Highlights, notable recruiting update for 5-star WR commit Zachariah Branch

LAS VEGAS -- The biggest high school football game in the country Friday night featured Mater Dei traveling to Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.

The Monarchs and Gaels finished No. 1 and No. 13, respectively, in the final 2021 USA TODAY Super 25 rankings and entered the weekend ranked No. 2 and No. 6 nationally by MaxPreps.

Bishop Gorman, of course, features USC five-star wide receiver commit Zachariah Branch -- the No. 3-ranked WR and No. 12 overall national prospect in the 2023 recruiting class.

Branch's high-degree-of-difficulty touchdown early in the third quarter put the Gaels up by two scores -- and went viral on Twitter (see below) -- but Mater Dei rallied for a 24-21 win.

Afterward, TrojanSports.com talked to Branch about that touchdown, his performance and most importantly the status of his Trojans commitment.

"Those guys were pretty much double-teaming me a lot the whole game, so we tried to create that one-on-one matchup, and I knew I was going to be able to beat the guy," Branch said. "Our quarterback made the read and he checked the route into a fade route, and I knew I had to make a play -- it was a crucial point of the game and I came down with it. But I'm just proud of my team, everything we've done to this point. We're going to bounce back next week and finish the season strong."

Here is a compilation of all of Branch's catches Friday night.