Bishop Gorman freshman Trey Washington thought he took the opening kickoff of the Gaels’ Thursday night showdown with Mater East for a touchdown, but a hold penalty negated the score.
Washington got another chance in the first half to return a kick for a TD in Gorman’s 50-7 victory.
After Mater East connected on a long touchdown late in the second quarter to be the first Nevada team to score on Gorman this season, Washington took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown as the first half expired to give the Gaels a 35-7 lead at the break.
The highly-anticipated matchup with Gorman and Mater East had its brief moments of excitement, but the Gaels dominated the whole way. Gorman rolled to victory at Fertitta Field.
“I’m proud of the boys,” Gorman coach Brent Browner said. “Proud of our staff, everybody did a great job to prepare for this game. A lot of people had us losing this game for whatever reason, maybe that’s just the hype of the game and things like that.
“Our kids were calm. They do what they’re supposed to do. They practice hard. They work hard. Just to say you’re going to come in and do whatever to us is not something you want to tell these kids.”
Thursday’s game was physical with multiple personal foul penalties called on Mater East. Twice, play was stopped and both coaches and some Mater East players came toward midfield after unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
Gorman (8-1) has one more regular-season game on Nov. 6 at home against CIVICA Academy, a second-year charter school in North Las Vegas, before the Gaels likely play Faith Lutheran on Nov. 13 in the Open Division state semifinals.
Mater East (7-3) will host either Cadence or SLAM! Nevada in a 4A Southern Region semifinal on Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. The final 4A playoff matchups and seeding will be determined Sunday afternoon when the NIAA releases its final HRM scores.
Mater East twice in the first half Thursday had drives that went into Gorman territory. The first ended on the first play of the second quarter, when on first-and-10 at the 15, Mater East quarterback James Monaghan threw an interception in the back of the end zone with Gorman holding a 21-0 lead.
Later in the second quarter, Mater East had a second-and-3 at the 15, but three consecutive penalties — holding, false start and an unnecessary roughness — put the Knights behind the sticks and the drive ended when Monaghan was sacked on fourth down.
Gorman answered on the ensuing possession. Freshman backup quarterback Brody Amina came in and connected with UNLV commit Azavier McDaniel on a 33-yard touchdown to give the Gaels a 28-0 lead with 1:21 to go before halftime.
Mater East was backed up in Gorman territory after a holding penalty on the kickoff, but that didn’t matter to Monaghan. The senior found an open Rajahn Butler in the middle of the field, and Butler raced 86 yards for a touchdown with 18 seconds before halftime.
The score was the first touchdown the Gaels have allowed to a Nevada team in five games this season. They had allowed six points (two field goals) in four games entering Thursday.
Washington came in right before halftime and scored, taking the kickoff at the 5-yard line and running to his right down the sideline for the touchdown. Gorman led 35-7 at halftime. Corey Hinton Jr. had two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter and UNLV commit Tamatoa Gaoteote had a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown on defense for the Gaels.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
