#8 story of the year, Nolan shatters records
The Saddleback football program had one of its most exciting years in recent memory, and along with the excitement came some record-breaking performances. Quarterback Chance Nolan broke a number of program records on the final night of the season in a season-ending shootout against College of the Canyons.
The Saddleback football program had one of its most exciting years in recent memory, and along with the excitement came some record-breaking performances. Quarterback Chance Nolan broke a number of program records on the final night of the season in a season-ending shootout against College of the Canyons.
Nolan cemented his name in the record books on November 23 in a 58-53 loss to Canyons. The redshirt freshman had one of the great nights in Saddleback football history, accounting for a record 577 yards of total offense and rewriting the record books along the way.
Nolan's massive performance gave him 4,384 yards of total offense in one season, breaking the record set by Tim Belman in 2013 (4,315). In addition, he threw five touchdown passes in the game to give him 38 for the season in breaking the record of 34 set in 2013 (Belman). To put things into perspective, he did it in 534 plays, which was 89 less plays than Bellman (623).
Nolan finished with 3,315 yards passing and 38 touchdowns against only six interceptions, completing 66% of his passes. The passing yardage ranks No. 5 in single-season history, right on the heels of the legendary Colt Brennan. What separated Nolan from any other quarterback in Saddleback history was his rushing numbers, as he led the team in rushing yardage and tied for the team lead in rushing touchdowns (6). Nolan finished with 1,069 yards rushing, easily passing Johnny Stanton as the top running quarterback of all time. Stanton had 752 yards rushing in 2015 in setting the standard. Nolan's rushing total ranks ninth all-time in Saddleback history for a single-season.
Nolan's efforts also helped Saddleback set a new record for points in a season. The Gauchos finished with 509 points, eclipsing the record of 483 set in 2017. In addition, they also set the new standard for points-per-game (46.3), surpassing the 43.9 scored in 2017.