Winning defines Solomon

Unless they change high school eligibility rules, no quarterback will ever win more state championships than Jarrett Solomon.

And the Bishop Gorman senior left behind a legacy that extends far beyond his four state titles.

Solomon is the only Nevada player to surpass 10,000 career passing yards. As a senior, he completed 68 percent of his passes for 2,849 yards and 37  touchdowns. For his efforts, Solomon is the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Player of the Year to highlight the all-state team.

Gorman coach Tony Sanchez said Solomon’s strengths as a quarterback go beyond his physical abilities.

“Being a quarterback is different than any other position, but the biggest thing is managing the game,” Sanchez said. “He did a phenomenal job of taking what the defense gave him.”

Solomon, who has committed to Arizona, consistently made good decisions. He was intercepted only 17 times in his career, and never more than five times in a season. The Gaels averaged 55.5 points this fall and 51.8 in his four-year career.

“We scored the most amount of points in the country two of the last four years,” Sanchez said. “He’s a big part of that. We’re arguably the top offensive team in the United States over the last four years.”

And Solomon at quarterback was one consistent part of that offense, even though that wasn’t necessarily the plan when Sanchez arrived at Gorman.

“He was not even on the radar,” said Sanchez, whose first season was Solomon’s freshman year.

The coach said when Solomon did enroll, he initially worked with the junior varsity squad. But it quickly became apparent that Solomon had what it took to succeed on the varsity level. And all he did that season was pass for 2,108 yards and lead the Gaels to the state title.

Sanchez said after trying to keep the pressure off Solomon early in his career, he was able to let his quarterback carry the load the past couple of seasons.

“As he gets older and more mature, it really goes from managing him, to him going ahead and really controlling everything and everybody else and making everybody else better,” Sanchez said.

The 6-foot-1-inch, 200-pound Solomon has all the physical tools to be an elite quarterback.

“Jarrett’s got incredible arm strength,” Sanchez said. “His gift is having a howitzer. He’s got the ability to throw the ball on a dime, a bullet. He is really an aggressive, hard thrower. He’s able to hit routes most high school quarterbacks can’t throw.”

He also made plays with his legs. Solomon finished his career with 944 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, but even bigger was his ability to extend plays and make big throws down the field.

“That’s what great quarterbacks do,” Sanchez said. “Great quarterbacks really start to use that vision. He would scramble and keep his eyes down field and make big plays.”

For his career, Solomon completed 532 of 838 passes (63.5 percent) for 10,113 yards and 139 touchdowns.

Sanchez thinks Solomon’s career will be remembered for more than the eye-popping numbers. He said Gorman’s success with Solomon at quarterback could help lead to more local quarterbacks getting a shot to play in college.

“Vegas has not produced a lot of big-time quarterbacks,” Sanchez said. “To me, he kind of set the tone for what people want to aspire to. I believe because of what he’s done, he’s going to lead that charge and you’re starting to see better quarterback play in the valley and more teams starting to open things up on offense.

“You’re going to see other quarterbacks after him have the opportunity to move on after high school, and Jarrett’s a big part of that.”