UW Roster Review, No. 2-99: Cherry, Galvan Carry the Ball, Long-Odds Dreams
Some might disagree with this, showing a preference for Jay'Veon Sunday, but Capassio Cherry has to have the catchiest first and last name of any of the University of Washington running backs.
You can almost hear Husky Stadium PA announcer Eric Radovich with the following call, "Cherry picking the right side, gain of 5."
Unfortunately for the extra-compact running back from Edmonds, Washington, enunciation alone isn't going to get him on the field.
As it stands, seven scholarship rushers rank ahead of him and fellow walk-on tailback Christian Galvan on the Husky depth chart, four coming from as far away as California and two more from Texas to pack the football.
It is up to lone local scholarship recipient Sam Adams II from Kirkland, Washington, plus the unfunded Galvan from Bothell, Washington, and Cherry, to give the Huskies a local presence in the rushing game. It won't be easy.
Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.
We examine both Cherry, a sophomore who wears No. 34 all by himself on a roster full of double numbers, and Galvan, a freshman who pulls on No. 35, which he shares with walk-on linebacker Ben Hines.
The thing about Cherry is he has the statistical credentials that would seem to open a lot of doors, if not holes, for him to do his thing somewhere in the college game, which is pile up a lot of yardage.
At Edmonds-Woodway High School, the 5-foot-8, 200-pounder surpassed 200 yards rushing six times and broke the 300-yard barrier twice, amazing for any level of football.
Against Marysville-Pilchuck High, Cherry broke loose for 305 yards and 5 touchdowns, then topped that with 329 yards and 4 TDs against Snohomish, the latter a place where not even the great Husky running back Rick Fenney sniffed those kind of outlandish numbers.
Cherry finished his senior year with 2,021 yards and 25 TDs, averaging a healthy 202 yards per game and 8.2 yards per carry. He checked out of high school with more than 4,000 yards rushing and 50 scores, graduating with true football honors.
He spent 2019 playing for Contra Costa College in San Pablo, California, where reality sunk in when he rushed for just 159 yards and a TD on 52 carries, and he transferred to the UW. He shared JC carries with multiple people on a bad team.
Pure breakaway speed seems to be Cherry's big drawback in becoming a full-service Huskies' numbers cruncher.
Galvan joined the Huskies directly out of suburban Bothell High School after accumulating 5,462 all-purpose yards and 44 touchdowns.
Smaller yet than Cherry, the 5-foot-7, 185-pounder reportedly turned down scholarship offers or some sort of financial aid from smaller schools such as San Diego, Georgetown and Columbia to take his chances with the Huskies.
"I'm just a kid chasing a dream," Galvan said of his insistence at walking on at Washington.
Cherry and Galvan are part of something big and wieldy in terms of Power 5 football, getting in the long line forming at Husky running back. They went in knowing the long odds of passing up those scholarship guys, but they still wanted to be part of it.
In the spring game, each back received three carries, which was a start and something not all scholarship runners earned, with Galvan gaining 12 yards and Cherry 7.
Who's to stop them from creating some memories as part of the Husky empire and its endless stable of rushers, even if it's only on the practice field, and then moving on to somewhere else where they can pile up big numbers once more before they're done?
Cherry and Galvan's 2021 Outlook: Projected reserve running backs
UW Service Time: None
Stats: None
Individual Honors: None
Pro Prospects: None
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