For the second consecutive year, head coach Tom Tyler has led the Pitman Pride varsity football team to a 3-0 start to the season — last year the Pride managed a 4-0 start.

Now, the Pride, who come off their second bye week, are looking to finish their preseason league play perfect when they host the North Salinas High Vikings on Friday.

Pitman defeated last year's Modesto Metro Conference co-champions in Downey the opening week followed by a road victory over Lincoln High from Stockton.

They followed their bye week on Sept. 12 with a big win at Oakland Tech the following week, where they trounced the Bulldogs 35-14.

The Pride then lost out on a week of play when Pleasant Grove cancelled for Sept. 26.

“Disappointed with Pleasant Grove canceling, we would like to have played a game last week, but I am worried about being off and rusty. I think we will be ok though,” said Tyler. “They signed a two-year contract and when we started practice in August, they called and said they had a league game and there was just nothing we could do about it.”

The Pride's next opponents, the 2-1 Vikings from Salinas, have averaged 27.6 points per game and have allowed an average of 14.3 per game.

Pitman has scored an average of 33 points per game, while the defense has allowed 19.6.

“We are looking forward to the matchup with North Salinas and it should be a good tune-up before league starts,” said Tyler. “We are young and make mistakes, but we make plays and have gotten better every day. I think their style is similar to what Downey ran, (I'm) not sure what we will see but we are preparing to do what we do.”

The Pride's final preseason contest will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Joe Debely Stadium.