The Pitman Pride improved to 3-1 on Friday night with a 53-7 victory over the Franklin High Yellowjackets (0-3).

“It was a pretty well-rounded effort,” said Pitman coach Brandon Harris. “I thought the entire defense played well.”

The offense was also firing on all cylinders with the rushing attack of sophomore halfback Andres Mendes, junior halfback Dominick Walker, and senior fullback Alex Rodriguez chewing up yards. Mendez scored two touchdowns, while Rodriguez had one.

Junior quarterback AJ Derr also had an outstanding game for Pitman, including a touchdown pass to senior receiver Shea Patterson.

Defensively, junior outside linebacker Lyle Zimmer had a pick-six interception return for a touchdown.

The Pride held a 40-0 lead at the half, at which time most of the starters were pulled in favor of getting second string players some valuable in-game experience. While the second string offense gave up a few fumbles early on, Harris was pleased with how his players improved throughout the half.

The one stumbling block for the Pride was an abundance of penalties; 19 penalties were called in the first quarter alone, with 57 yellow flags thrown in the game total.

Pitman will take on Grace Davis High School (0-4) on Friday at Joe Debely Stadium in their final non-league matchup. Franklin will face another Turlock team next week, as the Turlock High Bulldogs (4-0) will travel to Stockton to face the Yellowjackets.

Eagles open league play with loss

The Turlock Christian Eagles opened Southern League play on Friday with a one-sided, 34-0 loss to the Waterford High Wildcats.

The Eagles (1-3, 0-1 league) played a good first quarter on both sides of the ball, moving the chains on offense and preventing Waterford (4-0, 1-0 league) from reaching the end zone. But shortly after the first quarter came to a 0-0 close “the wheels fell off,” in the words of TC coach Rusty Lyon.

Playing at home, the Wildcats were able to capitalize on a number of Eagles missteps to put up 34 points, while TC remained scoreless.

“We were good for a while but then we made some mistakes, and we have to overcome those mistakes,” Lyon said.

Turlock Christian will continue league play against Gustine High (0-3, prior to Friday’s game vs. Mariposa) at the Livingston High School field on Friday.

To contact Alex Cantatore, e-mail acantatore@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2005.