Tony Sanchez has not lost an in-state game since he took over at Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV) heading into the 2009 season and, as such, he set his sights on a higher prize: a national title.
Sanchez has worked to build his program – and his schedule – to the point that the talent and results would get the Gaels to achieving that goal. With three weeks left in Nevada high school football, and just five on the national schedule, Bishop Gorman is atop the NationalHSFootball.com HSFB100 as well as the Media Compilation Top 25 produced by the same site.
Without playing a nationally relevant team since the start of October, it has become a waiting game for Sanchez as he hopes to hoist the trophy. He’s waiting to see if his aggressive August and September schedule will outweigh what others are doing in November and December.
“Some programs have the ability to show where they belong on a national scale late in the season, with their playoffs and those last few, key games,” Sanchez said. “I understand the perception of Nevada and whether it is fair or not we are not going to accomplish our ultimate goals unless we challenge ourselves early in the year. We take on the best teams we can and this year we came out without a loss.
“The six games that we played to start our year can stand next to any six games that any other team can claim at the end of the year. It is one body of work when all is said and done and I think that our body of work is impressive.”
The Gaels opened the year with Brophy (Phoenix, AZ) and a 44-0 victory. Brophy will play for a spot in the Arizona Division I finals this weekend.
It then took down Servite (Anaheim, CA) on the road. The game was close at halftime and Sanchez chose to change quarterbacks – from senior Danny Hong to sophomore Tate Martell — and it pushed the team to another victory.
The choice is arguably what saved the season as the dual-threat Martell has added another element to an offensive unit that could have two Division I running backs to go with two Division I receivers and the top-ranked tight end in the nation.
“We didn’t have any time to really prepare for things on a weekly basis,” Sanchez said. “We had to be ready to keep playing. There wasn’t a bye week to get rest or ease anyone into the flow. We just had to go.”
Bishop Gorman then defeated Bingham (South Jordan, UT) in overtime in the first week of September. Bingham is now the favorite to win the Utah Class 5A championship this weekend and is ranked No. 11 in the HSFB100.
The next three wins were all against powerful Southern California teams: Corona Centennial, ranked No. 29 nationally, Santa Margarita, and St. John Bosco which is No. 5 in the national poll.
The showdown with St. John Bosco was on ESPN and came after Bosco was on a bye.
“It is the situation we put ourselves in,” Sanchez said. “We could have had some byes but we didn’t take any. Some of that is to get to where we are now – in this national title discussion – but some of it is just the overall philosophy of our school and wanting to challenge our kids to be the best they can be in all situations and the only way you can get to be your best is if you went through some adversity.”
Bishop Gorman will take on Arbor View (Las Vegas) this week for the Sunset Region Title. Arbor View is undefeated and the No.3 team in the state.
The Gaels figure to play the No. 2 team from Nevada, Liberty (Henderson) in the state semifinals and could close the season out with Reed (Sparks).
Still Sanchez knows that in time, teams behind him will be adding victories over nationally ranked teams while he cannot boost his strength of schedule.
“I am rooting for the teams we beat,” he said. “What they are doing at Brophy has been fun to watch.Bingham can win its state, and one of those California teams can take it too. If we beat three state champs and win our title, I don’t know what else can be asked of us.”
