In last year’s inaugural flag football season in the Central California Athletic League, it was a constant back-and-forth between crosstown rivals Turlock and Pitman high schools. This year, the Gregori program has entered the chat as a contender for the conference crown.
On Monday night from the Pitman football field, the Jaguars held off a late Pride comeback to secure a 21-13 win, creating a three-way tie atop the standings. The Jaguars, Pride and Bulldogs each have 8-2 records in league play.
The Pride, the reigning league champions, dropped to 11-3 overall. Meanwhile, the Jaguars improved to 15-4. The Bulldogs won convincingly on Monday in a road match against Enochs, 55-6, rebounding from a 34-18 loss to Gregori last Wednesday.
The Jaguars made their presence known immediately against the Pride on Monday, scoring on their opening drive — a 10-yard touchdown pass from Audrey Pacheco to Veronica Whitten.
Gregori never trailed, though the Pride were able to bring the contest into a tie with a minute left in the opening quarter when junior Shelby Wood caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Jasmine Bedoya. It was brushed off quickly, as it took four plays for the Jags to regain the lead when Pacheco and Whitten connected again on a 55-yard score.
The Jaguars extended the lead to 21-7 when Rachel Warter ran in a touchdown from two yards out in their first drive of the second half.
Pitman sophomore Isabel Fuentes scrambled for an 11-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. After falling short of the point-after conversion, the Pride had a defensive stop to give themselves a final chance at forcing overtime. The Pitman drive ended with a turnover on downs.
With his team trailing by multiple scores for most of the night, Pitman head coach Matthew Vasconcellos admitted it was not the best performance, and vowed that they’d come out sharper next time out.
Bedoya had 13 completions for 131, with sophomore Emily Martinez being her top target with 83 yards on nine receptions. Fuentes led the team with six tackles and a pair of sacks.
Pitman will be back in action Wednesday in Modesto to take on a Downey team that is winless through nine CCAL games. The Pride won their first meeting on Sept. 22 by a 29-0 score.
Turlock will have a similarly prime opportunity to notch another win when they welcome Modesto High to Joe Debely Stadium on Wednesday. The Bulldogs won their first two meetings by a combined score of 106-0.
All games on Wednesday have an expected start time of 7 p.m.
