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#FridayNightRewind: Santa Ana Mater Dei ends Bishop Gorman 55-game streak; girl throws touchdown pass in Florida

By Adam Wire | Posted 9/2/2017

(Photo via ocregister.com)

No. 1 defeated No. 2 and ended a long losing streak in the process. A girl threw a touchdown pass in a high school football game in Florida. Three teams ended long losing streaks, two in dramatic fashion. A player scored three touchdowns and intercepted three players in the same game.

No matter your geography, impressive achievements have occurred all over the high school football map this weekend.

The most prominent was probably in Santa Ana, California, where Santa Ana Mater Dei, ranked No. 1 in the latest MaxPreps poll, held on Friday to defeat second-ranked Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, which came into the game riding a 55-game winning streak. Mater Dei built a 28-7 lead, then staved off a late Bishop Gorman rally (the Gaels cut the lead to 28-21) to win, 35-21.

Ironically, the game featured Bishop Gorman quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who has committed to play at UCLA, against Mater Dei signal-caller J.T. Daniels, a USC recruit.

Now that Bishop Gorman’s streak is over, Soldotna (Alaska) owns the nation’s second-longest active winning streak at 55 games. Kimberly (Wis.) maintains the longest win streak at 59. 

In Florida, Thursday’s game between Hollywood Hills and Hallandale didn’t carry the same magnitude, but Hollywood Hills’ Holly Neher very likely made history nonetheless. While no one could be certain, it’s believed Neher’s 42-yard touchdown pass late in Hallandale’s 21-7 win was the first TD pass a girl threw in a game in state history.

Neher, a 5-foot-2 junior who played two years of flag football before joining the Hollywood Hills squad, told ABC News, “I wanted to continue playing the sport, so I tried out for the team. I knew I was capable.”

Florida High School Athletic Association officials couldn’t confirm that Neher was the first girl to throw a touchdown pass in state history, but said they believe it could be a first. Neher is the second girl in the school’s history to play football.

This weekend’s only other matchup between nationally ranked teams No. 7 De La Salle (Calif.) and No. 18 St. John’s (Washington, D.C.), and De La Salle claimed the victory in dramatic fashion. The Spartans rallied from a 17-point deficit to claim a 35-31 win.

Quarterback Erich Storti’s 11-yard touchdown run late in the game gave De La Salle the lead for good. The Spartans trailed 21-7 and 31-14 before storming back for the win.

Meanwhile, in Texas, Allen, the state’s top-ranked team, opened its season in style with a convincing 23-8 home win over eighth-ranked Cedar Hill in front of a capacity crowd of 18,000 fans at Eagle Stadium in suburban Dallas-Fort Worth. The schools have combined for seven state titles since 2006, but Allen dominated this matchup, leading 23-0 before Cedar Hill averted the shutout.

Allen running back Brock Sturges led the Eagles’ offense with 116 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown.

Three schools ended losing streaks that were more than a year long this weekend, and two did so dramatically. Arguably, the most stunning ending might have come from Odessa (Texas), which appeared to be on its way to a 16th straight setback. They trailed Monterey (Lubbock, Texas) 24-21 with 12 seconds left, and Monterey lined up to punt deep in its own territory. Then this happened:

Odessa 28, Monterey 24.

C.J. Washington, who recovered the fumble in the end zone, told the Odessa American, “It don’t even feel real. I can’t believe it happened.”

Odessa’s last win took place 708 days ago.

In Georgia, Woodland coach Jeremy Stanford elected to go for a two-point conversion in overtime, trailing Rockmart, 30-29. Quarterback Titus Jones found Zach Pinter for the win, snapping a 17-game losing streak for the Wildcats.

The longest losing streak to end Friday night came from Strawberry Crest (Fla.), which topped C. Leon King (Tampa), 23-6. The Chargers, who led 16-0 at halftime, hadn’t won since Sept. 19, 2014, a span of 25 games.

Individually, Bishop LeBlond (Mo.)’s Nathaniel Bentrup might have had the most oddly impressive stat line. He ran for three touchdowns and intercepted three passes in the Golden Eagles’ 42-0 win over Cameron. He recorded all three interceptions in the first half.

As for a more conventional top performance, La Habra (Calif.) running back Skyler Taylor scored seven touchdowns in the Highlanders’ 45-14 victory over Tesoro. Taylor, who finished with 289 yards, scored three of his TDs in the first quarter, including two in a 1:15 span. The seven touchdowns were one short of the Orange County (Calif.) record. Andrew Niumata scored eight TDs in a 1998 game for Los Amigos.

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