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Being resilient is just one of many characteristics that great quarterbacks and great teams must possess. The Bishop Gorman Gaels and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson definitely had to show their resiliency early in the year in order to accomplish what they did this past Saturday.
The Bishop Gorman Gaels came into the season as the three-time national champion and riding a 54 game winning streak. That streak ended for the Gaels in week two, as No. 1 ranked Mater Dei beat Bishop Gorman 35-21. It only got worse for the Gaels, as the next week they lost 24-20 to Central of Miami. The prospects of the Gaels losing three consecutive games looked like a distinct possibility since their next game had the Gaels matched up with national high school football powerhouse De La Salle.
The game against De La Salle started off horribly, as the Spartans scored first, but that score served as a rallying point for the Gaels and their defense. Bishop Gorman erupted and scored 34 unanswered points for a 34-7 Gaels victory, and those seven first quarter points by De La Salle were the last points a team scored against the Gaels for almost two months.
In an interview with Justin Emerson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Bishop Gorman Head Coach Kenny Sanchez talked about the two early season losses. “It showed a lot of resilience for the kids to come off of two losses that they weren’t used to,” coach Kenny Sanchez said.
The game against De La Salle served as a turning point for the Gaels, and head coach Kenny Sanchez even showed the team film of the early season De La Salle game last Friday before the Gaels played for their 2017 Nevada State Title in Reno, Nevada
While teams outside of Nevada found some success against the Gaels, teams in Nevada couldn’t crack the Bishop Gorman code, and last Saturday’s state title game proved to be no different as the Gaels throttled Reed 48-7 to win their ninth consecutive state crown.
No player on the Gales had to show more resiliency than first year starting quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. DTR had a target on his back for his senior season, as Thompson-Robinson was the only high school quarterback that had the validity of his scholarship offers questioned by ESPN.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson has more scholarship offers than starts at QB. https://t.co/fCbrR4v7zk
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 6, 2017
Thompson-Robinson embraced the target and ended his 2017 National Player of the Year candidacy Saturday with a quarterback hat-trick against Reed. DTR caught a touchdown, ran for one and threw for two. Thompson-Robinson finished his last high school game 17/26 for 263 yards and also picked up 56 yards on the ground.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson 2017 Passing Numbers
Quarterback | College Commitment | Completions | Attempts | Yards | TD's | Ints. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterback | College Commitment | Completions | Attempts | Yards | TD's | Ints. |
Thompson-Robinson | UCLA | 176 | 257 | 3278 | 37 | 3 |
Next for Thompson-Robinson is finishing out his senior year at Bishop Gorman and then bringing his talents to UCLA. DTR has clearly stated that he will not be an early enrollee at UCLA, but he definitely knows the next football uniform he will be wearing.
Next time putting on pads will be as a Bruin.
— DTR (@DoriansTweets) December 2, 2017
Congratulations DTR!
Go Bruins!