Champions! Gorman wins 4th high school football national title
Bishop Gorman coach Brent Browner gathered his players at midfield after they won the Class 5A Division I state championship at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 21.
He wanted to make sure they knew one thing.
“You guys just won a national championship,” Browner said, excited. The team cheered in response.
The title became official Monday. Gorman was crowned the 2023 high school football national champion by MaxPreps, receiving the No. 1 spot in the website’s final rankings.
It was the Gaels’ fourth mythical football national title. Bishop Gorman won three straight from 2014-16. It also remains No. 1 in USA Today’s Super 25 rankings, which will be updated Tuesday.
“It’s a blessing, 100 percent,” Browner said. “It’s great for our state, for the national championship high school football team to be from Nevada. I think it means a ton, not just for our program but for our state, and I’m super proud to serve these guys and to achieve that goal.”
Bishop Gorman (12-0) impressed from the start.
The Gaels started the year with a 63-42 win over eventual Utah 6A state champion Corner Canyon, ranked No. 13 in the final MaxPreps rankings.
Bishop Gorman’s most impressive win came in their home opener against then-No. 6 Miami Central (Florida) on Sept. 1. Senior quarterback Micah Alejado led the Gaels on a game-winning drive in the final two minutes for a 39-35 victory.
A 56-28 rout of Centennial (Corona, California), No. 14 in the final MaxPreps rankings, on Sept. 8 closed out Bishop Gorman’s out-of-state schedule.
The Gaels cruised to a 49-6 win over Liberty on Sept. 14 in their league opener. They then proceeded to roll through the rest of their Southern Nevada opponents.
Reigning national champion St. John Bosco (California) was another preseason favorite for the title and started the year ranked No. 3. It fell in the rankings after a 30-23 loss to Kahuku (Hawaii) on Sept. 16.
The rankings changed in Bishop Gorman’s favor after St. John Bosco blanked top-ranked Mater Dei (California) 28-0 on Oct. 13. The Gaels, who started the season ranked No. 2 by MaxPreps and USA Today, became the new top team in Max Preps’ rankings the following Monday. They moved into the top spot in USA Today’s rankings that Tuesday.
Browner confirmed Gorman will play Mater Dei in 2024 after their game fell through this season.
“This was probably one of the most unique seasons we’ve ever had,” Browner said. “We had a forfeit, we had two bye weeks. But I think the kids handled it tremendously well. They stayed focused, they stayed locked in. They didn’t waver. That’s just a testament to all the stuff that we keep preaching.”
It’s a return to form for Bishop Gorman, which was once on top of the high school football world thanks to stellar squads that featured the likes of quarterback Tate Martell, running back Biaggio Ali Walsh, tight end Brevin Jordan and others.
The Gaels’ reign came to an end in 2017. Their 55-game winning streak was snapped with a 35-21 loss at Mater Dei, ending their bid for a fourth straight national title.
Bishop Gorman’s dominance in Nevada came to an end as well when Liberty pulled off a 30-24 upset victory in overtime in the 2019 Desert Region final. That snapped the Gaels’ run of 10 straight state titles and their 115-game winning streak against in-state opponents.
Browner, the defensive backs coach in 2019, was promoted to head coach for the following season. He helped catapult Bishop Gorman back near the top of the rankings when high school football returned to normal in the fall of 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic. The Gaels were 12-1 that season and went 14-1 in 2022.
“It’s amazing for those seniors, all the hard work, the dedication,” Browner said. “They didn’t get to play their freshman year (because of COVID-19 restrictions), but they stayed with it. They stayed true to what they wanted to accomplish. The hard work and all that discipline shows in the long run it does pay off.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.