Galvan eclipses 1,000 yards
Marauders top Tigers 37-13
A 94-yard kickoff returned for a touchdown — that’s how Aidan Galvan made his introduction on the opening kickoff of one of the most important games of his career.
By the end of Monache High School’s 37-13 win over Delano in Thursday’s East Yosemite League game at Jacob Rankin Stadium, Galvan had added 177 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries to his game total. The amount brought the Monache junior’s season total to 1,173 rushing yards, making it the first time Galvan eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark in his career.
“Honestly, it’s a big accomplishment,” Galvan said. “I’ve come a long way trying to understand all the blocking schemes and just trust my linemen that they’ll give me a good solid 5-yard push and then I just try to make the rest happen.”
Last season in his first year on varsity, Galvan finished with just 714 rushing yards and six touchdowns through 11 games. This year with just eight games under his belt, Galvan has rushed for not only 1,173 yards, but 18 touchdowns as well. He’s had five games with 100-or-more yards and is averaging 146.6 yards a game.
“The difference is, honestly, the confidence I have in my line,” Galvan said. “Last year with a new coach, a new offense .... [I] didn’t really
know the plays, didn’t really know how things develop. Now I know everything and now I feel a lot more comfortable.”
The night wasn’t just special for Galvan, but for MHS head coach Chris Frankland as well. In his postgame talk with the team, Frankland told the Marauders (6-2, 2-1 EYL) that Galvan was his first 1,000-yard rusher of his coaching career.
“He means a lot more than 1,000 yards,” Frankland said afterwards. “Defensively, and sometimes he’s just the grown up in the room, I guess would be the way to put it. He studies, he’s out going through o-line stuff and sitting in on their meetings and all of that. So he’s earned that. I’m really happy for him, I’m really proud of him. But to try and put a number on his impact of our team, 1,000 is not even close to that. And I’m just really happy for him and I told him that tonight.”
After his opening touchdown, Galvan scored the team’s next touchdown on a 17-yard run up the middle, and then took the handoff for a successful 2-point conversion to put the Marauders up 15-0. Galvan, who doubles as one of the team’s top defensive backs, scored his last touchdown on a 32yard run at the end of the third quarter.
With both their run and passing game clicking against the Tigers (3-5, 0-3 EYL), the Marauders exercised flexibility with senior quarterback Antonio Andrade and their predominantly junior receiving corps.
Andrade went 11-of20 for 146 yards and two touchdowns, with juniors Tori Powell and Marcus Salazar on the receiving end of 38-yard and 34yard touchdowns, respectively. Andrade targeted six different receivers, with Powell finishing with a team-high 75 yards on four receptions. Powell and senior Troy Carlos also had one reception each for successful 2-point conversions. Senior Omar Meza was 1-of-1 on extra points.
Aiding the Marauders in the run game was junior Trayvon Bradford with 43 yards on three carries and senior Adrian Santonocito with 44 yards on eight carries. “It’s like, when it starts hitting at the right time and you can throw the ball and you can run the ball, we try to be difficult to defend,” Frankland said. “We try to put stress on certain areas. And those completions tonight allowed us to do that against Delano...[andrade] really made the throws when it mattered, and I was really happy for him tonight, and our young receiver crew is getting better every week.”
Delano went into half time down 23-0 but benched starting senior quarter back f ernie ferrell for junior Aaron Chavez, who allowed the Tigers to expand their passing game with his arm. On the opening drive of the third quarter, Chavez completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Sergio Gonzalez and Carlos Ceja’s kick was good for the Tigers’ first seven points.
The Tigers scored again in the fourth on a two-play drive started from their own 38-yard line. A 30yard pass to Israel Valle set up a 32-yard touchdown run by Anthony Murguia for the final score of the game. Monache senior Jarek Bosquez blocked Ceja’s extra point.
“I think our coaching staff put our defense in a couple bad positions in the second half and I’ll take full responsibility for it,” Frankland said. “We’re very big on preparation and preparing for a team, and they threw a wrinkle [in with Chavez]. They were a lot more open, ran a lot more counter, ran a lot more draw. We didn’t prepare like that, like we should have and that’s on me. I’ll take responsibility for it. But I think we got stops, the pick down there. The kids are still battling, still competing. So I was really proud of them in spite of some of the calls our coaching staff made defensively.”
The Marauders didn’t have the cleanest game of the season with Bradford, Andrade and Powell all having one fumble. However, sophomore Julian Rowe did intercept Chavez and Bosquez recovered a fumble caused by sophomore Hunter Weimer. Monache junior Taven Avila also caused, and then recovered, a fumble.
Next week, Monache travels to Tulare for a 7 p.m. game against Tulare Western (7-0, 2-0 EYL) on Thursday, Oct. 18.