You can never count out the No. 1 high school football team in the country and Bishop Gorman learned that the hard way Friday night against St. John Bosco.
The Gaels, ranked No. 2 nationally by MaxPreps, saw their 21-0 halftime lead evaporate as the Braves made a comeback.
Fortunately for Gorman, it was a former Braves player that came through. Tied at 28-28 in the fourth quarter, Gaels quarterback Ace Amina found former Bosco running back Corey Hinton Jr. near midfield, and Hinton raced 54 yards for a touchdown.
It proved to be the game-winner as the Gaels outlasted No. 1 St. John Bosco 38-28 Friday night at Fertitta Field in front of a standing room-only, capacity crowd of more than 5,000 on Gorman’s campus.
It was the third all-time meeting between Bishop Gorman (2-0) and St. John Bosco (0-1) and first meeting since 2016. The Gaels had won the previous two matchups.
The win boosts Gorman’s chances at a fifth mythical national title. The Gaels continue their grueling four-game out-of-state stretch with Columbus next Saturday, followed by Lone Peak (Utah) and Mater Dei (California), both in September.
The Gaels led 21-0 at halftime while holding St. John Bosco to a net total of 35 yards of offense in the first half.
Amina started at quarterback for Gorman, after the team swapped possessions with Amina and Kansas commit and California transfer Chance Thomas against Losee last week. Amina threw two touchdown passes in the first half for the Gaels, including an 8-yard pass to Noah Cole on the game’s opening possession.
The biggest wave of momentum shifted on the ensuing St. John Bosco drive.
First, a high snap on first down sailed 17 yards down to the Braves’ 3-yard line. Two plays later, St. John Bosco quarterback Koa Malau’ulu was hit as he was ready to thrown and the ball came out in the end zone. Gorman’s Caleb Lea’Ea, right as the ball was inches away from falling rolling out of the back of the end zone, fell on top of it and after a brief discussion, it was ruled a Gaels touchdown.
Gorman led 14-0 with 6:38 left in the first quarter and held that lead into the second quarter.
It wasn’t the prettiest first half for Gorman, as the Gaels committed a handful of penalties that negated big plays. That included a pass interference penalty that wiped off an Amina touchdown pass off the board.
In the second half, St. John Bosco made its comeback. Koa Malau’ulu threw a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, one to Kuika Moaaii and another to DJ Tubbs on a leaping catch, to cut the deficit to 21-14.
Gorman went ahead 28-14 late in the third quarter on a 53-yard TD pass from Amina to Zyren Menor. But St. John Bosco didn’t go away as Maliq Allen broke off a 30-yard touchdown run as the third quarter expired.
While Gorman’s offense struggled to move the ball, Tubbs made an impact on special teams, taking a punt 50-plus yards in the fourth for a touchdown to tie the game at 28.
But Gorman’s defense stood tall after Hinton’s touchdown catch that came with 6:49 left in the game. Cal commit Kamil Loud came up with a key tackle for loss on fourth down with Gorman leading 35-28 and iced the game with an interception in the final seconds. Gaels kicker Maximillano Fuentes added a 49-yard field goal for the Gaels final score.
Amina threw for 212 yards and four touchdowns. Hinton finished with 84 receiving yards and Menor had 88 with two touchdowns for Gorman.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
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