What We Learned: No. 18 Bishop Gorman (Nev.) 40, Orem (Utah) 7
It wasn’t just a whitewash in Bishop Gorman’s favor on Friday night. It was a bona fide bloodbath. The Gaels scored two touchdowns before visiting Orem even know what hit it, forced multiple turnovers in the first quarter alone — after which it led 27-0 — and cruised to a blowout victory.
Here’s what we learned from the Gaels’ season-opening rout:
The highest drama came from the Jordan-sponsored uniform reveal before the game.
If you thought this game had potential for drama, you’re not alone. We were all wrong. Instead, the real drama Friday came from the team’s pregame reveal of their new Jordan unis. No, really. Check it out:
Not going to lie, those cleats are absolute fire.
The Gaels may have something in freshman wide receiver Zachariah Branch.
It’s not often that a freshman breaks through to any varsity squad, let alone one of the best teams in the nation. It took less than a quarter to see that Zachariah Branch isn’t a typical freshman, though. The Class of 2023 wide receiver and track speedster scored touchdowns on his first two high school grabs against Orem. He was wide open on the second, but made a heck of a run-after-catch play on the first.
Early fireworks!
Zachariah Branch takes a hitch from Micah Bowens to give @BishopGormanFB a 7-0 lead over @OremTigerFball.
Watch live: https://t.co/RTCpxbCAsP pic.twitter.com/6W6BdwBeeu
— YurView Las Vegas (@YurViewLV) August 24, 2019
It’s obviously far too early to declare Branch the “next big thing”. But he might be. The fact that he rose to the occasion the first time the big lights came on speaks to his self confidence and big game ability.
The Gaels looked really good … and they’re going to get better.
Wait, this team was actually handcuffed in its season opener by the absence of four incoming transfers expected to make an impact at Gorman. Chief among them is running back Jaydn Ott, an elite sophomore running back considered the top overall prospect in Nevada’s Class of 2022. Already committed to Oregon, Ott was expected to be one of the load bearers of the offense. It turns out the Gaels didn’t need him in Week 1. They may later in the season, but for one week Gorman proved that their depth may be better than expected, too.