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Ganske hopes hard-playing kids produces easier-to-digest season
  
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By ROBERT AVERY
Is there a doctor in the house?
Jeff Ganske has been in the Pasadena High School varsity football house for countless years and he wants to be that doctor now that he’s the head coach.
In replacing Wes Bryant who had the program for five seasons, Ganske has yielded his defensive coordinator’s position to Patrick Melton.
For Ganske, there’s lots of doctoring to be done in Eagle Nation. The offense hasn’t been scoring enough points and the defense has been surrendering way too many. Over the last two seasons, the Eagles have allowed a combined 555 points to district opponents for an average of 39.5 points for the two seasons.
Ganske believes part of the problem can be found in the aggressiveness department. The program that was respected for its tenaciousness on both sides of the ball isn’t as respected for its fight and resolve. Ganske wants to get that respect back and fast.
“All along, I want to get back where I hear other coaches say how hard our kids play. I want to get back to playing hard every down until the whistle blows. Hopefully, that will carry over into some wins,” Ganske said. “Our talent level is not the same as everybody’s, so we need to do some things to make up for that. One of the things we need to do is play hard and the other thing is to not make as many mistakes.”
That could partly explain why Pasadena hasn’t had a First or Second Team All-District defensive player for the last two seasons. All-district players are cultivated from those that do play hard until the referee’s whistle blows.
Out of Pasadena’s 4-3 base defense, the Eagles hope to end its all-district drought from the likes of returners Blas Gomez and Jerry Reyes in the linebacker corps and two-year varsity player Jose Carranza and junior David Saucedo in the secondary.
Luis Montoya could be a fixture at outside linebacker this fall, while Gabriel Morgan and Martin Fernandez should compliment Carranza and Saucedo in the secondary.
In the line, Ganske feels the group of tackles Eduardo Sanchez and Darren Ramirez plus ends Frank Almendarez and Ernest Ramirez are best suited for the job. Ramirez got a taste of the varsity pace late in the year last season by playing two games. The 6-foot-3 Ramirez brings more than just muscle to the defensive line, but brains as well. He was ranked first in his freshman class last school year. Ganske left the door open for the possibility that Almendarez could also play linebacker too.
“We’ve got quite a few starters back on defense,” Ganske said. “So we’ve got some of those guys back on defense but we were 3-7 last year so it’s not like we have a bunch of guys back from a team that was 9-3. But, it’s nice to have some guys back, but we’ve got to perform better which I think we’re going to do.”
Ganske is going to have to be patient with the team’s I-formation offense because graduation did a good job of cleaning out the backfield. The guys who combined to score 143 points have all graduated. In other words, what scoring threats Pasadena had, have departed. That includes D’Anthony Tabb, who led the team with 12 touchdowns and 72 points. He and Memorial’s Dylan Adamek shared seventh place among district scorers.
The new faces begin at quarterback where Damon Ojeda or Morgan will inherit the job. Morgan is a lefthander who has speed. With the lack of depth always a concern in the Pasadena camp, the two could be asked to also play defense, which raise injury concerns and exhaustion concerns.
At tailback, look for Luis Montoya and Randy Lavale to take the ball. Montoya did see some ball-carrying assignments last year on varsity. Juan Morino could also play tailback while Michael Sauceda is the leading candidate at fullback. Sauceda will be attempting to bounce back from an ACL injury he suffered in a scrimmage game.
Ganske will be blessed with some returning experience in the line from Raul Chapa and Kaheem Chaney.
“They should be the bell cows of the line,” Ganske said.
Sanchez, Alfonso DeLeon and JV product Steven Barnett fill in two more spots in the line, but the Eagles are still looking for a center. They thought they had one in the spring, but their prospect has departed.
Nick Zimbrano will play tight end, while Joseph Macias and sophomore Ivan Benavides, who got some varsity experience as a freshman, are two of the wide receivers.
Pasadena is also in the market for a new placekicker now that Christian Martinez has graduated. More than ever, Pasadena needs improvement from the defense to help an offensive attack that is sorely lacking in varsity game time experience.
Ganske right now doesn’t have two or three silver bullets to end Pasadena’s on-going struggles. But he does have one and that’s a simple request for this Eagles edition to play hard until the whistle blows. If he gets that, Pasadena will have turned an important corner.
Jeff Ganske has been in the Pasadena High School varsity football house for countless years and he wants to be that doctor now that he’s the head coach.
In replacing Wes Bryant who had the program for five seasons, Ganske has yielded his defensive coordinator’s position to Patrick Melton.
For Ganske, there’s lots of doctoring to be done in Eagle Nation. The offense hasn’t been scoring enough points and the defense has been surrendering way too many. Over the last two seasons, the Eagles have allowed a combined 555 points to district opponents for an average of 39.5 points for the two seasons.
Ganske believes part of the problem can be found in the aggressiveness department. The program that was respected for its tenaciousness on both sides of the ball isn’t as respected for its fight and resolve. Ganske wants to get that respect back and fast.
“All along, I want to get back where I hear other coaches say how hard our kids play. I want to get back to playing hard every down until the whistle blows. Hopefully, that will carry over into some wins,” Ganske said. “Our talent level is not the same as everybody’s, so we need to do some things to make up for that. One of the things we need to do is play hard and the other thing is to not make as many mistakes.”
That could partly explain why Pasadena hasn’t had a First or Second Team All-District defensive player for the last two seasons. All-district players are cultivated from those that do play hard until the referee’s whistle blows.
Out of Pasadena’s 4-3 base defense, the Eagles hope to end its all-district drought from the likes of returners Blas Gomez and Jerry Reyes in the linebacker corps and two-year varsity player Jose Carranza and junior David Saucedo in the secondary.
Luis Montoya could be a fixture at outside linebacker this fall, while Gabriel Morgan and Martin Fernandez should compliment Carranza and Saucedo in the secondary.
In the line, Ganske feels the group of tackles Eduardo Sanchez and Darren Ramirez plus ends Frank Almendarez and Ernest Ramirez are best suited for the job. Ramirez got a taste of the varsity pace late in the year last season by playing two games. The 6-foot-3 Ramirez brings more than just muscle to the defensive line, but brains as well. He was ranked first in his freshman class last school year. Ganske left the door open for the possibility that Almendarez could also play linebacker too.
“We’ve got quite a few starters back on defense,” Ganske said. “So we’ve got some of those guys back on defense but we were 3-7 last year so it’s not like we have a bunch of guys back from a team that was 9-3. But, it’s nice to have some guys back, but we’ve got to perform better which I think we’re going to do.”
Ganske is going to have to be patient with the team’s I-formation offense because graduation did a good job of cleaning out the backfield. The guys who combined to score 143 points have all graduated. In other words, what scoring threats Pasadena had, have departed. That includes D’Anthony Tabb, who led the team with 12 touchdowns and 72 points. He and Memorial’s Dylan Adamek shared seventh place among district scorers.
The new faces begin at quarterback where Damon Ojeda or Morgan will inherit the job. Morgan is a lefthander who has speed. With the lack of depth always a concern in the Pasadena camp, the two could be asked to also play defense, which raise injury concerns and exhaustion concerns.
At tailback, look for Luis Montoya and Randy Lavale to take the ball. Montoya did see some ball-carrying assignments last year on varsity. Juan Morino could also play tailback while Michael Sauceda is the leading candidate at fullback. Sauceda will be attempting to bounce back from an ACL injury he suffered in a scrimmage game.
Ganske will be blessed with some returning experience in the line from Raul Chapa and Kaheem Chaney.
“They should be the bell cows of the line,” Ganske said.
Sanchez, Alfonso DeLeon and JV product Steven Barnett fill in two more spots in the line, but the Eagles are still looking for a center. They thought they had one in the spring, but their prospect has departed.
Nick Zimbrano will play tight end, while Joseph Macias and sophomore Ivan Benavides, who got some varsity experience as a freshman, are two of the wide receivers.
Pasadena is also in the market for a new placekicker now that Christian Martinez has graduated. More than ever, Pasadena needs improvement from the defense to help an offensive attack that is sorely lacking in varsity game time experience.
Ganske right now doesn’t have two or three silver bullets to end Pasadena’s on-going struggles. But he does have one and that’s a simple request for this Eagles edition to play hard until the whistle blows. If he gets that, Pasadena will have turned an important corner.
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