Defense dominant, but Bishop Gorman needs overtime to beat Dixie

Bishop Gorman head coach Bob Altshuler called the Dixie (Utah) Flyers the best football team his squad has faced in this early portion of the season.

And with two starting backs injured and a key defensive player leaving the game in the second half, Dixie gave Gorman all it wanted.

In the end, however, Gorman earned a 20-14 overtime victory at home.

Gorman held Dixie to 105 total yards, but the Gaels needed a 1-yard TD run from Jordan Welte in the extra period to win.

“It was a hard-fought football game,” said Altshuler. “We knew they (Dixie) would be physical, and they would play hard. However, our team showed plenty of character, especially after the number of mistakes we made.”

Third-ranked Gorman (3-1) scored two touchdowns in the first quarter — a 35-yard run from Welte and a 56-yard score from John Huber — to take a 14-0 lead. However, the Gaels only gained 74 yards in the second half.

The Flyers were without leading rusher Dallen Reber with a foot injury, then lost Cunner Nyberg late in the third quarter. In addition, Dixie lost Ian Gatchell, who returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown, in the fourth quarter.

Even with the injuries, the Flyers tied the game with 2:35 remaining in the third period on quarterback Matt Sharp’s 3-yard run. Sharp found Jake Mills for the two-point conversion, tying the game at 14.

Sharp’s touchdown was the first allowed by the Gorman defense in 14 quarters.

“Our defense has been playing awesome,” said Altshuler. “Holding a spread offense like Dixie to just over 100 yards of offense is impressive. We did make mistakes on both sides of the ball, something we will work on.”

Welte led the Gaels with 99 yards on 17 carries, and Huber added 59 on six rushes. Sharp completed 7 of 33 passes for 47 yards.