Wildcats were inspired by Gomez

Adam Candee

Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2003 | 9:55 a.m.

In the rare quiet moments Jacob Robertson has spent by himself since Sunday night, he never felt really alone.

The Las Vegas High senior football player talked softly, if only in his heart, with his tight friend and teammate, Edward Gomez. The presence both surprises and comforts Robertson, who openly wept Friday as Gomez was placed in an ambulance after the Wildcats defeated Desert Pines to win the Sunrise Region championship.

"It's like he's there," Robertson said.

Sadly, Gomez is not. The 17-year-old Las Vegas safety died Sunday night at University Medical Center from blunt force trauma to the head, an injury apparently sustained with just minutes remaining in Friday night's game. After speaking Tuesday with Gomez's parents, Las Vegas coach Kris Cinkovich said that a viewing is scheduled for Sunday and funeral services will take place Monday. Times and locations are not yet determined.

There will be a pre-game tribute to Gomez before Saturday's 4A State Tournament semifinal against Palo Verde and players will wear white jersey patches with black initials reading "E.G." The Wildcats will also have helmet stickers with the number 21 -- Gomez's number -- on them.

Without dwelling on his passing, the Wildcats plan to do whatever they can to honor Gomez.

"He was a very inspiring person," Robertson said of the buddy he knew since the eighth grade. "I admired every quality about him. There was no flaw about him. He was just a straight-up, honest person."

Keeping with their therapy of dealing with Gomez's death by communicating about it, the Wildcats began talking with media members Tuesday for the first time since they walked off the field in stunned silence Friday as an ambulance rushed Gomez to the hospital after he collapsed on the field minutes after a collision with a Desert Pines receiver.

"We're to the point where we can talk about him and not break down and cry," Robertson said.

Cinkovich encourages the open communication among his players, in addition to setting the example for them by talking to grief counselors made available to Las Vegas students and faculty.

"We have to deal with it," Cinkovich said. "We can't just put it aside or ignore it."

Las Vegas still has the task of football to confront against Palo Verde. Both teams are undefeated and the winner will be one win from a state championship.

Don't mistake those circumstances for pressure at Las Vegas, though. The Wildcats have been forced to accept that football is only a piece of a much larger life puzzle.

"Pressure, I wouldn't call it an issue," Robertson said. "It's the last thing I'm thinking about. I'm just worried about the level of intensity."

There will be no 'win one for Eddie' speeches in the locker room, though, as Cinkovich refuses to raise that intensity by using Gomez's death as a rallying cry.

"I'm not going to put that kind of pressure on the kids," Cinkovich said.

Cinkovich deals with the personal pressure on him by intensely focusing on getting his players through a week they never imagined possible.

"It's obviously hard on all of us within the program," Cinkovich said. "My job right now has got to be to help these kids any way we can."

"I know it's just going to hit me upside the head when we're done playing."

Cinkovich is also focusing on helping the Gomez family. He said the Wildcats would take Thanksgiving dinner to the family, a meal furnished with money donated to the program this week from various people.

Donations to the Gomez family are being accepted at any branch of Washington Mutual Bank.