Bishop Gorman drops 2nd straight, falls to Miami Central 24-20

Bishop Gorman coach Kenny Sanchez was rather subdued during his postgame speech Friday night.

His players were silent.

Whatever hopes the Gaels had for a fourth consecutive national championship — as diminutive as they were — are definitively gone. So is their 31-game home winning streak.

And their quarterback might be, too.

A week after losing a football game and its 55-game winning streak to No. 1 Mater Dei (California), No. 7 Bishop Gorman fell 24-20 to No. 16 Miami Central at a slick, waterlogged Fertitta Field.

Quarterback and UCLA commit Dorian Thompson-Robinson was pummeled by the Rockets’ physical defensive front, and exited the game late in the fourth quarter after absorbing a particularly vicious hit.

He winced in pain as he walked toward the sideline, discarded his shoulder pads and sat on a table as an athletic trainer taped a bag of ice to his left shoulder area.

Then, he watched Miami Central’s players rush the field and celeberate their upset victory while his teammates kneeled beside him.

They now comprise the first group of Gaels (1-2) to lose two games in a row since the last game of 2005 and the first of 2006.

“We’re playing some good football teams, so give those guys credit,” Sanchez said. “We knew this when we put our schedule together. We’ve got to get back to work tomorrow morning … That’s what winners do. Winners find a way. So do losers. Losers find a way to bail out and winners find a way to keep on going.”

Sanchez told his players after the game that they shouldn’t feel sorry for themselves. After all, they play No. 6 De La Salle (California) next Saturday, and they’ll need to shore up their run defense to beat the Spartans.

Five-star Rockets running back James Cook ran untouched for an 83-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, and freshman Amari Daniels sprinted 78 yards for Miami Central’s second score a few minutes later.

The Gaels struggled to move the ball in the torrential conditions — save for a 55-yard touchdown pass from Thompson-Robinson to Jalen Nailor — and trailed 14-7 at halftime.

The duo connected for another 51-yard scoring strike late in the third quarter to pull Gorman within a field goal, and Gorman was driving for the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

But Thompson-Robinson threw an interception in the red zone, and Cook all but cemented the Rockets’ victory three plays later with an 87-yard touchdown run with 2:27 left in the fourth quarter.

“We were good except for three run plays,” Sanchez said. “Three really long touchdown runs, and (we) couldn’t finish on drives.”

Cook finished with 201 yards and the two scores on just 13 carries, and showcased the breakaway speed that Florida State, Georgia and Alabama are salivating over.

Daniels added 96 yards on five carries.

Thompson-Robinson was 14 of 25 for 284 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Nailor had three catches for 113 yards and the two scores.

Gaels backup quarterback Micah Bowens threw a touchdown pass to tight end Brevin Jordan with nine seconds left for the game’s final score.

Gorman linebacker Palaie Gaoteote said the feeling of losing is “different” for the Gaels, who won mythical national championships from 2014-16, but added that he expects his team to bounce back.

“We’re a winning program and we’re not used to losing,” he said. “But you have to lose first to learn more and get back to where you were.”

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Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.