
By Jay Leon Guerrero
The GW Geckos high school football team has one goal in mind – repeat as champions. The road to glory will be a bit more challenging with more obstacles than the previous season.
Starting quarterback Brendan Santos will lead the offense for the Geckos. He said his team lost many key players to graduation.
“We lost the leagues’ offensive and defensive MVP’s in Hank Sablan and Kelvin Hocog,” said Santos.”We were very senior heavy last season, we lost First Team All-Islanders from our offensive line and defense.”
“We did gain a whole bunch of new players, we have some talented freshman and sophomores that are working hard,” added Santos. Santos will have five returnees on the offense including fellow senior Ryan Quitugua at wide receiver.
“Practice is going good, we are getting better. We have a good coaching staff, it’s all up to us do put in the hard work and do our parts,” said Quitugua.
Quitugua said that the coaches guide them to learn the game and be disciplined. “We learn much about the game and they teach us also about life,” said Quitugua.

Quarterback Brendan Santos practices the offensive sets with the first-team during practice. (photo by Errol Alegre Jr.)
The play callers for the purple and gold are an all-star staff of coaches. Here is the coaching staff:
Head coach – Ryan Rios
Offensive line coach – Mark Mesgnon
Offensive coordinator – Bill Quichocho
Defensive back coach – Neil Egurrola
Defensive line coach – Oscar Santos
Rios said that he has 12 returnees and a current total eligible roster of 30 players.
“Our first day of practice was on August 3rd, but believe the other teams started before us,” said Rios.
Despite being a little behind schedule, Rios is hoping more players come out when school starts. “We need the team to gel when the playoffs come, we want to peak in October.”
Rios said the Geckos started practice late and the team has not started school yet. He is hoping more players to come out when school starts. The Geckos have been practicing without full gear, Rios said the gear will be available this week.

Even with no pads, the Geckos go hard at practice as demonstrated by defensive specialist Damon Hocog. (photo by Errol Alegre Jr.)
Anchoring the defense is Kelvin Hocog’s younger brother Damon Hocog, who played tackle last season but will move to defensive end this year. “We don’t really have much returnees, we started practice late. We are just going to continue to work hard everyday and get comfortable with our skin,” said Hocog.
In the Rios era, the Geckos won seven championships in 11 years. Their lowest finish has been 4th place. They defeated the Friars in last season’s thrilling championship game.
The Geckos will open the season against the Okkodo Bulldogs this Friday August 21, the official kick-off of the IIAAG 2015 season.
PHOTO GALLERY:


GPS Sports Calendar
March 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for February
28th
Events for March
2nd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINALS
Events for March
3rd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
ISA GIRLS SOCCER FINALS
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
Events for March
4th
35th RAINBOWS FOR ALL CHILDREN 3.5 MILER
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE FINALS
Events for March
5th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 3
Events for March
5th
Events for March
6th
Events for March
7th
Events for March
9th
Events for March
11th
GSPN PRESEASON BOYS VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT DAY 1
Bank of Guam Block Party 5K
Events for March
12th
Events for March
13th
Events for March
14th
Events for March
15th
Events for March
17th
World Athletics Indoor Championships
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for March
18th
PAY-LESS KICK THE FAT 5K/10K
World Athletics Indoor Championships
Events for March
19th
Events for March
21st
Events for March
25th
MARIANAS OPEN PRO JAPAN TOURNAMENT
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for March
26th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 4
Events for March
28th
ISA GIRLS SOFTBALL
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for March
30th
ISA GIRLS SOFTBALL
IIAAG GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Events for March
31st
IIAAG BOYS VOLLEYBALL
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Jiu-Jitsu
ATOS BRINGS BACK 44 MEDALS FROM JAPAN

Volleyball
TIYAN DROPS SET FOR FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARS

MMA/Boxing
BENAVENTE BRINGS RARE SKILL TO FIGHT GAME

MMA/Boxing
BENAVENTE BRINGS RARE SKILL TO FIGHT GAME

Volleyball
EAGLES HOLD OFF WARRIORS IN 5 SETS

Jiu-Jitsu
MARIANAS OPEN TO TAKE OVER TOKYO
COMING SOON …
- 4th Quarter Sports
QUICK HITS
——————————————
Guam MTB National Championship: Edward Oingerang and Jennifer Camacho are your 2023 MTB national champions. Oingerang finished the course in 1:13:24 while Camacho won her second straight title in 54:08.