‘Don’t poke the bear’: Gorman rolls to 4th straight title — PHOTOS
Any chance Arbor View had to hang with Bishop Gorman in the Class 5A Division I football state championship game came down to a fourth-and-16 late in the first quarter.
The Gaels were in control and held a 14-point lead. Their defense had been stout early — then it ended any chance of an upset.
Gorman defensive back Jett Washington intercepted Arbor View’s Thaddeus Thatcher in the end zone and returned it to the Aggies’ 34-yard line. Two plays later, Gaels quarterback Maika Eugenio threw his third touchdown pass of the first quarter, a 2-yard score to Trent Walker.
The top-seeded Gaels never looked back and crushed No. 2 Arbor View 69-7 to win the state title Tuesday night at Allegiant Stadium. The entire second half was played under the running clock. It’s Gorman’s fourth straight state title and 21st overall.
“I’m definitely super excited,” Gorman coach Brent Browner said. “I would say one thing: Don’t poke the bear. That’s the one thing that the kids talked about all week. They came out and they played really, really well. They handled business like they should have handled business.”
Eugenio completed all five of his first-quarter passes, including touchdowns of 38, 30 and 2 yards. The junior right-hander completed 12 of 15 passes for 274 yards and five touchdowns in the first half. Eugenio, who did not play in the second half, completed passes to nine receivers, and five Gaels caught touchdowns.
“It’s just a blessing and it’s kind of sad because it’s my last game with the seniors,” Eugenio said. “It’s a great opportunity to go out there and have some fun and win my first state championship (playing).”
Gorman’s defense made its presence felt in the first half. The Gaels, ranked No. 4 nationally by MaxPreps, allowed just 32 yards of offense and added three sacks and three tackles for loss.
“We’re one of the best defenses in the country, and we’re ready to play anybody,” Washington said. “I think we sent a message today.”
In the regular season, Gorman (11-1) rolled to a 49-14 win at Arbor View (10-2) on Oct. 10. The 14 points were the most points the Gaels had allowed to a local team this season.
The defense “wanted to challenge themselves,” Browner said. “That’s the best part is coaching a lot of guys that want to challenge themselves and play against the best players. Arbor View has some really good players, Division I guys.”
The Gaels kept the pedal to the metal in the second quarter. Eugenio connected with LSU commit Derek Meadows on a long pass that had some yards wiped off following one of 11 first-half penalties on the Gaels. But seven plays later, Eugenio hit running back Terrance Grant Jr. for a 3-yard score on fourth down to go up 28-0.
It didn’t take long for Gorman to strike again. It recovered the ensuing onside kick, and on the next play, Eugenio threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Aizen Torres for a 34-0 lead after the extra point was missed.
After Gorman’s defense forced a three-and-out, Myles Norman found the end zone on a 2-yard run to trigger the running clock. The Gaels made a special teams play late in the first half when Alexander Perez blocked an Arbor View punt and grabbed it in the end zone for another touchdown.
Gorman went into halftime leading 48-0.
Eugenio had first-quarter touchdown passes of 38 yards to Meadows and a 30-yard strike to Isaiah Nickels.
The Gaels pulled away in the second half with CJ Rabb taking a kickoff for a touchdown, Myles Norman breaking off a 22-yard touchdown run and Brodey Correa recovering a fumble and running more than 70 yards for a score.
“It shows how dominant we are,” Eugenio said. “We scored on every drive, but not only that, we scored on every aspect of the field. We had a blocked punt, a fumble touchdown, it just shows how great we are on all sides of the ball.”
Meadows finished with 108 receiving yards, and Norman added 88 rushing yards.
The Gaels’ defense made life rough for an Arbor View offense that averages more than 395 yards and 38 points per game.
Washington, a four-star 2026 recruit, added a tackle for loss, and Utah commit Sione Motuapuaka recorded two sacks for the Gaels.
The Aggies were held to minus-14 rushing yards in the first half, and Thatcher completed 18 of 25 passes for 148 yards with a touchdown and interception. Jayden Williams finished with 109 receiving yards.
Arbor View got on the scoreboard on a 4-yard TD pass to Sean Moore with 1:20 left in the fourth quarter.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.