chandler, Ariz., is ranked No. 19 in the Maxpreps preseason poll and is led by three offensive linemen with Division I scholarship offers.
That's only the beginning of a schedule that will give Gorman plenty of opportunities to improve on the ranking.
The Gaels travel to Concord, Calif., on Sept. 25 to face De La Salle, one of the nation's most respected programs.
De La Salle won a national-record 151 games from 1993 to 2001, finishing No. 1 in the USA Today rankings in 1998 and from 2000 to 2003.
"The kids are going to have a chance to go out and see if they deserve (the ranking)," Gorman coach Tony Sanchez said. "We want to go out and compete at the highest level to prepare us to win a state championship."
Beating quality out-of-state opponents will be easier said than done, especially considering Gorman will have to replace eight players from last year's team who received Division I scholarships. That core group of players combined to go 41-2 with two state titles over the last three years.
The cupboard, however, is far from empty.
Gorman has five players with scholarship offers, including defensive end Jalen Grimble, who picked USC in early May. Also, defensive lineman Jaylon Jackson was one of the team's leaders in tackles last year, and safety/wide receiver Evan Zeger is an early commit to Washington.
Offensively, junior Shaquille Powell will be one of the most dynamic playmakers in Nevada. Splitting carries last year, he rushed for 1,500 yards and 29 touchdowns. Also, sophomore quarterback Anu Solomon widely is considered the city's top passer.
"The ranking will put a bigger target on our backs," Zeger said. "We are going to have to step up because people will be gunning for us."
Sanchez realizes it's the ranking at the end of the year that is most important. Still, he said, being mentioned as one of the top teams out of 16,000 schools nationwide is an achievement.
"It's nice to be included in that conversation," he said.
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proud of you guys.. cant wait to see you wearing the scarlet and grey.
vegasvegas...are you hating bcuz you wish u were at that school. What a nice article then you scroll down to idiots like vegasvegas who portraits hate. Why? I've been following them since playoffs, and yes a part of their talent graduated. But this team is such a young team that they will go far again! Not too mention freshman and sophomores! They are legit!
If you have a problem, take it up with the NIAA, maybe they can support your concerns. Other than that leave high school kids alone! Let their coaches deal with preparing them for such a tough schedule and let spectators (like yourself) who have nothing but negative things to say, shut up!
oh vegasvegas, do you read what your comments are? It sounds like hate or jealousy. Like in every state, even in NV, public schools do have different guidelines than private schools. Why punish the kids that want to attend Gorman? It is not their fault that they want a better education and program.
I keep up with the news and know about the 2 stories that were shown. However they have a different situation on their hands, which is zoning. But the similarity that they want is a better program. Who could fault them?
I can accept reality, can u? If you did, your posting would be in support, but...
Criticism I can take but negativity towards kids, I can't!
You don't have to educate me on anything. Your mind is set on how you feel, so you will research anything you want and post on here where only words can be shown (hiding behind a screen). Your posting mean nothing. I'm pretty sure that Gorman's program will succeed with or without you opinion. Even though my child attends a great public school...if I could afford it, my child would be attending Gorman!
Like I said, take it up with someone else because no one cares!!!
My question is why are all these kids signing with USC? USC is on probation for two years, and is not eligible for post-season play. Why would a top athlete want to go there?
vegasvegas, you're just a hater that only wish. So what if its been here a very long time...it's time to move on and let go!
And yes, I wish that I could afford to put my child in a private school, got a problem?
You hide behind a screen acting like you SMART! Get a grip of yourself and act like an adult! Obviously, you have nothing better to do than wait and see if someone will respond to your comment!
Ray forgot to mention that one of the offensive lineman for Hamilton is former Green Valley player John Archuleta
lvfan, I applaud your humbleness while dealing with someone like VegasVegas. We cant win um all especially when you're dealing with someone who makes it their business and probably spend all his waking moments looking for ways to trash talk Gorman. Just let him keep talking apparently he's very frustrated and confused because if he's so fed up with the rinky dink football program here in Nevada then why on earth would anyone want to have a username associated to this moronic copy cat state. "VegasVegas" you have a great day and God bless you.
A win over perennial power De La Salle would certainly give both Gorman and Vegas football some serious credibility. Won't be easy though...
Why is it that any time someone mentions the difference between having a private school Gorman in Nevada is an advantage to them, you're automatically a hater. It's simple Gorman is the only private school of its kind in the state. In larger states, there are several and it doesn't have such an impact on how competitive the other schools can be. California combines them all as vegasvegas stated, but there are so many good programs that there's still a high level of competition. You don't have to be a hater to see that. They run good programs, but those programs would not be as dominant in Arizona, Texas, California, Floriad or even Georgia. They would be good and competitive, but not necessarily the big boy on the block like they are here.