Gorman seniors face decision with spring football season

When Bishop Gorman found out there would be a spring football season, its seniors who had signed to play in college faced a difficult decision.

Do they choose to play and risk potential injury, or do they opt out and have nearly two years without being in pads by the time they join their college team?

“We made a commitment to every senior in the building that if they wanted to (play), they could be with us until the end,” Gorman coach Brent Browner said. “We had conversations with them about what they felt is best.”

The season begins Friday in Southern Nevada, but it will be limited to a Class 1A matchup between defending state champion Pahranagat Valley and Mineral County. Other scheduled games either were canceled or changed to scrimmages.

Gorman had several players sign with college teams at the Division I level, including defensive back Jaden Hicks (Washington State), linebackers Ma’a Gaoteote (Michigan State) and D.J. Herman (San Diego State), and defensive linemen Charlotin Charles (Fresno State) and Tafao Amataga (Southern Utah). Most of them have chosen to remain with the Gaels in some capacity.

Several are limiting their work to lifting with the team. Others are on the practice field but leave when it comes time to hit.

Then there are those such as Herman and Gaoteote, of whom Browner said, “We have to pull them out, like, ‘No, you can’t go now.’”

For Herman, it’s a love of football he can’t turn off.

“I’m just happy to be here with the boys again,” he said. “It sucks that we’re not having a full season, but we get a chance to get ready for college. I’m just happy to be back with my teammates and coaches.”

Charles is being more cautious than Herman. He’s working out and competing in individual drills to keep his pass-rushing abilities sharp, but he’s not participating in contact drills and is unlikely to play in scrimmages or games.

“It’s a great advantage to be out there because we have some of the best coaches in the country,” Charles said. “So staying here and working out with them is improving me and getting me ready for college.”

The Gaels have plenty of motivation to get back on the field. The last time they played was their 30-24 overtime loss to Liberty in the 2019 Desert Region championship game that ended a 10-year run of state championships.

While this year’s senior class won’t have a chance to atone for that loss, they can pass their knowledge of what it takes to win to their younger teammates.

Herman and Charles said they think of Gorman as a brotherhood, and that’s why the decision to be around the team was easy to make.

Browner is pleased to have them around, especially because he’s trying to bring the players back together after telling them to stay away from one another because of COVID-19.

“The first day we came back, we weren’t a team yet,” Browner said. “Having guys like D.J. and Charlotin out there, when we were able to get back and be a team again, those guys are invaluable to re-establishing what this place was built on.”

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.