If there is anybody who can be described as a tone setter, Pitman High varsity football head coach Braden Plaa believes he has him on his roster.

Under the lights of Joe Debely Stadium, senior linebacker Elijah Casillas made his presence immediately known to the visiting Yellowjackets of Franklin High (Stockton). His two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery on the opening drive of the contest was an early preview for what was to come for the remainder of an eventual 35-12 victory Friday night, the Pride’s first home game of the 2026 campaign. The win pushed the team’s record to 2-0 in the young season.

“If we didn't set the tone at the beginning, we wouldn't have been able to set the tone at the end,” Casillas said. “I'm really glad I was able to do that and keep my team in it.”

As Plaa puts it, he “leads by example,” and that example was modelled in a near-perfect effort from the offense, spearheaded by Brayden Esparza. The junior quarterback completed seven of 10 pass attempts for 180 yards and two touchdowns in just his second varsity game, and rushed for another 77. The Pride’s primary running back, senior Jaiden Brown, ran for another 78 yards and two scores on only nine carries.

Brown’s two touchdowns came in the first 13 minutes of play. Following a punt that was partially blocked by senior Will Cole that set the Pride up at the Franklin 17-yard line, Brown took care of business the rest of the way. He carried the ball on all three plays and capped the drive with an 8-yard rushing score. The Pride’s next offensive possession, he punched in a touchdown from two yards out.

“We had to come out and keep the momentum going,” said the 6-foot-1, 190 pounder who models his game after his father, former Fresno State standout Quaadir Brown. “We had to punch them in the mouth. We just had to play hard football. Everybody has to have a nose for the end zone, it’s as simple as that.

“My dad has taught me a lot of stuff. I played some rugby when I was younger, and he just taught me that you gotta run rough, because nobody wants to attack anybody that's trying to run through your face.”

The Pride continued their rushing attack by then feeding senior Carlos Terrazas, who made it a 21-0 game with a 21-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter.

Over the final six minutes of the half, the Yellowjackets used 12 plays to drive 56 yards to make it 21-6, capped by a 5-yard touchdown connection between quarterback Miguel Pulido and wideout Justin Bailey-White fourth down.

But the Pride’s first half rushing attack was able to open up the passing game for Esparza come the start of the third quarter. Less than two minutes into the frame, he found his top target, speedy senior Santiago Flores, for an 18-yard score. It was one of four catches for 117 total yards for Flores. Six minutes later, Esparza launched a 32-yard strike to senior Jaevion Burch to extend the lead to 35-6.

“It's a great luxury having receivers that I trust and having multiple targets and weapons around the field,” said Esparza. “It just makes my job easy. And with our o-line being so good and protecting me, I get time to use those weapons and we’re able to put up points like that.”

Franklin’s Dylan Rackley rushed for a 1-yard score in the early stages of the fourth quarter. The senior was a lone bright spot for the Yellowjackets, now 1-1. He finished with 135 yards on 21 carries.

Pitman’s Xavior Cantu and Andres Plata each had timely tackles for loss in the second half, and Dante Jenkins further killed any possible momentum with a sack early in the third quarter.

The Pride will be on the road against Ripon High next week, looking to improve to 3-0 as non-conference action continues. The Indians lost by a 14-0 score to Placer on Friday.

“We’ve put up some good numbers on the scoreboard and are running and throwing the ball really well to start the season,” Plaa said. “It's been a good balance, and it's been fun to coach these student-athletes. At the same time, I know we can give a little bit more. We always talk about what we can do to keep pushing the needle forward. We have two wins and a really good game next week, so we're just going to keep trying to build on what we've already accomplished.”