Football: Venice Coach Angelo Gasca defends “Rout 66”

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Venice Coach Angelo Gasca was effusive in defending his team’s 66-0 victory over Locke in the first round of the City Section Division I playoffs Friday night, saying he tried not to embarrass the Saints.

‘I did everything I could to hold the score down,’ Gasca said.

What appeared to some observers to be an onside kick in the second quarter was actually a kickoff gone awry, Gasca said. ‘Our kicker missed the ball on that kick,’ he said.

Asked why quarterbck Dean Sarabia was still throwing deep passes with his team leading by more than five touchdowns in the second quarter, Gasca said he was trying to find a balance between keeping his team sharp and not running up the score. The coach said things will be tougher next week against San Pedro, and he wants the Gondoliers to be ready.

To his credit, Gasca had Sarabia take a knee in Saints territory on the final play of the first half and used his junior varsity players liberally in the second half.

Locke Coach Wayne Crawford said he did not think Gasca had displayed poor sportsmanship.

‘I didn’t think he was trying to do anything malicious or trying to embarrass us,’ Locke said. ‘We were really beat up coming into it and I even thought about not putting us up on the board to go in’ to the playoffs.

--Ben Bolch