By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Pride roll into comeback victory over Eagles
Pitman football 1
Pitman senior Mason Helwick out maneuvers Enochs' Malik Hill for a Pride first down (SAMANTHA SCHMIDT/The Journal).

Pitman High running back Mason Helwick rushed for a career-best 265 yards, helping the Pride overcome an 11-point third-quarter deficit en route to a 31-24 victory over Enochs in a Central California Athletic League football game Friday night at Joe Debely Stadium.

With the victory, Pitman improves to 5-4 — 2-2 in the CCAL — and is assured of its first non-losing season since 2018. A win next week at Gregori (Modesto) would give the Pride a sixth win and secure the school’s first winning season in seven years.

“It’s always hard when you come into a game like this where you just get done playing Downey and just get done playing Turlock,” said first-year head coach Braden Plaa. “We knew coming in it was going to be a tough start; there were a lot of distractions with it being Senior Night and a lot of things that you can’t control. But when we got into the game, we didn’t control those things we could control. We weren’t tackling, we weren’t limiting their explosive plays, and we were turning the ball over. At halftime I told them, ‘We’re 0-for-3 at what we can control.’”

Pitman football 2
Pitman free safety Dante Jenkins blocks a pass intended for Enochs' Kayden Brown and forces the Eagles to punt (SAMANTHA SCHMIDT/The Journal).

Helwick scored two touchdowns on the night: a 35-yarder to open the scoring less than 90 seconds into the contest, and a 19-yard blast with 9:47 to play in the third quarter that cut Pitman’s deficit to 18-14.

He ran the ball more than 30 times against the Eagles and figures he’ll be feeling every one of those carries today.

“Probably a lot of sitting in bed, icing, and eating,” the 5-7, 165-pound Helwick said of his plans for today. “But I love the contact. I love the violence.”

The Pride got to within a point on Aaron Garcia’s 26-yard field goal, but the Eagles (2-7, 1-3) stretched the lead to 24-17 on Isaiah Maestas’ 20-yard scoring strike to Kayden Brown with 10:11 left in the contest.

Pitman started the ensuing drive on its own 41. A 27-yard gain by Helwick on the first play and a 23-yarder on the second put the Pride inside Enochs’ 10. Three plays later, senior quarterback RJ Wilharm found Jayden Machado for a 6-yard TD pass, with Machado having to do some fancy footwork just to get a foot down inbounds.

The Eagles’ next drive started at their own 40, but Jaiden Brown sacked Maestas for a loss of 11 on first down, and a 16-yard punt three plays later gave Pitman the ball 40 yards from paydirt.

Pitman football 3
The Pride's Jordan Riley forces the Eagles' Bryan Delgado out of bounds (SAMANTHA SCHMIDT/The Journal).

Helwick carried the ball five times before Wilharm connected with Santiago Flores for an 8-yard TD pass that gave Pitman the lead for good.

“We’re usually a second-half team and I think we might’ve underestimated this team,” said Wilharm. “But at halftime, we knew. We’re a way better team than what we showed in the first half.”

Kevin Fernandez had a key interception for the Pride late in the second quarter, picking off Maestas at the 19 and halting a drive that would’ve given the Eagles a three-score advantage. Maestas was flushed out of the pocket by Brown and Ben Vilhauer and forced to throw on the run.

“It could’ve been 25-7 going into halftime and then we’re looking at a really big deficit,” said Plaa. “We did a good job turning the tide on that play.”