supercentex
08-24-2005, 04:25 PM
Lions will open season Saturday -- Texas style
In Texas, high school football is a dominant staple of the week during the fall. Chaminade will get its taste of the atmosphere with a trip to Tyler.
BY BOB EMANUEL JR.
bemanuel@herald.com
While most coaches spent the summer trying to figure out how to best utilize the returning players on their roster, Chaminade-Madonna coach Mark Guandolo was faced with a different problem.
Guandolo needed to raise roughly $19,000 for 70 tickets to fly his team and staff to Dallas, where the Lions will open the season against Tyler's Robert E. Lee High in a meeting of two of Street and Smith Magazine's top 25 prep football teams to watch.
''I want the experience for the kids,'' said Guandolo, whose team will meet Lee in the fourth and final game of the 2005 East Texas Classic on Saturday. ``I think it's a thing they'll remember for life.''
The game nearly came about in 2004, but the logistics could not be worked out in time. Guandolo requested his school be considered for future meetings, and quickly agreed to the 2005 game when the idea was presented in March.
''After we won the state championship, I was talking to the promoter and we just weren't able to work it out that year,'' Guandolo said. ``I just kind of kept in contact with him and kept bugging him, and we finally were able to put it together this year.''
When Guandolo informed his team, some players asked if it was true.
''We thought we were going the year before,'' Guandolo said. 'They said, `Are you sure coach?' They heard it before. They were extremely excited about it. The parents are excited about it, the players, the school. It's a big deal. It's a national game. You don't get many opportunities to do that.''
Chaminade senior linebacker and three-year starter Josh Corraliza said: ``It's something I never expected in my life playing high school football.''
BONDING EXPERIENCE
The trip will serve as a bonding experience for the Lions, who have won at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons and are 60-8 during that span.
''When you travel, go on the road and live together for a few days, I think it brings you together,'' Guandolo said. ``Then you play in front of a tough crowd, the officials aren't going to be rooting for us, we're not going to get many calls, and then playing one of their better teams, it's all to get us ready for down the road.''
Chaminade will arrive in Texas on Friday afternoon and head straight to Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
The team will tour the facility and hopes to hold a walk-through practice on the field. Afterward, it's off to a Texas-styled barbecue. Saturday morning, the team will hold its second walk-through at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium, where it plays Lee later in the evening.
Adding to the experience will be an taste of Texas football. While high school football is important in South Florida, Texas takes its competition to a new level.
Chaminade will play in front of its largest crowd to date, 15,000 to 18,000 are expected to attend.
''I don't think the crowd is going to bother us,'' senior receiver David Gongora said. ``If we just stick together, there's going to be no problem.''
The bigger the crowd, the better for Chaminade.
''We get a little piece of the gate, which will help pay for hotel, ground transportation and that,'' Guandolo said. ``The big chunk of it is just getting out there, then we'll get a little help with the rest of things.''
Both teams will be under pressure to win.
'Once you hear that word Texas, it's like, `We can't fly all the way over there to lose,' '' Corraliza said. For Lee, it's the first of two games against out-of-state opponents this season. In two weeks, the Red Raiders travel to play Cincinnati's Colerain High School, the reigning Ohio state champs, in Columbus the night before the Texas-Ohio State game.
'The title `Defenders of Texas,' that's a lot of pressure to put on a bunch of kids,'' Lee coach Mike Owens said to WLTV in Texas. ``But that's the way it is. The whole Texas football playing community will be watching to see how we're going to represent the state of Texas.''
With the game in Texas looming as Chaminade's first date on the schedule, Guandolo has had little problem motivating his team.
''This game has really upped our conditioning program in the summer because they know we have that first game right off the bat,'' he said. ``It's a motivation factor too. All I have to do is mention that first game, that we're representing Florida and going to Tyler, and we have to start pushing these weights and start running a little harder.''
EXCITING SCHEDULE
The whole schedule should be exciting for Chaminade. In two weeks, the Lions play at Miami's Booker T. Washington. Other tough games, including Pompano Beach, Naples, North Broward Prep and American Heritage, line the schedule.
''I think the AD really [messed with] me,'' said a laughing Guandolo, also the school's athletic director. ``We enjoy playing good teams, playing in front of some big crowd. I think it all builds your program. It's going to make you a better team. If you can survive it, you're going to be a better team for it. We've never backed down. We never worried about our win and loss record. We're just trying to get better as a team. We enjoy challenges.''
The team sounds psyched for the challenges, beginning this weekend in Texas.
''I think that's better,'' Gongora said of the schedule. ``It keeps everybody focused. It's hard game after hard game. You just want to get better.''
In Texas, high school football is a dominant staple of the week during the fall. Chaminade will get its taste of the atmosphere with a trip to Tyler.
BY BOB EMANUEL JR.
bemanuel@herald.com
While most coaches spent the summer trying to figure out how to best utilize the returning players on their roster, Chaminade-Madonna coach Mark Guandolo was faced with a different problem.
Guandolo needed to raise roughly $19,000 for 70 tickets to fly his team and staff to Dallas, where the Lions will open the season against Tyler's Robert E. Lee High in a meeting of two of Street and Smith Magazine's top 25 prep football teams to watch.
''I want the experience for the kids,'' said Guandolo, whose team will meet Lee in the fourth and final game of the 2005 East Texas Classic on Saturday. ``I think it's a thing they'll remember for life.''
The game nearly came about in 2004, but the logistics could not be worked out in time. Guandolo requested his school be considered for future meetings, and quickly agreed to the 2005 game when the idea was presented in March.
''After we won the state championship, I was talking to the promoter and we just weren't able to work it out that year,'' Guandolo said. ``I just kind of kept in contact with him and kept bugging him, and we finally were able to put it together this year.''
When Guandolo informed his team, some players asked if it was true.
''We thought we were going the year before,'' Guandolo said. 'They said, `Are you sure coach?' They heard it before. They were extremely excited about it. The parents are excited about it, the players, the school. It's a big deal. It's a national game. You don't get many opportunities to do that.''
Chaminade senior linebacker and three-year starter Josh Corraliza said: ``It's something I never expected in my life playing high school football.''
BONDING EXPERIENCE
The trip will serve as a bonding experience for the Lions, who have won at least 11 games in each of the past five seasons and are 60-8 during that span.
''When you travel, go on the road and live together for a few days, I think it brings you together,'' Guandolo said. ``Then you play in front of a tough crowd, the officials aren't going to be rooting for us, we're not going to get many calls, and then playing one of their better teams, it's all to get us ready for down the road.''
Chaminade will arrive in Texas on Friday afternoon and head straight to Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
The team will tour the facility and hopes to hold a walk-through practice on the field. Afterward, it's off to a Texas-styled barbecue. Saturday morning, the team will hold its second walk-through at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium, where it plays Lee later in the evening.
Adding to the experience will be an taste of Texas football. While high school football is important in South Florida, Texas takes its competition to a new level.
Chaminade will play in front of its largest crowd to date, 15,000 to 18,000 are expected to attend.
''I don't think the crowd is going to bother us,'' senior receiver David Gongora said. ``If we just stick together, there's going to be no problem.''
The bigger the crowd, the better for Chaminade.
''We get a little piece of the gate, which will help pay for hotel, ground transportation and that,'' Guandolo said. ``The big chunk of it is just getting out there, then we'll get a little help with the rest of things.''
Both teams will be under pressure to win.
'Once you hear that word Texas, it's like, `We can't fly all the way over there to lose,' '' Corraliza said. For Lee, it's the first of two games against out-of-state opponents this season. In two weeks, the Red Raiders travel to play Cincinnati's Colerain High School, the reigning Ohio state champs, in Columbus the night before the Texas-Ohio State game.
'The title `Defenders of Texas,' that's a lot of pressure to put on a bunch of kids,'' Lee coach Mike Owens said to WLTV in Texas. ``But that's the way it is. The whole Texas football playing community will be watching to see how we're going to represent the state of Texas.''
With the game in Texas looming as Chaminade's first date on the schedule, Guandolo has had little problem motivating his team.
''This game has really upped our conditioning program in the summer because they know we have that first game right off the bat,'' he said. ``It's a motivation factor too. All I have to do is mention that first game, that we're representing Florida and going to Tyler, and we have to start pushing these weights and start running a little harder.''
EXCITING SCHEDULE
The whole schedule should be exciting for Chaminade. In two weeks, the Lions play at Miami's Booker T. Washington. Other tough games, including Pompano Beach, Naples, North Broward Prep and American Heritage, line the schedule.
''I think the AD really [messed with] me,'' said a laughing Guandolo, also the school's athletic director. ``We enjoy playing good teams, playing in front of some big crowd. I think it all builds your program. It's going to make you a better team. If you can survive it, you're going to be a better team for it. We've never backed down. We never worried about our win and loss record. We're just trying to get better as a team. We enjoy challenges.''
The team sounds psyched for the challenges, beginning this weekend in Texas.
''I think that's better,'' Gongora said of the schedule. ``It keeps everybody focused. It's hard game after hard game. You just want to get better.''