Gallup coach ‘excited’ about upcoming season

GALLUP

The Gallup High football team is in a lot better position at this time of year than they were last year.

Third-year coach Andrew Rodriquez said his teams stayed active during the summer and that is going to pay off this season.

“This is the best it’s been in a while,” he said. “I mean, two years ago we had the whole Covid thing going on. And last year it was kind of rough because spring sports went all the way into June. It was hard to get a good offseason going in July.

“This year it was just a lot different,” he added. “We already were at our first football camp in the second week of June at UNM, so we hit the ground running.”

In addition to summer workouts, Rodriquez said he worked closely with some of his kids in other sports.

“I got to coach them either in powerlifting or track,” he said. “They’re really athletic and they’re great guys, so we’re excited about them.”

Top returners for the Gallup team include senior Larvell Skeet (receiver, safety), senior Ronald Navajo (running back, linebacker), senior Jacob Burrola (running back, linebacker), senior Xavier Lopez (receiver, defensive back) and senior offensive lineman Santana Pablo.

“He kind of paves the way for us,” Rodriquez said of Pablo, who stands at 6-feet and 300 pounds. “He’s just a top stud.”

The Gallup coach is also excited about the prospects of Skeet and Navajo.

“Ronald was an all-district player for us last year,” Rodriquez said. “He put in a lot of work during the offseason.

“Larvell us going to be both on offense and defense,” he added. “He’s going to be one of our top players.”

And while the offense and defense have experience, Rodriquez said the O-line and D-line are a work in progress.

“We need a little bit of work on the line,” he said. “We got a young group right there but the good thing about the young ones is they’ve been here all summer. They went to all the camps with us, and they have good size.”

Last week, the Bengals hosted a three-team scrimmage with Crownpoint and Laguna-Acoma and Rodriquez said his linemen were a bit confused.

“They’re still trying to figure it out,” he said. “They got a little shocked, and I think it’s because this is the first time they’re actually hitting with pads and going against another team.”

The Bengals start the season on Aug. 19 at Moriarty, a team that is ranked No. 5 in the preseason Class 4A rankings.

Following that game, Gallup will have its rivalry game with Grants at home on Aug. 27, and then play city rival Miyamura on Sept. 1.

“We got a good schedule and we’re going to have some other ones coming in late to help fill those gaps,” Rodriquez said. “We just got to hold down the fort for the first one or two games.”

The Bengals also have Taos (Sept. 9), Espanola (Sept. 16), Socorro (Sept. 30) and Shiprock (Oct. 7) on its nondisrict schedule.

Rodriquez said he’s hoping his squad will gain more experience when they start the District 1-4A play with Kirtland Central on Oct. 1, followed by a home contest with Aztec on Oct. 8.

Following a bye week, the Bengals will play at Bloomfield on Oct. 22 to conclude the regular season.

“Our district teams are tough,” Rodriquez said. “They’re all good, and they’re always playoff teams. We just got to be ready for them by the time we play them. They’re all a good squad and we hope to give them fits.”

In last week’s scrimmage, Rodriquez said there were a few things that they need to shore up.

“We’re primarily a running team, and that’s what our focus has been all summer, but we need to get our quarterbacks and receivers to build up a connection,” he said. “We need to clean up those routes a little bit and hopefully we’ll be more than a one-dimensional team.”

Defensively, the Gallup coach said they just need to understand their schemes a little bit more.

“We try to keep it pretty basic, but these kids have seen a whole lot at full speed,” he said.

Rodriquez said the quarterback rotation will involve four players this year with Josh Trivera getting the nod as the starting quarterback. The others in the rotation include Calum Watchman, Elijah Galaviz and Isaiah Reece.

“We’ve got kids who are really good at passing and we got kids that can run the ball,” he said. “That’s good to have and it kind of makes us deeper at the quarterback position.”

Rodriquez said they’re looking to improve on its 1-9 record from a year ago, and he believes they have the talent and personnel to do so.

“I’m looking forward to the season and, you know, I really enjoy this group,” he said. “I enjoy their personalities and they’re a close knit group.

“They’re just great dudes to be around,” he added.

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