Gondos Host Final Nonleague Game Thursday

Another week, another ranked opponent to prepare for.

That's the situation facing Venice High football coach Angelo Gasca and his battle-tested team, which finishes off its brutal nonleague schedule at home Thursday night against Bishop Amat.

"We're ready to go, and it's another chance to play a quality opponent," Gasca said Wednesday. "It rained today, and Saturday was SAT testing. It's a short week, but it is for them, too."

The Gondos (1-3) are still smarting from consecutive losses to three highly-ranked teams from , , and and would like nothing better than to enter Western League play with momentum by knocking off the Lancers, ranked fifth in the CIF Southern Section's highest division, the Pac-5.

"We've been a pretty good three-quarter team but we need to play well for four quarters," Gasca said. "Part of that is because we haven't had our usual depth because of all the injuries."

Injuries at key positions have made finishing strong a problem for Venice, which held halftime leads against both St. Francis and Helix. Last week, Helix outscored the Gondos 28-3 over the final two quarters of its 42-20 win. The Highlanders are ranked No. 1 in Division II in the San Diego Section.

Wide receiver Gabe Marks, who is headed for Southern Methodist University, had six catches for 107 yards and also scored on a 67-yard interception return against Helix. Sophomore quarterback Alex Diamont completed 16 of 34 passes for 241 yards but also threw three interceptions. He will take the majority of snaps again as senior Dean Sarabia is getting more and more comfortable at middle linebacker.

For the second straight game Daniel Magallanes will be the defensive left tackle, where he played all last year. Senior Chris Solis will play nosetackle, Tayon Blockmon goes back to linebacker and linemen Ricardo Navarro, Jonathan Jaimes-Costilla, Nicholas Rodriguez and Marcus Anderson will come off the bench, giving the Gondos depth they haven't had for three weeks.

"When guys are out of position or playing longer than they should there's a ripple effect," Gasca said. "Now we have six or seven players that we can roll through that puts us back where we belong."

Kicker McLean Emmanuel booted a 48-yard field goal to give Venice its first lead, 17-14, in the second quarter of last Friday's game against Helix – and the kick is believed to be a school record.

Jung Lee made a 47-yarder in 1977 and Gasca remembers it vividly because he was the holder.

"It was at Venice, we were going in the same direction and I held for that kick," Gasca recalled. "We'd say always kick away from the beach because it's downhill. He missed a 57-yarder by two feet the very next week. He had some leg. I don't remember one longer than 47 until McLean. He may be the best we've had and he's still only a junior. He's potentially a Division I player."

Gasca went on to hold for Lee at Santa Monica College in 1978 and 1979 when the Korean set the California Community College record for most career field goals (since broken).

The latest challenge for the Gondos will be slowing down a ground attack that is averaging 215 yards per game. Bishop Amat is led by senior tailback Jalen Moore (88 carries for 814 yards) and senior wide receiver Adam Sanchez (17 catches for 278 yards and four touchdowns).

"We've had trouble when teams run right at us, but this is as healthy as we've been since our first game," Gasca said. "I think we'll be okay and no matter what, this is definitely going to help us when we get to league."

Beating Bishop Amat won't be easy. The Lancers (4-1) are coming off a 56-7 rout of Los Angeles Cathedral and have won three straight since their only loss to Anaheim Servite, the top-rated team in the Pac-5 Division. The combined records of Venice's first five opponents is 18-4, a measure of how strong the Gondos' schedule is.   

"I hope they're not better than Helix," Gasca said of the Lancers, who beat Venice 42-20 last season in La Puente. "They had a tough time with Garfield and Damien and Cathedral is pretty banged up. I thought we were very competitive with them [last year]."

MaxPreps has Venice ranked fifth in the City Section's Division I rankings, behind Dorsey, Carson, Narbonne and San Pedro. Of the City teams, only Carson has a more ambitious nonleague schedule than the Gondos, with games against Mater Dei, Long Beach Poly, Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo and San Diego Lincoln.

Thursday's game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Venice High.