Corner Canyon has been the measuring stick in Utah high school football’s elite year-in and year-out, but the Chargers found explosive competition on another level Friday night in Las Vegas.
Perennial juggernaut Bishop Gorman, a team replete with future Division I collegiate players, stormed past an overmatched Corner Canyon team, 42-7.
Bishop Gorman quarterback Micah Alejado marched the Gaels downfield in a hurry after an opening Corner Canyon punt, galloping for an 8-yard keeper to open the scoring 7-0 with 9:06 left in the first quarter.
Alejado diced up Corner Canyon after another short Chargers offensive possession to set up running back DeVon Rice – who knifed through the middle of the defense for a 19-yard scoring scamper for the 14-0 advantage with 3:49 in the first.
After both offenses bogged down to open the second quarter, Alejado again marched the Gaels down the field before hitting Elija Lofton with a 27-yard touchdown strike to increase Bishop Gorman’s lead to 21-0.
Just a minute later, Elijah Palmer snatched a tipped Corner Canyon ball for a pick-six, reversing course across the length of the field laterally to roll into the end zone and push the Gaels’ lead to 28-0 with 1:55 to go until halftime.
Corner Canyon’s lethal combination of quarterback Isaac Wilson and his favorite target Tate Kjar were blanketed and hurried on nearly every passing down after the Chargers’ offense racked up six touchdowns in the team’s season opener against Herriman.
The Chargers didn’t cross the 50-yard line until late in the second quarter but finally found a spark from two costly Bishop Gorman penalties and a big gain from an inside screen for the Chargers’ first trip to the red zone.
Wilson found Kjar’s reliable hands on a short route, and Kjar stretched the ball across the goal line for a 2-yard scoring toss to make it 28-7 with 31 seconds until halftime.
Alejado went to work again in the opening of the second half, though, gobbling up chunks of yardage until he found Quincy Davis splitting two Corner Canyon defenders in the middle of pay dirt for a 12-yard scoring toss and a 35-7 lead.
Bishop Gorman capitalized on another Wilson interception on first down of the following series with a diving pick before Alejado capped off a four-touchdown evening with a long bomb to Dylan Herman at 6:30 left in the third quarter.
Herman beat man coverage and was wide open for the 43-yard toss after a play action fake to cap off the Gaels’ evening of scoring, 42-7.
Corner Canyon’s final scoring chance of the game came again through a combination of tough running and short passes, but a fourth down heave from a pressured Wilson came up empty to force a turnover on downs.
The Chargers return to Utah next week to face Bingham on the road.