Las Vegas power eager to meet Texas high school football foe
One of the more iconic, if not ironic, Las Vegas light shows occurs on fall Friday nights just southwest of the infamous Vegas Strip.
From the press box of Fertitta Field, the bright lights of casinos and hotels, and the spotlight of a pyramid catch the eye.
And on the turf of this 3,600-seat facility, two-time mythical national champion, the Las Vegas Bishop Gorman Gaels have held all the cards, winning seven consecutive Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association state football titles.
Sporting a 39-game winning streak that has garnered national champion acclamation from USA Today, Max Preps and Scout.com., Bishop Gorman marches into the Metroplex on Aug. 27 seeking to expand that résumé.
The Gaels, ranked No. 3 in MaxPreps Xcellent 25, comes to Cedar Hill for a nationally televised (ESPN2) game against the No. 5 Longhorns at the school stadium on Texas 67 southeast of Dallas.
Cedar Hill’s got a lot of returners, they worked really hard, so how good are we, I’ll tell you about 9-something PM on Aug. 27.
Bishop Gorman coach Kenny Sanchez
on playing at Texas powerhouse Cedar Hill, ranked No. 5 nationally“Things have come together really well, we’ve got a lot of returners from last season and everyone’s worked really hard this summer, but come Aug. 27, I’m not sure any of that really matters,” Bishop Gorman coach Kenny Sanchez said.
“Cedar Hill’s got a lot of returners, they worked really hard, so how good are we, I’ll tell you about 9-something PM on Aug. 27.”
It’s another Texas vs. the world game, filled with hype and trash-talking. Last season on the same cable TV channel, it was Concorde (Calif.) De La Salle coming to Mansfield to play Euless Trinity, and the out-of-state team lost 26-21.
Manziel starved
To put it into Vegas terms, Bishop Gorman comes to Texas as the football version of Elvis, with Cedar Hill as the Rat Pack.
Both are storied programs with flair and charisma worthy of marquee status on Las Vegas Boulevard.
To go with that, Gorman starting quarterback Tate Martell has lived up to every bit of his ability in taking the Gaels to back-to-back No. 1 finishes.
He had given Texas A&M an oral commitment before changing his pledge to Urban Meyer at Ohio State next year.
Oral commitments are nonbinding; a 2017 recruit can’t sign a national letter of intent until February. As an eighth-grader, Martell committed to the Washington Huskies.
With A&M faithful looking desperately for their next Johnny Manziel, Martell took some vicious social media shots after decommitting. That included comments from Texas A&M assistant coach Aaron Moorehead, who was disciplined in May by A&M for his tweets on loyalty and accountability.
I mean, they fired the QB coach [Jake Spavital, now at California] and that’s the guy I had a close relationship with and fell in love with the school because of.
Bishop Gorman quarterback Tate Martell
on decommittng from Texas A&M this summer“I think a lot of it was just misunderstood,” Martell said. “I mean, they fired the QB coach [Jake Spavital, now at California] and that’s the guy I had a close relationship with and fell in love with the school because of. When they fired him, I just realized I didn’t have that same relationship with anyone else down there and I turned my attention to Ohio State.”
Martell completed 133 passes last season for 2,608 yards and 32 touchdowns. He also also rushed for 604 yards and nine scores. During his sophomore season, Martell passed for 2,537 yards and 40 TDs.
Cedar Hill lost two of its last three games last year, including a first-round playoff defeat to Southlake Carroll, 37-33.
Casino magic
Privately funded Bishop Gorman High School opened in 1954, and the school’s website says it’s run by the Clerics of St. Viator, a Roman Catholic religious community dedicated to helping the less fortunate.
The school’s athletic facilities are far from humble.
Fertitta Field is named for Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, casino owners who recently sold mixed-martial arts franchise Ultimate Fighting Championships for what was estimated by Forbes to be $1.6 billion.
Lorenzo’s son, Nicco, was a standout Bishop Gorman football player when the athletic facilities opened in 2012 and is now a Notre Dame sophomore trying to work his way on to the two-deep roster.
The athletic department wouldn’t comment, but estimates put the school’s facility upgrade as having a price tag around $10 million.
“Everything is world class and you get everything you could ask for here,” backup quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson said. “We may have the facility and the field and the best coaches, but it’s hard work and it pays off and shows in how you play.”
Despite minimal reps behind Martell, the junior QB already has offers from UCLA, Michigan, Arizona State and Colorado without even winning the starting job in his current QB role.
Summer camp
It’s late July, the final day of Bishop Gorman’s off-season workouts, and 116 degrees at 11 a.m.
“That’s it fellas, that’s another week in the books, July is gone, it’s in the past, just like Aug. 27 will be soon,” Sanchez tells his team. “You’re going to wake up soon and it’s going to be Sunday [Aug. 28] and how are you going to feel? Where are we going to be at and what’s our season going to look like after that?”
Sanchez is clearly focused on proving his Gaels, and how they play the game, can match up with Cedar Hill.
“Texas high school football is obviously good, but we feel like we’ve got some pretty good football here in Nevada, too,” Sanchez added. “We’re excited about it, and how could you not be, it’s fun.”
Bishop Gorman at Cedar Hill
8 p.m. Aug. 27, ESPN2
This story was originally published August 14, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Las Vegas power eager to meet Texas high school football foe."