Football, 4-4 overall, will be going against their rivals, the Palisades Dolphins, 6-2 overall, tonight at 7 p.m. before tomorrow’s masquerade-themed Homecoming. 

Senior Xavier Terry, a captain, said that the team is ready.

“We’ve watched enough film to know what Pali does,” he said. “Palisades will probably come out showing some stuff we’ve never seen before. But we’re prepared to deal with it.”

Terry said that returning players from injuries and the emergence of players who haven’t played contributed to the growth of the team. 

“We have people coming off the bench who have proven they can do what they have to do, and we’ve gotten better, as whole, at what we have to do,” said Terry. 

 For me, it’s not even about playoffs. It’s about winning,” Terry said.

Coach Angelo Gasca said that they will continue the strategies they’ve employed on the field for the last three weeks. 

“We want to play good defense, we want to win the turnover battle, and win the kicking game,” he said. “It resulted in three wins.”

Gasca said that the Dolphins are well coached.

“I think we’re both very evenly matched teams, and I hope that we can be a little better than them tonight,” he said.

The Gondoliers and Dolphins share a 3-0 Western League record. Tonight’s game is the second to last game of the league season. The outcomes of the next two games determine Venice’s seeding in the playoffs.

Gasca said that it’s vital to play their best towards the end of the season.

“As we prepare for the playoffs, we want to build that momentum and continue to improve,” he said. “So we reach a peak at some point during the playoffs.”

After the start of league season, the Gondoliers truly showed how good they can be. Gasca believes that “we’re going to show even more improvement tonight.”