Vegas’ Gaines to join sister at Notre Dame

Nick Christensen

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005 | 9:27 a.m.

Despite scholarship offers from Stanford, Nebraska and Notre Dame and a 3.9 grade-point average, Las Vegas High senior Jashaad Gaines is humble about his grades.

"They could be better, definitely," he said.

At least one distraction from academics is now gone for Gaines, a defensive back and running back for the Wildcats. Gaines committed to Notre Dame this week.

"It definitely takes a lot off my mind in terms of deciding where I want to be, it's just a weight off my shoulders," he said. "I can go out here and do what I do and have fun now."

Gaines, 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, has 11 solo tackles and one assisted, plus three pass breakups so far this season. On offense, he has 68 rushing yards in four games.

Vegas coach Chris Faircloth said Gaines' poise is one of his greatest attributes.

"He's brought leadership to our defense," Faircloth said. "He helps the defensive backs identify what the situation is. He adds a real positive chemistry to the team as far as being one of the kids that's out to help the other kids. He takes nothing and asks for nothing in return."

The Irish began showing interest in Gaines a little late in the game, shortly before Tyrone Willingham was fired last December. New coach Charlie Weis stepped it up, and Gaines said the Golden Dome "recruited me pretty well."

It also helped that his sister, Tulyah, plays for the Irish women's basketball team.

"Family is really important to me," Gaines said. "Notre Dame is just a well-rounded school in academics and football. I think they're going to be back where they need to be."

Homeless people randomly idle through practice, sometimes avoiding plays being set up on the makeshift field, sometimes not.

Still, the park is in a lot better shape this year than last, with no beer bottles or other unsightly litter strewn about the grounds at Wednesday's practice.

The Rams play homecoming at Canyon Springs when they "play host" to Mojave. In last week's league opener, special teams cost Rancho a 36-30 loss at Eldorado.

Football at Rancho this year is going a lot better than last year's 2-7 record.

"The kids are much more focused," coach Gary Maki said. "We're headed in the right direction. That game last week, I'm hoping it was a wake-up call of what we're capable of doing and what can happen if we're not focused for 48 minutes."

Maki said the new Rancho school building, being built on the site of the school's old athletic fields, is five weeks ahead of schedule in construction. But the old campus, which is where the new football stadium will be built, will not be demolished until the new building is ready for move-in.

That leaves a slight glimmer of hope that the Rams will have home games next year. It's more likely, though, that they'll have to go through the nomad routine one more season.

When the bus rolls out Friday morning, coach J.D. Johnson is hoping the ghosts of last week's 27-12 loss to Vegas stay behind.

"We got back to high-intensity practices, and the linemen have been going hard every day," Johnson said. "The seniors called their own meeting, and they basically said that we're not playing up to our potential. The defense is not satisfied at all with their performance."

Offensively, the Mustangs hope to get back to a more diverse game plan, involving more passing from quarterback William Pope.

"He didn't get the ball in his receivers' hands like he normally does, but he's not having enough time up front. He's getting too much pressure," Johnson said. "It's something we'll get in our division majorly. Palo Verde brings real good pressure, Cimarron is at the top of their peak right now and playing tough so we're going to have to focus on that this week."

Shadow Ridge opens Northwest Division play with Cimarron on September 30.