To say Pitman High was eager to get the 2013 high school football season started would be an understatement. They waited through the off-season, had to wait through opening Friday, and were forced to wait an extra half-hour due to a delay before their Saturday night home opener—but when the wait was over the Pride uncorked.
Under first year head coach Tom Tyler, Pitman hosted and decimated Enochs High with an explosive offensive performance that led to a 68-8 victory over the Eagles to set the tone for the season.
“I think we played very well up front and we gave them [Enochs] some issues because we were able to throw the ball and our safeties made plays on the runs and they work off each other,” Pitman head coach Tom Tyler said after his first game as the Pride head coach. “I am pleased with the way we caught the ball, threw, blocked well, the backs made great cuts and special teams did their job. Usually people don’t do well in all phases of their first game.”
In the opening drive, Pitman’s Mario Lewis fumbled the ball in the third play of the game but the Pride defense retaliated on the next drive when Justin Nowlin forced the ball away from Enochs quarterback Shawn Munoz.
With possession once again in Pitman’s hands, they quickly marched down the field as Wyatt Clapper connected with Logan Wolfley for a 27-yard grab.
Enochs went three-and-out on its next possession and Pitman cashed in again when Drew Lewis scored on a 14-yard run with less than a minute left in the first quarter.
Another touchdown was scored by the Pride before the Eagles put up their only points of the game with an 11-play drive that set up a three yard TD rush with 3:13 left in the second. Pitman buckled down and racked up 34 unanswered points to end the game.
Lewis, arguably the player of the game, tallied three first half touchdowns, which included a second quarter school record 91-yard punt return that set the pace for the game and put the Pride up 27-0 with nine minutes left in the second quarter.
“I just had huge holes from my blockers and I have to give all the props and credit to them and it’s simple to run when they make it easy. But the line and blocks were key and those were the reasons I was successful tonight,” Lewis said about his stellar performance.
Lewis scored on a 61-yard run up the home sideline to put the Pride up 40-8, Clapper then hooked up with kicker Donovan Bravo on a 37-yard TD pass with 24 seconds left in the half to extend the lead to 47-8.
To open the second half, Lewis busted loose for 27 yards to make it 54-8. Johnny Green ran it up the middle for a 2-yard score to close out the third and make it 61-8.
“We put in a good game plan and been working in the offseason for months; and we love coach Tyler's fire mentality and he makes us to want to go out and play our hearts out,” Lewis said.
Clapper was 6-of-8 for 151 yards and three TDs, all in the first half, and Wolfley rushed for 48 yards on five attempts. He also caught four passes for 89 yards and two TDs. Lewis finished the game with eight carries for 131 yards to top off his three scores.
The Pride will host Lincoln High on Friday at Joe Debely.
