The first-ever flag football seasons in the history of Turlock and Pitman high schools came to abrupt ends on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 playoffs.
For both teams, it were the extra-point attempts that proved costly, as the No. 5 Pride fell 14-12 to No. 12 Granite Bay on their home turf while the 10-seeded Bulldogs fell to No. 7 Atwater by a 13-12 score.
At Pitman High School, there wasn’t much of a defensive struggle through the first 10 minutes of the game after each team scored on their opening drives. The Pride possessed the ball first and ran just three plays before senior Sofia Martinez broke loose for a 39-yard touchdown run, but were unable to convert of the extra point The ensuing drive, the Grizzlies capped off an eight-play drive with a when quarterback Lillian McDaniel found Leilani Teaupa from four yards out before also coming short of the goal line on the conversion attempt. The Pride took a 12-6 right before halftime when Lexie Pulido fired a 3-ard strike to freshman Isabel Fuentes. Out of halftime, the Grizzlies drove 60 yards on nine plays, with the final snap resulting in a 1-yard touchdown catch courtesy of Anna Craven.
That was all in terms of scoring, as each team traded incompletions and penalties for the last 20 minutes of play.
“It’s hard to tell why the offense struggled there (in the second half). I'll have to go back and watch it,” said Pitman head coach Matthew Vasconcellos. “I felt like we were executing well in that first half. We were getting big chunks out of our running game. But a couple of things snagged us, and I think took out the ebb and flow, some of the momentum that you can build drives on… It didn't go our way tonight, but I think ultimately we'll be stronger for this.”
In their inaugural year, the Pride, who went 13-2 in the Central California Athletic League and finished with an 18-3 overall record, were ranked as a top 100 team in the nation by MaxPreps.com.
As for the Bulldogs, their season ends after a 16-7 record in the regular season, including a 10-5 record in the CCAL to capture second place.
“This sport is getting bigger and more and more competitive,” Vasconcellos said. “It's an awesome thing that creates more opportunities for kids and our female athletes. I know we'll be better. We'll actually have an off season this year, and we'll focus on development and building good character within our team and getting ready for next season, trying to win a section title.”
TVL rivals to meet in second round
The storied rivalry between Hughson and Hilmar will continue on the 80-yard gridiron on Thursday after each program, also in their inaugural seasons, nabbed wins in the opening round of the Division 4 bracket on Tuesday night.
At Husky Memorial Stadium, No. 12 Hughson, who won a share of the Trans-Valley League title last week with an 8-2 record, handled No. 10 Mariposa with ease, cruising to a 45-20 win. During that time, the No. 15 Yellowjackets, who after a 8-13 regular season traveled to take on No. 2 Dixon, pulled off the upset, winning 32-16.
Thursday’s Halloween showdown will take place in Hughson, with the first whistle slated for 7 p.m.
