The glitz and glamour of Pitman High’s homecoming week festivities culminated in a 24-17 victory on the gridiron over Atwater on Friday night.
Under the lights of Joe Debely Stadium, the Pride rode a two-touchdown performance from senior wideout Jaevion Burch to pull away from the Falcons late and finish the non-conference portion of the season with a 4-1 record, the program’s best start since 2018.
The Pride will have a bye next week before kicking off the Central California Athletic League slate on the road against Modesto (0-5).
Friday’s contest in Turlock was tied at 10 at halftime before Burch (literally) took matters into his own hands.
Burch quickly put his team in the red zone just five plays into the resumption of play as he jumped and reached over two defenders to haul in a 52-yard throw from quarterback Brayden Esparza. Twenty seconds later, Esparza found Burch in the back corner of the end zone to put the Pride up 17-10.
The Falcons turned the ball over on downs at the Pitman 26 on the ensuing drive, which included senior safety Ryder Munoz forcing a fumble that was eventually recovered by Atwater. It then took just five plays for Burch to contribute another play to his highlight reel — Esparza launched the ball nearly 40 yards downfield to the 6-foot-2, 160-pound receiver, who again reached over his defender to make an acrobatic catch while also maintaining his balance to scamper into the end zone to make it 24-10.
“I've been playing football since eighth grade, and my height has always worked in my favor,” Burch said. “When I put my hands up, I feel like I’m unstoppable.”
After the second score, Burch celebrated with teammates on the field before firing up an enthused student section.
“I've been wanting to show off for my team,” Burch added. “My QB gave me the ball this week, and it was special to show our crowd that I’m here for them.”
Even though he was held without a catch in the first half, Burch made an immediate impact by drawing two key interference calls by Atwater defenders during Pitman’s game-opening drive that led to a 32-yard field goal from Matthew Griffin.
The Falcons were forced to punt on their first two possessions after senior defensive end Will Cole recorded a sack and two tackles for loss.
On Atwater’s third drive, though, junior quarterback Tyler Curtis scrambled three times out of the eight plays, including a 4-yard rushing score.
The Pride answered back on the very next play from scrimmage when Esparza delivered a screen pass to junior receiver KeiMoine Townsend, who then ran most of the 64-yard total distance for the touchdown.
Cole extinguished any threat of an Atwater answer when he strip-sacked Curtis on the first play of the next drive to return possession to the Pride.
“We had been struggling with (defending) the run recently, especially up front, and I took that personally because I know that the run starts with me,” said Cole, who only started playing football his freshman year. “I talked to the coaches last night and said that I felt like every game we're not setting the tone right away and that we're getting pushed back. I told them that this week, I wanted to set the tone, so I went on the field today and I played the best ball I could.”
The Falcons continued to test the line, with junior Dallas Hyde carrying the ball 18 times for a game-high 83 yards, which included a 2-yard rushing touchdown with just 5:37 left to play. Two Pitman first downs allowed them to kneel out the final minute on the clock.
“I'm so unbelievably proud,” Cole said. “I can't even put it into words. This team has put blood, sweat and tears into this all throughout summer, all throughout practice, to try their best and always be better. To now see it being translated to the field is the greatest feeling ever. I can't wait to show the rest of the CCAL what we’re about and who we really are”
After a 3-2 start last season (also the best start since 2018 at the time), and its eventual 5-6 finish, second-year coach Braden Plaa knows that there are still tough tasks ahead as league play commences.
“It's just a really big start,” Plaa said. “After last year’s 3-2 start, I asked, ‘How are we going to take a step forward? What's the next step for this program?’ The answer was a winning season, to change the culture and shift to a winning mentality. It was being able to win games like this where teams have seen games of you on film and you gut it out at the end.
“I just want to win. It’s as simple as that. This 4-1 start is really good. We played a really bad Week 3 game (49-10 loss to Ripon), but we bounced back with two wins. That is what should happen. And doing that really just gives us some momentum going into league.”
OTHER FRIDAY SCORES:
- Tracy 42, Turlock 7
- Hilmar 28, Ripon 14
- Denair 28, Stone Ridge Christian 14
