Pitman Pride head coach Tom Tyler became the third coach in Turlock history to reach 100 career wins Friday night, as his team emerged victorious from a 39-0 rout of the Atwater Falcons.
“I didn’t know to be honest with you,” said Tyler.
Tyler won 67 games during his head coaching tenure at Turlock High School, which lasted from 1996 to 2005. After Friday night’s win, his record coaching at Pitman since 2013 is 33-17, putting him at 100 victories – good enough for third on the all-time list in Turlock, behind THS coaches Joe Debely (117 wins) and Les Ratzlaff (105 wins).
Tyler is also third on the all-time wins list at THS, behind Debely and Ratzlaff, and second all-time at Pitman High School, behind Brandon Harris’ 53 wins. It’s been a fun career so far in Turlock, said Tyler.
“I’m pretty happy with the way it’s going right now,” he said. “I’ve been really fortunate to coach with some great people. I’ve coached some great kids in this community and it’s been pretty cool.”
The Pride’s Antonio Reyes said that although Tyler had no idea, the team knew their game against Atwater had a bit more significance than most. They did their best to get him to 100, he said.
“That was big,” said Reyes. “We all came in knowing it was going to be his 100th win, so we just wanted to go get it for him.”
Reyes got things started for the Pride after their first possession looked less-than-stellar, recovering a Falcon fumble that placed Pitman just six yards away from the end zone. On the following play, running back Tyler Stout rushed in for a touchdown, giving the Pride a quick 7-0 lead.
After several back-and-froth possessions between the two teams that all ended with punts, Reyes once again lit a fire beneath the Pitman squad, only this time on offense. A nine-yard run just as the second quarter began cushioned the Pride’s lead, 14-0.
“I just ran, and was hoping someone would comeso I could truck ‘em when I went in, but I saw my blockers had me,” said Reyes. “We just did really good on that side.”
Reyes had one more touchdown on the night, a one-yard rush near the end of the half. Two field goals, a touchdown from Marcus Garza and a 26-yard end zone pass from second string quarterback Sonny Uppal to Denzel Steckwren all accounted for the Pride’s 39-0 blowout victory.
It was a team effort, said Tyler, with the defense holding Atwater to zero points and each player doing their part in a week that saw their starting quarterback, Treyton Fair, battling with illness.
“I think our guys came out ready to play tonight,” said Tyler. “The offensive line did a really good job, we ran the ball pretty well, and obviously, defensively we got a shutout. (Atwater) only had one really explosive play.”
The Pride’s victory brought their overall record up to 3-3, and they are still undefeated at 2-0 in league play. Next week, Pitman will face off against Buhach Colony in Atwater at 7 p.m.
“Next week we’ve got to come out with the same mentality,” said Reyes. “We’ve got to come out on defense ready to go and come out on offense ready to go.”
