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Pride keep on rolling with perfect season
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Pitman High's Jakob Partida scored two touchdowns in Friday's 21-10 win over Modesto High (EDDIE RUIZ/The Journal).

The winning streak is alive and well for the Pitman Pride varsity football team that improved to 8-0 following Friday’s 21-10 win over Modesto High on the road to secure the second best start in program history and the second time in three years they win their first eight games.

“I tell you what I think the most important thing is giving Modesto credit, they played their guts out and did a helluva job,” said Pitman head coach Tom Tyler.

It was a weird game that saw a Pitman offense look stagnant while Modesto continued to blitz and load eight to nine players in the box for most of the night.

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Denzel Steckwren of Pitman came up big with a late interception and a critical 61 yard catch in the fourth quarter. The defense also held Modesto to just 10 points (EDDIE RUIZ/The Journal).

“Honestly we kind of got on our lineman and they were sleeping a little bit and they hit us with different stuff then our lineman stepped it up and they are carrying us now,” said Pitman’s Jakob Partida who finished with two touchdowns. “They were doing work and opening up the holes.”

The beginning was not the best, however, as it took a few quarters to get things rolling for Pitman.

In the first quarter after Pitman’s defense made an early goal line stand, Modesto forced a safety with 11:47 left in the second and went up 2-0.

Pitman responded with an eight-play drive just before halftime and closed it with a Partida 19-yard run and they made it 7-2 with 4:31 left till halftime and that was the score at the break.

The third quarter saw Modesto march their way to take their only lead of the game after an eight-play drive that ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Modesto and after a good two-point conversion, the score read 10-7 with 1:22 left in the third.

Pitman was stopped on a three and out, but the defense, which stepped up all night, did once again and set Pitman up from their own 18-yard line.

From there they began to march downfield and eventually quarterback Treyton Fair found a wide-open Denzel Steckwren for a 61-yard grab to set up the Pride from 10-yards out where Partida plunged it in to make it 14-10 with 7:32 left in the game.

Steckwren then came up big again with an interception on the defensive side with 7:16 left and then the Pride just marched down the field again.

This time Partida carried the ball six of the seven plays in that drive alone and Payton Bass put the nail in the coffin with an eight-yard run to end it 21-10.

Pitman, who are now 3-0 in the CCAL and 8-0 overall will next take on Downey on the road at 7 p.m. Friday.