Gorman coach Sanchez gets another shot at De La Salle

What: Bishop Gorman-Las Vegas (3-1) at No. 14 De La Salle-Concord, Calif. (2-0)
When: 8 p.m. Saturday (PDT)
Head coaches: Tony Sanchez (Bishop Gorman, second season), Bob Ladouceur (De La Salle, 32nd).
TV: CBS College Sports (live).

It's there for all the world to see – a YouTube video in 2007 showing then California (San Ramon, Calif.) high school football coach Tony Sanchez pepping up the school's student body at a pep rally.

It was a few days before the Grizzlies were to play the De La Salle Spartans for the North Coast Section championship at the Oakland Coliseum. De La Salle is the owner of high school football's most remarkable record, a 151-game win streak from 1992 to 2003, and is the undisputed king of the sport not only in the region but perhaps the nation.

For years, California's football program was the antithesis of De La Salle, the bottom feeder and laughing stock of its league. The Grizzlies earned an average of 2.7 wins over a 29-year span before Sanchez took over.

In four short years – starting from scratch "with nuts and bolts," Sanchez said – he had built the program to stand toe to toe, Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robot style with the green and silver football giants.

"And we have something that De La Salle does not have and never will have," Sanchez screamed in that pep talk. "We have community. … Our kids went to the same elementary schools, played on the same Little League and soccer fields. … Just like the shirt says: Grizzly nation, this is our time."

It turned out, De La Salle's time was still in full bloom. The Spartans won 37-0 and after winning NCS crowns the next two years, have now won 25 overall and 18 straight. 

Sanchez's shout out about community wasn't as much a slap at De La Salle as it was to private schools versus public schools. The privates can draw from far and wide boundaries. The public schools are mostly home spun.

Ironic then, that three years later, Sanchez and his new team – the Bishop Gorman Gaels from Las Vegas – are now on equal footing with De La Salle. The two teams battle in one of the nation's premier games Saturday night at De La Salle in Concord, Calif. The 8 p.m. game (PDT) will be televised live on CBS College Sports Network.

"De La Salle is the standard," Sanchez said. "They're the most successful program in high school football the last 25 years. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best."

MESMERIZED AND MOVED
Sanchez, 36, an overachieving wide receiver and defensive back at nearby Granada (Livermore, Calif.) who earned a scholarship to New Mexico State, has never backed down from a challenge.

Blue collar in nature and approach, but white collar in articulation and motivation, Sanchez has been successful and popular at every turn. When he was flown out from the Bay Area to Las Vegas for a face-to-face interview, the Gorman job was virtually secured. It's hard to not be mesmerized or moved by Tony Sanchez.

"He had that sort of inner-self that we really felt was necessary at Gorman for leadership and coaching by example," Gorman Athletic Director Peter Weinburgh told the Las Vegas Sun the week he hired Sanchez. "He is a good person and leader. Everyone I talked to and everyone I called was unanimous with that. We think he can take us to the next level."

Like he did at Cal High, he has already done so at Gorman.

With numerous exceptions.

The Grizzlies "hometown" community has been replaced with state-of-the-art facilities, huge financial backing and a load of Division I talent. Mix that with Sanchez's spirit and drive and it's no wonder the Gaels went 15-0 last year in his first season and outscored foes 798-135. They won their eighth state crown – by 41 points in the finals.

At this point, Gorman is probably more dominant in Nevada than De La Salle is in California.

"They've dominated that state for quite a few years," said De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur, California's winningest coach at 356 wins, 25 losses and three ties. "There's a reason for it. It's justifiable. You see it on film. This team is going to be hard to beat for us. We'll give it our best shot, but they're a tough team."

And what makes it all the tougher for De La Salle is that Sanchez is in charge. He's quite familiar with the De La Salle mystique and schemes. He's not intimidated by it.

"We obviously know Tony Sanchez and know the job he did at Cal High," Ladouceur said. "His guys are not out of position and they stay true to their responsibilities. He's a good coach and he gets the most out of his guys."

He's done so everywhere he's gone but also kept an eye on bigger stages. He won a state title at Onate (Las Cruces, N.M.) in 2002 and a couple years later heard about the Cal High job. His wife Tessie had just landed a dream position at work and they built a dream home, but gave it all up to return to the Bay Area so Sanchez could round a dormant program.

"We went from a 2,800-square foot home to an 800-square-foot rental," Sanchez said.

But he didn't regret a day rebuilding the Grizzlies in the San Ramon community. Cal went 35-21 in his five seasons and won their outright league title in 2007.

"It was a grind early, but we all poured our heart and soul into that program and community," Sanchez said. "It wasn't that we started to win, it was about the amount of people who come into our lives. How everyone truly cared. It was such a wonderful time. The hardest thing about leaving Cal High was just all the relationships."

But the Gorman job was just too good to pass up.

NO PRICE TAG
The school had just been relocated from downtown Las Vegas to the vast and sprawling Summerlin district and spent a remarkable $93 million to build the 187,000 square-foot school on a 36-acre campus.

Sanchez took over for Bob Altshuler, who won a state title in 2007, the program's first in 24 years and finished 26-2 in his two years. Why Altshuler was let go few have spoken about, though communication issues were reportedly at the heart.

That will never be a problem with Sanchez.

"When we met and I saw the facilities and saw all the talented kids, everything just meshed," Sanchez said.

It helped that the cost of living in Nevada is so much cheaper than the Bay Area. Tessie doesn't need to work a professional job while raising daughter Alyssa, 8, and son Jason, 6.

"You can't put a price on that," Sanchez said. "The pace is just so much slower here. It's great for families."

Sanchez also could hire and move four assistants and lifelong friends, Craig Canfield, Scott Cooley, Garrett Johnson and his brother Kenny Sanchez from the Bay Area to Summerlin. Add in the overall athletic success the school has enjoyed, and Sanchez said the decision to uproot his family to Gorman was fairly obvious.

Gorman is the only school in the country to finish the 2009-10 season ranked among the top 25 teams in football, basketball and baseball.

"Everyone works so darned hard here and commits to excellence whether on the field or in the classroom," Sanchez said. "Every coach here is really good."

Present company included.

GAME NOTES: Since a tough 24-17 season-opening loss to No. 24 Hamilton (Chandler, Ariz.) in the Sollenberger Classic, Gorman has rattled off three straight wins by a 139-13 count. … Star junior tailback Shaquille Powell, who grew up in nearby Novato, Calif., rushed for 180 yards and four touchdowns last week in a 63-0 win over Sierra Vista. He has 736 yards and 10 touchdowns in the early going after rushing for more than 1,500 yards and 29 touchdowns as sophomore. "On our schedule, he's the best running back we'll see all year," De La Salle defensive coordinator Terry Eidson said. … De La Salle, which has gotten off to slow starts in recent years, has been impressive in wins over Serra (45-7) and St. Mary's-Stockton (40-14). The Spartans are led by a pair of Division I defenders, linebacker Blake Renaud (Boise State-bound) and lineman Dylan Wynn (Oregon State). Offensively, junior quarterback Bart Houston is an atypical pocket passer but is considered one of the top 11th graders in the state for his position. He's been sharp completing 16 of 29 for 367 yards and four touchdowns. De La Salle, as usual, has run the ball effectively though few expected Lucas Dunne (5-8, 173) to be so explosive. He has rushed for 287 yards (12.48 average) and four touchdowns and he's caught three passes for 139 yards. … The game will likely be won and lost at the line, where Gorman, with five returning starters, owns a huge size advantage. Its offensive front averages 280 pounds to about 220 for De La Salle's line. Gorman junior Ronnie Stanley (6-7, 280) is already considered a pro prospect. Other D-I commits for Gorman are defensive end Jalen Grimble (USC) and safety Evan Zeger (Washington).