Gandall Is a Pleasant Surprise

Al Gandall’s experience with the Orange County all-star football game was full of surprises.

First, Gandall might have surprised the coaches by volunteering to move from tailback, his normal position last season at Trabuco Hills, to fullback. Gandall thought he would be exchanging carries for playing time.

The South coaching staff surprised Gandall by continually calling his number in the first half Friday night, sending him out on passing patterns to the flat.

Then, the North team surprised Gandall and everybody else by repeatedly leaving him wide open on those short pass patterns.

Gandall took advantage of his open terrain, catching five first-half passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. Gandall capped the game’s scoring in the fourth quarter with his only catch of the second half, a 10-yard touchdown with 45 seconds to go.

It was all pretty unexpected for Gandall, a 5-foot-11, 210-pound back who realized early in practice that there would be few opportunities to get the ball because there were so many capable tailbacks on the roster.

So he asked South Coach Rick Gibson to play him at fullback to ensure more playing time.

“What more can you say about a kid that does that,” Gibson said. “So I wanted to get him the ball as many times as I could.”

Early on, the South called a few play-action passes with Gandall going to the flat, and each time Gandall was wide open. With 35 seconds left in the first quarter, Gandall was open in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown that gave the South a 14-0 lead.

“The outside linebacker just kept rushing in every play,” Gandall said. “I was expecting after the second or third one for like five guys to be right there. But I don’t know why they didn’t do that.”

Gandall hoped his efforts delivered another surprise: to the Division I-A schools that ignored him in the recruiting process. Despite rushing for 1,593 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior, Gandall received no Division I scholarship offers.

Gandall has committed to Cal Lutheran, a Division III school, but he hopes that his performance Friday night can convince a Division I school with a scholarship left to take a chance on him.

“I wanted to impress some people,” Gandall said. “Hopefully, show them what they missed.”