This still matters. This type of prep football.
This classic of a matchup.
For one night, you could put all the nonsense aside when it comes to the high school game in this town. All the bickering and blaming and showboating. All those who are now independents and those who aren’t.
All those who want to play Bishop Gorman (nobody) and those who don’t really want to (everybody).
Because a stage like this is good for Las Vegas.
For the national exposure it brings.
Just for the game, is all.
No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the country. How can that ever be a bad thing?
Bishop Gorman grabbed that top ranking from visiting St. John Bosco on Friday night with a 38-28 victory. It was everything you wanted and expected from such a game.
It more than lived up to its billing.
Sold out and crazy
What a crazy scene. The tailgaters were out in force three hours before kickoff. Bishop Gorman halted ticket sales on Thursday when all were allotted for the 5,000-seat venue. Swarms of people packed the sidelines on both sides.
Logistically, it must be something to stage.
“It’s a complete group effort,” Bishop Gorman athletic director Grant Rice said minutes before play got underway. “We knew the game was on the schedule since the spring, so we’ve been planning for it. We got after it these last couple weeks. We just keep moving. I’ll be happy once it’s done but we have a lot of people who pitch in and it’s fulfilling. We love it.
“I think this is huge for the city. I think a lot of people just want to come see good football.”
And, boy, did they ever.
You thought at first this might be blowout city, with Bishop Gorman running to a 21-0 advantage. You thought, at least the way the Gaels defense was performing early on, St. John Bosco had little if any chance at rallying.
I guess they were ranked No. 1 for a reason.
They came back, all right. Stormed back is more like it.
It was 21-14 and then 28-14 and then 28-28. It turned into an instant classic in the matter of minutes.
“It was a heavyweight fight,” Bishop Gorman coach Brent Browner said. “We had them on the ropes and couldn’t put them down. It’s the No. 1 team in the nation. Of course it’s going to score some points. No way we were going to stop them the whole time.
“I think what we did was execute in the end. The kids stayed focused and they believed in themselves when they could have gotten down. They did what they had to do.”
It was nearly 11:30 p.m. and folks had returned to their tailgating duties in the school parking lot. They didn’t want to leave.
They wanted to continue celebrating what was a major win for Bishop Gorman in its quest for a national championship.
No one outside the school and its fans and the team itself will care very much, and that’s fine. But for one night, if you love football, it was more than advertised. And that’s a good thing.
“I think it’s amazing,” Browner said. “Everyone wants to blame us for everything that has happened with (high school) football here. It’s not our fault. But a (game) like this is great for the town and everyone watching on television. We didn’t schedule them thinking we’d beat them. They’re the No. 1 team in the nation.
“We just prepare every single day to show up and get better. You can knock the hard work part, but guess what? A lot of people don’t put in the same time as we do. Everybody sacrifices for something here. There are no free rides. Now you see where things are.”
Same approach
He preached to his players all week not to make the game bigger than it was. To take the same approach they do all Friday nights.
It’s much easier said than done with teenagers. They understood the moment. Knew what was at stake. And performed like it.
This still matters. This type of prep football.
And those who took a breath and put all the nonsense aside likely enjoyed every minute of it.
As they should have.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
