The Pitman High varsity flag football team had something to say about rival Turlock High’s prestigious position atop the Sac-Joaquin Section ranking.
In the second of three scheduled regular season meetings between the two programs in 2026, it was the Pride that pulled off an improbable upset on Thursday night under the lights of Joe Debely Stadium.
Facing a Bulldogs team that had been unbeaten through the first 12 games of the year, the Pride never trailed, first getting on the board in the first quarter by way of a touchdown by junior Isabela Fuentes. After failing to convert the extra point, Turlock tied the game at six in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, junior Emily Martinez broke free for a touchdown, and added to the Pride’s lead by running in the extra point. The Pitman defense gave up a touchdown in the late stages of the fourth quarter, but were able to stop the Bulldogs on the extra-point conversion attempt in the waning seconds to secure the victory.
The Pride also received a timely interception by Patricia Bray.
The result shakes up the Central California Athletic League and section standings.
The Bulldogs, now 12-1, fell to fight in the section and to second in at the Division I level, behind an Oak Ridge program with a matching overall record.
The Pride, who improved to 11-3 overall, are now tied atop the league standings with Turlock with matching 6-1 records against conference opponents.
The first meeting between the crosstown programs this season came on Sept. 15 in which the Bulldogs won by a 22-12 score, still the only time through eight all-time meetings that the game was not decided by one score.
Varsity Bulldogs sweep water polo doubleheader
The boys and girls varsity water polo teams of Turlock High defended the home pool at the Steve Feaver Aquatic Center with key league victories against Pitman High.
The girls began the evening in a thrilling match that ended 11-7 in favor of the Bulldogs. The boys followed with a history-making 28-0 victory.
The 28-0 win sets a new record for both goals scored and goal differential for games between the crosstown programs. All 14 Bulldog field players scored at least one goal with the Bulldogs shooting a sharp 28 of 36 from the field.
In the girls game, was powered by a game-high six goals from freshman Kairi Ream. Turlock overcame an early deficit.
Pitman opened the scoring when Miranda Miramontes and Alani Rivas quickly found the back of the net. Ream then put Turlock before the first quarter horn. The Pride extended the lead to 3-1 when Elena Esquibel scored in the opening stages of the second quarter the Bulldogs came surging back.
Riley Carranza cut the deficit to 3-2, and Ream scored twice to complete her first-half hat trick and put Turlock ahead 4-3 at the break. Ream scored another two goals in the third quarter, while Sienna Haase added another to make it an 8-5 game. Pitman’s third-quarter goals came from Rivas and Esquibel.
Rivas scored again in the fourth quarter to bring Pitman within two goal, but Turlock responded with goals from Lou Bornmann and Lila Dougherty. Gigi Russel scored for Pitman to make it 10-7, before Summer Stricker closed out the scoring for Turlock late in the contest.
The Turlock boys improved to 10-8 overall and 2-0 in CCAL play. The girls have a matching conference record and pushed their overall mark to 7-4 in the young 2026 season.
Pride volleyball stays perfect against Turlock
Coming into last Wednesday's meeting against Turlock, the Pitman High volleyball program had not lost a set through the first three contests of the CCAL slate. While the Bulldogs were able to snag two inside the “Lion’s Den,” it was not enough to knock off the girls in green.
Junior Shanna Russell and sophomore Mila Dias led the way for the Pride en route to a 3-2 (26-24, 18-25, 23-25, 24-20, 15-6) victory.
Russell racked up 16 total blocks on the night while Dias led her team with 12 kills.
The Bulldogs received 14 kills from sophomore Abigail Ellis and another seven from senior Haley Stiles in the upset bid.
The Pride improved to 14-8 overall on the season under first-year head coach Avery Carlson and entered this week at 4-0 against conference opponents.
In a battle of undefeated program on Monday night in Modesto, the Pride lost 3-1 to Downey and now sit in second place in the CCAL race.
The Bulldogs dropped to 11-10 following the Pitman loss, and 2-2 in conference play. They got back on the right track on the road Monday with a straight sweep of Modesto and are alone in third place.
