Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Update: Gorman football finishes No. 1 in two rankings for mythical championship, No. 2 in two others

Gorman vs. Reed

Jeff Mulvihill Jr. / Special to the Sun

Bishop Gorman’s Ikem Okeke says it all during the NIAA State Championship Football Game between the Bishop Gorman Gaels and Reed Raiders at Damonte Ranch High on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014, in Reno.

Updated Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014 | 3:10 p.m.

Bishop Gorman vs. Reed

Bishop Gorman Brandon Gahagan (3) returns the opening kickoff deep into Reed territory during the NIAA State Championship Football game between the Bishop Gorman Gaels and the Reed Raiders at Damonte Ranch High School in Reno, Nevada. Launch slideshow »

This is why they call it the mythical national championship.

Earlier Monday, one final high school football ranking had De La Salle of Northern California No. 1, slightly ahead of local power Bishop Gorman. Another ranking released today had Allen High from Texas in the top spot, also ahead of the six-time state champion Gaels.

A third ranking also released today, sees it differently — Gorman is the national champions.

PrepNation.com’s ranking has Gorman in the top spot, Allen at No. 2 and De La Salle at No. 3. Gorman was No. 1 in every ranking — there’s at least five, similar to boxing governing bodies — the past two months, beating Reed High from Reno in early December for the state title.

The Gaels had to wait two weeks for other states, namely California and Texas, to finish their seasons. De La Salle and Allen did enough to impress some voters, but not the crew at PrepNation. Tuesday, Gorman also was No. 1 in the MaxPreps composite rankings.

It was a different story earlier today

The Bishop Gorman High football team thought it had the national championship wrapped up.

When the Gaels concluded their 15-0 season in early December by scoring 70 points against Reed High of Sparks for their sixth straight state championship, they assumed they had done enough to win the national championship, too.

But today, in a pair of final rankings by MaxPreps, the Gaels dropped out of the top spot for the first time in nearly two months to No. 2.

Gorman was replaced by De La Salle of Northern California in the CBS MaxPreps Computer Football Rankings. In the CBS MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Football rankings, Gorman fell behind Allen of Texas.

The championship is purely mythical because teams are from different regions and can’t play against each other. Rankings are compiled by reporters using results, strength of schedule and, at least in the preseason, the number of college recruits a team has.

De La Salle beat Centennial Corona 63-42 Saturday in the California Open Division championship game, showing some voters enough to pass Gorman. By comparison, Gorman in September beat Centennial by one point.

Gorman opened the season with six wins against respected out-of-state competition, including beating then No. 1 St. John Bosco to ascend to the top of the rankings. They again dominated Nevada teams with victories by the mercy rule of a running clock, surrendering just 54 points in nine in-state games, and believed they had done enough to hold on at No. 1.

And they still might.

USA Today will release its final rankings later this week, and some consider it the most prestigious ranking because it has been around the longest. Also, MaxPreps does a composite ranking.

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

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