A capacity crowd at Joe Debely Stadium was treated to the most competitive Harvest Bowl in nearly a decade on Friday night, with the final result being the same for the 12th straight year — a victory in favor of Turlock, this time by a 28-14 score.
After building a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, the Bulldogs fought off a late comeback attempt by the Pride, who scored 14 points over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. Holding on to the 21-14 advantage with the Pitman crowd reinvigorated, Turlock received crucial insurance when Kaleb Guinn ran untouched for a 70-yard touchdown that capped off the scoring for each team.
There were roughly six minutes remaining in the ballgame when the Pride went back on offense, but an 18-play drive couldn’t produce points, as they turned the ball over on downs at the Turlock 16-yard line.
As with any major rivalry game, there was the occasional trash talk and extra shoves throughout, but by the sound of the final horn, players from each program were seen embracing and offering praise to one another for their efforts in the hard-fought battle.
Fourteen points is the closest margin of victory in the fall classic from either school since the Bulldogs won by a 39-27 score in Harvest Bowl XIV in 2017.
Turlock now leads the all-time series, 14-8.
Turlock head coach James Peterson needed a moment to take a few breaths before breaking down the game.
“Pitman, man, they came out tonight and proved that they’re a tough team that you can’t take lightly,” Peterson said. “(First-year Pitman head coach) Braden Plaa is doing great things with that program, making steps in the right direction, but I just want to say that I am so proud of our football team. We endured and weathered the storm and finished.”
The Pride won the opening coin toss, carried out by Mayor Amy Bublak, but deferred to Turlock, who used eight plays in just over three minutes to find the end zone. On third-and-goal from five yards out, Scout Silva connected with Landyn Fitzgerald to make it 6-0 before Michael Cardoso kicked in the extra point. It was the first of four catches by Fitzgerald, who finished with 37 yards, second to Braiden Fuentes who hauled in four catches out of the backfield for 71.
The Bulldog defense forced a quick three-and-out, setting up another long drive — 65 yards on seven plays over four minutes. With the ball at the half-yard line, Silva dove forward and cashed in the score to help make it 14-0.
On the third play of Pitman’s third possession, Cardoso recovered a fumbled snap at the Pride 6-yard line. The Bulldogs immediately handed the ball off to Guinn, who ran the distance to make it 21-0.
The tide began turning in the second quarter, when the Pride were able to hold the Bulldogs scoreless after they had driven 84 yards on 15 plays late in the frame. Cardoso missed a field goal from over 40 yards out before the Pride knelt out the remaining 20 seconds of the half.
Pitman’s defensive successes continued in the second half, but even more so after Silva exited the game while nursing shoulder and lower leg injuries.
The Pride offense, feeding off the momentum of the defense, opened the fourth quarter by continuing what they have been doing for most of the year, which is feeding senior running back Mason Helwick. Helwick was involved in five of the eight plays on the drive, with his final touch being on a delayed handoff on fourth-and-5 from the 7-yard line, running in nearly untouched for his team’s first points.
A perfectly executed onside kick by Aaron Garcia was recovered Isaac Villapudua, leafing to a 6-yard touchdown run by Helwick. With the score, Helwick brought his rushing touchdown total to 17 on the year as he ran for 118 yards on 24 carries. He also hauled in four passes for 20 yards.
But 30 seconds later, Guinn was off to the races for his second score that all but put the game to rest.
“Honestly, everybody had their head down after that second Pitman touchdown,” Guinn said. “But I had to tell everyone to pick their heads up, that the play doesn’t matter anymore and to keep having that ‘next play’ mentality. I didn’t even get touched. My line created a perfect hole, and I just did what I was supposed to do and ran through it.
“Avery Michael at left tackle, Dallas Richardson at left guard, Sebastian Jimenez at center, Nolan Hall at right guard, and Braxten Durkee at right tackle, they are doing a phenomenal job.”
Said Peterson of Guinn, who racked up 165 yards on 21 carries: “He’s just got such a strong heart. Man, this kid, he reps it every day in practice. He's there every day, working hard. He's the first guy there in the morning, last guy to leave in the afternoons. He's just that guy for us right now. He' s the guy that we go to in those moments.”
Silva was pressured consistently during the first half, but still managed to toss for 136 yards and scramble for another 13. In relief, Donnell Harmon III only completed one pass for 16 yards while running for eight.
The Pride’s Xadian Padilla and Jordan Riley each had two tackles for loss on the night, as did Turlock’s Levi Cook. Additionally, in the early stages of the second quarter Xavier Spivey picked off Pitman quarterback RJ Wilharm.
Wilharm was under similar pressure throughout the night, but used his athleticism to keep multiple plays alive, completing 15 of 27 passes for 13 yards and running for 36 on five carries. His top target other than Helwick were Stephan Schmidt (45 yards on four catches), Jayden Machado (44 yards on three receptions) and Caleb Grossman (32 yards on four catches).
“I think the first quarter is just hard, because when you run through adversity like that, against a team that you know you haven't done well for in a decade, it's really hard to kind of weather that storm, but we were able to get a couple stops towards the end the first quarter and to end the second half,” Plaa said. “We limited their big plays in the second half, and we didn't turn the ball over. It was a new game, you know? It was 21-0 in the first quarter, and it was 14-7 from the start of the second quarter on. I think that's just a really big positive for us, knowing that the Harvest Bowl hasn't been the rivalry it has been, so I'm very proud of our kids and the way they fought.”
Peterson has been involved in every single Harvest Bowl, the first five as a defensive line coach and the last 17 as the Bulldogs’ skipper. The latest win was Peterson’s 107th at the helm of the legendary THS program, passing Les Ratzlaff for second in school history.
“It’s a great honor,” Peterson said. “I've always (told) everybody, I've hired great staff since I've been here. Those guys have done a great job of making our program one of the top programs in the area, and that's what I'm proud of. The accolades, to me, I've never really cared about that, but I'm excited for our football program…”
Ratzlaff coached the Bulldogs from 1957 to 1974, racking up 16 winning seasons (including 10-0 campaigns in 1957 and 1970) and four Central California Conference titles.
“Personally, I didn't know (Ratzlaff), but I knew how he was. A lot of people have come up to me and talked to me about him throughout the years, and just what a great coach he was, and how inspiring he was to be around the community and the kids.”
Turlock improved to 4-4 overall and to 3-0 in the Central California Athletic League, while Pitman dropped to 4-4 overall and to 1-2 against conference competition.
The Pride will be back at Joe Debely Stadium next Friday to host Enochs, a team that dipped to 1-2 in league play after falling 31-21 to Gregori in Thursday night action.
That same night in Modesto will be the much-anticipated clash between Turlock and Downey, a game that will likely decide this year’s CCAL champion. The Knights are also 3-0 against conference opponents and 5-3 overall. They defeated Pitman by a 28-0 score last week and followed it up with a 56-14 win against Modesto on Friday.
“We’re gonna have to just physically play better,” Peterson said. “Coverage-wise, we've got to tighten it up. It's going to be a tough game. They're a good football program. We kind of knew it was going to come down to us and Downey here at the end of the year, and here we are.”
