All Saints Visits Explosive Bishop Gorman Team In Battle Of District Unbeatens

Tyler All Saints Trojans (4-1, 2-0)

Vs.

Bishop Gorman Crusaders (5-0, 2-0)

7:30 p.m. Friday

McCallum Stadium, Tyler

Coaches

• All Saints: Mike Hall
• Bishop Gorman: Coby Gipson

Last week

• All Saints: defeated Frisco Legacy Christian Academy, 9-7
• Bishop Gorman: defeated Carrollton Prince of Peace, 45-7

Next week

• All Saints: vs. Tyler Grace Community, Oct. 17
• Bishop Gorman: at Bullard Brook Hill, Oct. 17

Playmakers

All Saints

• OL Blake Bengston, Sr., 5-8, 240
• ATH Luke Lee, Jr., 6-3, 210 (58 tackles, 338 all-purpose yards)
• RB Jace Evans, Jr., 5-10, 184 (76 carries, 371 yards, 1 TD)
• RB Matthew Brunson, Sr., 6-0, 180 (48 carries, 294 yards, 4 TDs)

Bishop Gorman

• QB Michael Goodwin, Jr., 5-10, 185 (90 for 128, 1,389 passing yards, 15 passing TDs, 4 INTs, 400 rushing yards, 5 rushing TDs)
• WR Connor Hobbs, Sr., 6-5, 220 (37 receptions, 683 yards, 5 TDs)
• WR Judah Bell, Soph., 6-4, 175 (21 receptions, 318 yards, 6 TDs)
• RB Logan Botello, Sr., 5-6, 156 (32 carries, 302 yards 3 TDs)
• LB Tyler Bate, Jr., 6-0, 200 (45 tackles)

Just the facts

• Friday's meeting will be the fourth consecutive year Bishop Gorman and All Saints have met. The Crusaders lead the time frame 2-1 and defeated the Trojans 53-20 in the last meeting.
• What a difference a year makes. All Saints is off to a 4-1 start after finishing last season 1-9. Bishop Gorman, meanwhile, went 5-5 last year and has blown out its first two TAPPS Division II, District II opponents of 2014.
• Both teams are undefeated in Division II, District II, but the road gets much tougher. All Saints will visit Brook Hill and Bishop Gorman will host Tyler Grace. Only Grace has a league loss. That will change this week, however. Brook Hill and Grace meet elsewhere in district play Friday to ensure at least two local teams will have one loss.
• Bishop Gorman quarterback Michael Goodwin and receiver Connor Hobbs are at the top of the East Texas statistics leader board. Goodwin has thrown for 1,389 yards in five games and Hobbs has 683 receiving yards in the same span.
• Bishop Gorman and All Saints have one common opponent so far. The Trojans defeated Carrollton Prince of Peace 27-8 on the road. The Crusaders beat Prince of Peace 57-8 in Tyler.

Key matchup: Bishop Gorman's passing attack versus All Saints' defense. Quarterback Michael Goodwin as well as Crusaders receivers Connor Hobbs and Judah Bell could have a field day if the Torjans aren't prepared for them. The two receivers account for about 1,000 of Goodwin's 1,389 passing yards in addition to 11 touchdowns of the team's 31 scores through five games.

All Saints has been opportunistic on defense. The team has seven combined interceptions. The Trojans defensive unit has been tough to beat all year. It gave up a season-worst 23 points to Carlisle in its non-district finale and has not allowed more than a touchdown in each of its first two district games.

But Bishop Gorman has crushed its private school competition thus far and has outscored all opponents 225-80. Its closest game came in Week 1, a 28-25 win against a larger Eustace school.

The Trojans will have to get a lot of pressure on Goodwin and the pass defenders will need to play their best game yet to give their own offense a chance to keep pace.

Don't be surprised if: All Saints tries to play keep away from Bishop Gorman. The Crusaders have proven they will do offensive damage if given the chance, so the Trojans' absolute best defense is time consuming drives.

All Saints appears to be a team that can frustrate Bishop Gorman like no other team has. The Trojans have three players with more than 100 rushing yards in Jace Evans, Matt Brunsona and Luke Lee. Expect those players to get a lot of carries in an effort to be productive on offense while burning clock.