Marks hopes to return from injury
Gabriel Marks pulled his hip flexor in the first quarter after returning a punt for a touchdown in Los Angeles Venice's season opener last weekend but the 2012 standout said he's fine and plans to play this week against West Covina, Calif.
"It's good," Marks said. "It was like a deep bruise. I'm going to play this weekend."
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Marks, a 6-foot, 175-pound prospect, had a 21-yard reception and ran for 25 yards on a reverse before injuring himself on the punt return for a touchdown. He hasn't done much this week, trying to rest as much as possible leading up to Friday night's game.
"Somebody was trying to grab me and I high-stepped out of it and I just moved it the wrong way," Marks said. "I haven't really been doing anything. It's not that bad though because it's really not that bad of an injury."
Marks was off to a good start in Venice's 47-16 victory over North Hollywood (Calif.) Harvard-Westlake before being sidelined with the injury but no one played better than senior running back Teondray Caldwell.
The three-star running back from Los Angeles Venice finished with seven touchdowns and 291 rushing yards in the win. Caldwell, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound back, lists interest from Arizona, Iowa State, Kansas, Oregon, SMU, UCLA and others.
As for Marks, the Bruins are still his favorite team although he hasn't been hearing much from UCLA in recent weeks.
One of the top players at the B2G Elite Camp at Cal Lutheran and the wide receiver MVP at the Los Angeles NIKE Camp, Marks said Oregon and Texas A&M have also been in touch.
"UCLA is still pretty much the favorite," Marks said. "I haven't really been talking to them lately but they've been sending me letters."