As league season starts today, football, 3-2 overall, takes on Fairfax. The Gondoliers will be successful as long as they treat every game like it’s their last, said senior Romeo Signore.

“We just need to keep up, pay attention, lock in and not make stupid mistakes,” he said. “And if we can do that, then we can come out on top.”

The team continues to improve and zero in on the things they are becoming proficient at, said coach Angelo Gasca.

“Every game you want to play better than the game before,” he said. “So there’s no question that that’s what we’re looking for. And if we do those things, I think then we’ll be okay in the game.”
A strength that the team has is that they have several seniors that have been “battle-tested” and experienced, Gasca said.

“We have several leaders who are seniors that are excellent players,” he said. “The older players pull the younger guys up and help them play better and then by the time the younger guys become the older players, they do the same for the younger players that came after them.”

The Gondoliers have been prepared from even the start of the season due to hard matchups, like against San Pedro 20-7 loss September 1.

“San Pedro is probably one of the best teams in the league. If we can hang with them I think we have demonstrated that we can handle pretty much everyone,” Signore said.

Signore said he believes that playing against hard opponents at the beginning of the season helped the team become the best that they are capable of being, while some schools go against lesser opponents to boost their record.

“But there’s no real point in that,” he said. “You’re not growing, your team can never experience what it can be. We always start a little slow and we always get going as the year goes on.”

But through going against these tough opponents, they have gotten bumps and bruises, but this helped them get ready for league.

“We have grown into a complete team,” he said. 

Signore mentioned talents on both sides of the ball. According to him, seniors Nate Gordon, Rashawn Jackson, Robert Lamar, and Isaiah Atkins lead the way. 

“I think our team is just a whole bunch of athletes that can pretty much do damage from anywhere on the field,” said Signore.

Coach Gasca compared going against tougher opponents in the beginning of the season to a test and how it can help the team.

“It’s like in school if you take a test,” he said. “You kind of gauge where you are at and you can see where you need to work harder, and how you can be better in your preparation and in your performance. The same thing applies to football.”

Even though CIF Championships are a bit far into the future, Gasca said that you still need to plan out how and when to start focusing on key places to improve on.

“The goal with any season is to continue to improve and get better,” he said. “To the scrimmage, the pre-season, then the league season, and the playoffs. I think every time we move into a different area of the season, it’s like a benchmark.

“We use it to signify that now we’re going to ramp it up a little more because these games are really important and it’s league. So it’s really important that we start playing better and we’ve learned things about ourselves along the way and begin to apply them.”

It is best to treat every game like it’s the championships, Signore said.

“I just know we have to focus on making it through the season,” he said. If we overlook any game, we’re just gonna get lost. We just need to treat every game like it’s the championship.”