On Saturday, August 24th, the reigning National Football Champion Bishop Gorman Gaels faced one of their toughest tests this season and came out on top.
Coming off of a week one victory against Kahuku, Bishop Gorman headed down to Florida to face the number 11th ranking team in the nation, St. Thomas Aquinas. This matchup was one of the four games featured in the ESPN High School Football Kickoff.
The last time these two teams played each other was in 2016, when the game went to triple overtime and the Gaels won in front of their home crowd. Not to mention, this matchup was the most anticipated MaxPreps Game of the Week. It was evident: Gorman needed to secure this win if they wanted a shot at a back-to-back national championship. As if the stakes weren’t high enough, additional football fans from across the nation tuned in to watch the team compete on ESPN.
After almost an hour delay due to the rain, St. Thomas Aquinas put seven points on the scoreboard to start the matchup, but then Gorman answered with a touchdown of their own, from Sophomore running back Terrence Grant. The scoreboard stayed still for most of the first half, and then the Gaels trailed by four at halftime.
Coming into the second half, Bishop Gorman looked brand new. When asked what the halftime message to the team was in the locker room, Coach Browner said, “we were still in the game- it kind of didn’t feel like that on their end. But I knew we could score and we knew we had to do so. Once we fixed those little pieces, I think the kids had more confidence.”
Gorman ended up securing the win from key interceptions by Alex Perez ‘25 and Brayton Correa ‘25 and improved their season’s record to 2-0, defeating the Raiders 29-21. After the game, Alex Perez talked about what was going through his mind during his play of the game. He said, “we were down most of the game, and we just had to make a play. We were there for our offense. We had to make plays every drive, and I said ‘That’s mine’ and took it to the crib.”
Bishop Gorman Football headed down to Fort Lauderdale on a mission: to defend their title on national television. They did just that and more. Next up is their biggest battle of the season and the MaxPreps game of the year, when they take on #1 Mater Dei. The Gaels will travel down to play the Monarchs at their home field on September 6th.