Nevada Preps Athlete of the Week: Bishop Gorman’s Elija Lofton

There was one play in Bishop Gorman’s playbook that it hadn’t used all season.

It involved putting tight end Elija Lofton in the backfield as a running back in a short-yardage situation.

The Gaels went to that play during last Saturday’s Geico State Champions Bowl Series against Florida Class 1M state champion Chaminade-Madonna.

“We’ve been working on it during the season, we’ve just never used it,” Lofton said. “They called the formation and we just kept using it over and over again.”

On fourth-and-2 in the second quarter, Lofton lined up in the backfield and got much more than the needed two yards. He found a hole and sprinted for a 36-yard touchdown.

It was one of five touchdowns he scored that led the Gaels, ranked No. 4 nationally by MaxPreps, past then-ranked No. 5 Chaminade-Madonna 49-14. For his efforts last week, he was named Nevada Preps Boys Athlete of the Week.

“It was just a good feeling to see all the hard work that we put in pay off,” Lofton said.

The 6-foot, 2-inch junior finished with four rushing touchdowns on six carries.He also had a 16-yard touchdown reception. He finished with 95 all-purpose yards on eight touches.

Lofton and the Gaels showed no rust despite a month-long break between games before the bowl game. Lofton said he took every day as an opportunity to get better and stay close to the team.

After helping the Gaels to another 5A state title, Lofton said he was looking forward to the bowl game as one more chance to play with his teammates.

“It was a blessing to be able to play another game with my teammates because we’ve been playing with each other for so long since we were kids,” Lofton said.

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on Twitter.