Bishop Gorman posts second straight road shutout

By Case Keefer (contact)

Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011 | 12:19 a.m.

Bishop Gorman successfully routed another opponent Friday night.

Behind a smothering defensive performance, Gorman beat Spring Valley 55-0.

“The best thing I can say is they’ve been a very mature team all year,” Gorman coach Tony Sanchez said. “They haven’t played down once.”

Perhaps that’s a credit to some of the Gaels leaders, who were as impressive as ever against the Grizzlies.

Senior running back Shaquille Powell rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries. Senior linebacker Ben Guida had an early interception.

Junior quarterback Anu Solomon threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another. Junior wide receiver Ryan Smith caught two of Solomon’s touchdown passes.

“He’s such a fantastic football player,” Sanchez said of Solomon. “He’s done big things all year. It’s unfortunate that he hasn’t gotten to play past the first half much.”

Solomon might have a previously unexpected chance to play an entire game next week. Gorman is now scheduled to take on Arbor View, one of Las Vegas’ best teams, after Western forfeited the rest of its season Friday. Western officials announced they were canceling the last three games of the season after multiple players were suspended in connection with an on-campus hazing incident.

Gorman was proactive when it heard about the cancellation of the Western game and able to schedule Arbor View, which was supposed to be on a bye.

“It’s a great test for us,” Sanchez said.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.