Helix Makes Furious Comeback to Swamp Gondoliers of Venice High

In a homecoming of sorts for Helix Charter High School coach Troy Starr, the Scotties trounced Venice High School of the CIF Los Angeles City Section 42-20 Friday night.

The host Gondoliers put a scare into their highly ranked opponent, but didn’t quite have enough to pull off an upset.

Starr coached football for years in the City Section, building Woodland Hills Taft into a perennial power and leading the Toreadors to the City’s upper division championship in 1998.

“This brings back a lot of memories,” said Starr, now in his fourth season at Helix, ranked third in the San Diego Section by MaxPreps. “Angelo [Gasca, the Venice coach] is a good guy.

“The biggest thing I was worried about is their speed. Also playing up here on grass on a City field. [Synthetic] turf is all we play on in San Diego. Venice is really good. They’ll do fine in the playoffs and maybe go to the finals.”

Venice was ahead of Helix of La Mesa 20-14 midway through the third quarter before the Highlanders scored four touchdowns in a span of 15 minutes to post a road victory that was much closer than the final score indicated.

“We’re simply wearing down in the fourth quarter,” Gasca said, summarizing the Gondos’ third defeat in four games. “Counting the Garfield scrimmage, we’re in our fifth week of games already and we’re a work in progress. We’re 1-3, but all of our goals are still intact. We want to win league and go far in the City [Section] playoffs and those things are still out there for us.”

After sacking quarterback Dean Sarabia on fourth down at midfield on Venice’s first possession, the Highlanders drove 49 yards in seven plays, scoring on Michael Adkins’ eight-yard run.

Jimmy Pruitt then made it 14-0 by returning an interception 62 yards for a touchdown less than halfway through the first quarter.

After the first series, Sarabia switched to linebacker as he had the previous week against St. Francis, trying to fill in for injured Daniel Magallanes. Alex Diamont took over at quarterback and completed 16 of 34 passes for 241 yards. Jahret Hood had four catches for 52 yards and Jayshawn Lowe had three catches for 29 yards for the host Gondos.

SMU-bound receiver Gabe Marks had six catches for 107 yards and it was his play-making ability that got Venice back in the game.

First, he hooked up with Diamont on a 63-yard pass play and as he was falling down at the 5-yard line he pitched the ball to a trailing Deontay Banks, who ran it into the end zone for the Gondos’ first score.

On the Scotties’ next possession, Marks intercepted a pass by Helix quarterback Brandon Lewis and raced 67 yards for the game-tying touchdown with 1:55 left in the first quarter.

Venice tried to surprise Helix on a fake punt near midfield, but Lowe was tackled short of the first down. However, on the Highlanders’ first play, Hood batted and intercepted a pass by Lewis and returned it to the Helix 32-yard line.

The Gondos were unable to pick up a first down, but Mclean Emmanuel’s 48-yard field goal just cleared the cross bar and Venice had its first lead, 17-14.

“We’re not really a big team; we go full speed on every play,” Marks said. “On the touchdown play, I knew we had to score, I could tell I was slipping and I saw Deontay and just pitched it to him before I hit the ground and he did the rest. On the interception, our defensive backs coach told me to watch the seam route on the tight end. I took a chance and broke on the ball.”

Lowe intercepted a pass at the 31-yard line and took it back all the way, but the touchdown was nullified by a holding penalty and Venice had to settle for Emmanuel’s 37-yard field goal that increased the Gondos’ lead to 20-14 at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter.

After senior defensive back Jeffrey Landcraft blitzed up the midde and sacked Lewis, forcing Helix to punt, Marks sped behind the Highlanders’ secondary but Diamont’s long pass sailed just beyond the receiver’s reach.

After Cameron Lee’s interception set Helix up at its own 48-yard line, the Highlanders used a trick play to regain the lead. Lewis pitched to Pruitt, who ran to the left, stopped, and launched a pass downfield to a wide-open Lee, who raced 52 yards for a touchdown. The extra point gave Helix a 21-20 lead with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

Venice went three-and-out on its next series and Helix drove 67 yards in 10 plays, capped by Lee’s 29-yard touchdown reception from Lewis early in the fourth quarter that increased the Highlanders’ lead to 28-20.

The Gondos got the ball and proceeded to drive from their own 24 to Helix’s 24, but senior Romelio Carbuccia intercepted Diamont’s pass over the middle at the 4-yard line. A chop block penalty moved the ball half the distance to the goal, but on Helix’s first play, Darrion Hancock burst over left tackle and up the sideline for a 98-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach.

“We know we’re a good team,” Marks said. “We’re playing some of the best teams out there. Our record looks bad right now, but by the time our league starts we’ll be battle tested and we’ll be a contender in the [City] playoffs.”

Venice hosts La Puente Bishop Amat (4-1), ranked No. 6 in the Southern Section’s Pac-5 Division, next Thursday night. Helix resumes opens league play Friday, hosting undefeated Mount Miguel at 7 p.m.

Score by Quarters

Helix 14 0 7 21 — 42
Venice 14 3 3 0 — 20

Scoring Summary

Helix — Adkins 9 run (Sabin kick), 7:12 left in 1st qtr.

Helix — Pruitt 62 interception return (Sabin kick), 6:15 left in 1st qtr.

Venice — Banks 5 run (Emmanuel kick), 5:07 left in 1st qtr.

Venice — Marks 67 interception return (Emmanuel kick), 1:55 left in 1st qtr.

Venice — Emmanuel 48 field goal, 8:12 left in 2nd qtr. Venice -- Emmanuel 37 field goal, 6:58 left in 3rd qtr.

Helix — Lee 52 pass from Pruitt (Sabin kick), 3:20 left in 3rd qtr.

Helix — Lee 29 pass from Lewis (Sabin kick), 8:56 left in 4th qtr.

Helix — Hancock 98 run (Sabin kick), 4:49 left in 4th qtr.

Helix — Adkins run (Sabin kick), 2:33 left in 4th qtr.

Records: Helix 3-1; Venice 1-3.