In its third straight game against an out-of-state opponent, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) got back in the win column.
The Gaels took down Servite (Anaheim, California) 42-21.
Running back Cam Barfield had the first three touchdowns of the game for Bishop Gorman and wide receiver Rome Odunze had three of his own, while Servite’s Noah Fifita and wide receiver Zedakiah Centers connected for three scores.
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Here are some takeaways from Bishop Gorman’s win that put them at 2-1 on the season.
It all starts with Cam Barfield
Yes, Odunze had three touchdowns, important first downs, and broke the 100-yard mark again. We’ll get to him in a moment.
This offense starts with the running back.
Against St. Louis last week, Cam Barfield wasn’t able to get going, rushing just nine times for 40 yards. If it weren’t for a 19-yard dash, Barfield would have carried eight times for 21 yards that week against St. Louis’ elite defense.
But this week facing Servite, Barfield started fast, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter to help Bishop Gorman jump to a 15-0 lead, then pushed in his third in the second quarter.
The first run was about 10 yards, the second was around 80 yards and the third was 70 yards.
Barfield is just a sophomore, but it looks like no coincidence that in his dominant games, Bishop Gorman won handily. In Week One, he rushed for 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Orem (Utah). The Gaels won 40-7.
He should be a key cog of the offense for the next few years.
Because once he established the run game on Saturday, the rest of the offense got moving, particularly that star wide receiver.
Rome Odunze looking even better as a senior
Odunze broke out as a junior, catching 60 passes for 1,347 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s on pace to beat those numbers.
On Saturday, the four-star wide receiver had three touchdowns, including this difficult grab around a defender.
2020 Penn State commit @micah_bowens connects with 2020 Washington commit @RomeOdunze for 32 yard touchdown. @PolyFBClassic
29-8 Bishop Gorman. 2nd qtr. pic.twitter.com/okn6eQoLYe
— Zack Poff (@Zack_Poff_MP) September 8, 2019
Odunze has broken the 100-yard mark in all three games this season, and this is the second multi-touchdown game of the year. He is approaching the 400-yard mark and has five TDs overall.
With Barfield running the ball and Odunze taking advantage of defenders with his strong route-running skills and 6-foot-3 frame, Bishop Gorman has some dangerous pieces on offense.
Servite’s slants
One thing the Gaels can look to improve on is its ability to prevent long catch-and-runs.
The first Servite touchdown was an 80-yard slant route, but senior wide receiver Zedakiah Centers caught the ball maybe 20 yards from the line of scrimmage and ran it the rest of the way.
The second was another slant route from sophomore quarterback Noah Fifita to Centers, and he took it to the house from 54 yards out.
Centers is speedy, to be certain, but Bishop Gorman can’t be allowing two touchdowns on the same play design. Centers took advantage of the defense again in the fourth quarter — but this time, instead of slanting in, he went straight out and had an easy touchdown, his third of the day.
While Servite is a good team, ranked in the top 100 by MaxPreps, Bishop Gorman played so much better overall that those failures to cover the passes didn’t ultimately matter.
But against teams like Lone Peak (Highland Utah), which the Gaels play next week, and once they get into the playoffs, those types of plays might haunt them if they can’t fix it up.
