In sophomore Max Galentine’s second game as Baldwin’s varsity quarterback, he has already made some impact plays.
Galentine connected with senior wide receiver Noah Saccani for an 87-yard touchdown against South Fayette last week.
“It was great to make a big play in a game like this,” Galentine said. “It gave me a lot more confidence in that game and moving forward I will be more comfortable when it comes to Friday night.”
Despite the loss in that game, Baldwin put up 13 points against South Fayette, their second-highest scoring game this season. This was an impressive offensive performance from Galentine, especially since he was named quarterback just a few weeks ago, after previous starter Noah Mickolay transferred to Seton LaSalle.
“Max is definitely improving each week,” senior Josh Staudt said. “He is starting to understand it more – looking at the reads and understanding who is open and who is not.”
Alongside Galentine, the offense as a whole looks to be improving.
“Our passing game has been the best part of our offense, so if we can keep that progressing every week, we should see some good results,” Saccani said.
Staudt agreed.
“We need to do more of what we did last week. This shows what we can do when we throw the ball more instead of running it almost every play,” he said.
The Highlanders still have improvements to make on the offensive side of the ball.
“We could definitely improve on our overall offense when we go under center, along with finishing drives whenever we get into opponent territory,” Galentine said.
The Highlanders look to keep their offense improving as they head into their away game against Bethel Park at 7 p.m. today.
“We all feel more confident going into Bethel,” Galentine said. “We need to work on the little things especially and focus on giving it our all on the field.”
Despite the offensive improvement, though, the Highlanders are still winless on the season. Yet while the team has a small roster, the players have stuck with the program.
“It is very important for our team to continue to stick together,” Galentine said. “We have been connected all year, and that is what is getting us through the season.”
Saccani agreed that sticking together is important if the team wants to keep moving forward.
“We only have so many people, so we need the people that we have to work together, like each other, and play as a team,” he said.
The football program drew social media criticism after the district asked opposing athletic directors to shorten quarters and to play more junior varsity guys earlier in the game. Baldwin players said this outside attention has only brought the team closer together.
“Everybody is talking about us wanting to shorten the quarters, so that makes us a little angry and makes us want to play harder,” Staudt said.
