No. 1 Bishop Gorman can’t dig out of 20-point deficit in loss to Florida team

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A 20-point first-half deficit proved to be too much to overcome for the Bishop Gorman football team.

The Gaels, ranked No. 1 nationally by MaxPreps, fell being early and couldn’t recover in a 33-28 loss to Christopher Columbus (Florida) Saturday at St. Thomas Aquinas High School as part of the Broward County National Football Showcase.

Columbus lead 20-0 in the second quarter. Gorman quarterback Ace Amina threw two touchdowns in the second quarter to cut the halftime deficit to 23-15.

The highlight of the first half was a 74-yard touchdown pass from Amina to Michael Blackmond as time expired in the first half.

Columbus added a fourth-quarter touchdown from Kai Moore to Tony Brown III to extend the lead to 30-15, and on the ensuing kickoff, the Explorers recovered a Gorman fumble. Columbus’ A’mir Sears intercepted Amina three times on Saturday.

Amina threw a touchdown to Aizen Costales-Torres in the fourth quarter and the Gaels recovered the ensuing onside kick with the Columbus lead at 33-21. Amina then threw a touchdown to Azavier McDaniel to cut the deficit to 33-28, but Columbus recovered the following onside kick.

The game was delayed by an hour due to lightning and was stopped early in the first quarter due to another lightning delay and was stopped for nearly an additional 45 minutes.

Gorman next plays at Lone Peak (Utah) on Friday. The Gaels defeated Lone Peak 35-14 last year at home in a game that was called in the third quarter after multiple Lone Peak players came onto the field in a sideline altercation.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.