By David BrownStandard-Times staff writerAugust 26, 2008 6:00 AMMost Viewed StoriesPainstaking demolition paves way for hotelFamous names on Mass. unclaimed property list 4 arrested at Mohegan Sun with cheating deviceApponequet football team stunned by tragic death600-pound turtle washes upNew Bedford copper thieves caught in the actWestport man arrested for assaulting, threatening to kill girlfriend FOXBORO — The New England Patriots might have impressed Matt Gutierrez — if they hadn't lost a game last season.But the Pats' third-string quarterback comes from Concord, Calif., a place where football teams don't lose games.As a three-year starter for De La Salle Catholic High School, Gutierrez led the Spartans to a 38-0 mark and three North Coast California championships. USA Today picked De La Salle as the best team in the nation all three seasons.Last week, Gutierrez injected a hint of life into the Patriots' offense, throwing for 217 yards in the second half of a 27-17 preseason loss to the Eagles, and is pushing Matt Cassell for the No. 2 job.When the Patriots signed their backup's backup as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho State in 2007, his experience at De La Salle actually looked pretty good on the resume."Really, each player is his own player," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Monday. "But I think a kid that comes out of that program, if you know anything about that program, they need to be pretty hard workers, pretty dependable and pretty consistent. Or they probably wouldn't be able to play there."That's because De La Salle is coached by one of the few people who knows just as much — if not more — about winning football games as Belichick.Bob Ladouceur was hired at De La Salle in 1979 to teach religion and coach football, despite the fact that he had no experience as a teacher or a head football coach. Whatever. Ladouceur enters the season as the all-time winningest coach in football history with a record of 332-20-3 (probably because he never coached the Cleveland Browns).Gutierrez' 38-0 run with the Spartans was just part of a winning streak that lasted 13 full seasons and reached a national-record 151 games. He completed 252 of 456 passes in high school for 5,032 yards with 64 touchdowns and nine interceptions before accepting a scholarship at Michigan.Shortly after earning the Wolverines' starting job at the start of the 2004 season, Gutierrez suffered a torn labrum and never regained favor in Ann Arbor. He moved to Idaho State for his final college season and put up the big numbers that were expected of him coming out of high school with 2,237 yards and 16 touchdowns.That inspired the Patriots to bring him to camp for a look last season."He had a very productive college career," Belichick said. "I think physically he was able to do what we wanted a quarterback to do. He has good size, he is strong, he is a tough kid, he's smart and he can handle the offense. He played at a good level in college."He also played at a good level on Friday night, completing 10 of 16 passes, including two touchdowns. Gutierrez seemed to inject energy that the Patriots' offense had missed with Tom Brady on the sideline for the first three games, leading the team to its first multi-touchdown game of the preseason."He's a positive guy," said third-year wide receiver Chad Jackson, the recipient of a Gutierrez touchdown pass on Friday. "He's out there, he knows the play call, he's aggressive with it, he's out there like, 'Guys let's go make some plays.' And you, know I feel real comfortable when I'm out there with Gute."Gutierrez posted the highest quarterback rating any Patriots passer has had in the preseason, a 139.0, but he wasn't satisfied with the outcome."We strung some good plays together, but we still came up short," Gutierrez said. "So it wasn't good enough."Since he arrived in camp last season, the most striking quality of Gutierrez has been his work ethic. It's not rare for him to be the last player off the field, an asset that helped him beat out Vinny Testaverde for a roster spot a year ago.It's also a quality that the Patriots expected when they brought the former De La Salle star to Foxboro."He had a great career there," Belichick said. "And I don't think there has ever been any question about his work ethic, his toughness, his dependability, his commitment to football or anything like that. I think that is as top as it can be, and it has been that way for us. But that is how it was advertised of him coming in."
