Bishop Gorman routs Liberty 49-6 to complete final regular-season hurdle

Hawaii commits Micah Alejado and Devon Rice, along with Miami pledge Elija Lofton all get in the act as the nation's No. 4 team breezes past biggest Nevada rival

LAS VEGAS - The final regular-season obstacle is out of the way. Bishop Gorman's No. 4 nationally-ranked football team should be able to cruise from here. 

Not that they plan to. 

The Gaels got two touchdown passes from Micah Alejado and two touchdowns each from Devon Rice and Elija Lofton Thursday to breeze past visiting Liberty (Henderson, Nev.) 49-6 to improve to 5-0.

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Gorman, which earlier in the season knocked off nationally-ranked squads Corner Canyon-Draper, Utah (63-42), Long Beach Poly (60-15), Central-Miami, Fla. (39-35) and Corona Centennial (56-28), now has the softest part of its schedule. 

Liberty, which played No. 2 St. John Bosco tough in its opener, a 42-22 loss, had won three straight and historically given the Gaels a tough go. 

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In fact, the Patriots, broke Gorman's 10-year stranglehold on Nevada football in 2019 with a 30-24 Desert Regional playoff victory. It ended a 55-game in-state win streak for Gorman. 

But that seemed light years away during Gorman's decisive win on Thursday. 

Bishop Gorman quarterback Micah Alejado scrambles for a big first-half game on Thursday. Photo: Jann Hendry / Photo by Jann Hendry

Alejado opened the scoring with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Rice, which was  followed up with a 1-yard TD run by Lofton to make it 12-0. 

Rice, a Hawaii commit, scored on a 39-yard run midway through the second quarter and Alejado fired a 30-yard TD pass to Derek Meadows to make it 27-0 at halftime.  Alejado also has committed to Hawaii. 

A Micah Kaapana rushing touchdown made it 35-0 midway through the third before Liberty scored its sole touchdown of the game, a touchdown pass from Tyrese Smith to Jayden Robertson from deep in Liberty territory. Gorman turned the running clock on again when Lofton, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound University of Miami commit, hauled in a 40-yard touchdown double pass from Alejado to Meadows on a trick play making it 42-6. Myles Norman closed the scoring with a 60-yard TD jaunt with 4:10 to go. 

Alejado also connected with wideout Audric Harris for a pair of two-point conversions.

Liberty, which hosts California's Cathedral Catholic next week, dropped to 3-2. Gorman travels to Silverado (Las Vegas).

Check back later for more updates, photos and video.