In the 13-year history of the most anticipated high school football game in the area, no other to-date will be as significant as Friday's Harvest Bowl between the Pitman Pride and Turlock Bulldogs.
There will never be another game like Friday because this matchup, with the league title at stake between both Turlock's high schools, is history in the making.
Turlock and Pitman have never gone undefeated all year in league, only to play for the Central California Conference title in the final game of the year, which this year is the wildly popular Harvest Bowl.
Both teams hold a 5-0 record in the CCC heading into the final match. There are two bragging rights on the line, the CCC champion and the opportunity to become the winners of the town for at least a year.
Turlock has won the last two over Pitman, although the Pride have a winning overall record of 8-4.
Last year Turlock had to suspend a game and limit their season to only nine games. This year, both teams finally got a 10-game regular season under their belts after Pitman was held to nine-games in 2014.
Turlock beat Pitman 41-10 in 2014 and 24-16 last year. Both the Bulldogs and Pride have also made the playoffs the last two seasons.
The Bulldogs have won seven games in a row heading into this highly anticipated game. Pitman has won nine straight to begin the year, a feat that has never been accomplished in the program’s history.
Both schools come in with outstanding athletic departments which have only continued to flourish, especially in football.
Pitman has allowed 130 points for the year while scoring 298. Turlock has scored 316 while allowing 175 in CCC contests.
However, for the first time ever, both schools have dominated the CCC outright. Pitman has outscored their league opponents, 202-62 while Turlock has outscored all CCC foes 220-87.
This year is unlike any other because both clinched a berth in the postseason last week, but the winner will become the champ outright and send the other to second place.
Turlock hasn't won the CCC or league title for that matter since 2003. Pitman won the CCC title the following year in 2004.
Prior to Turlock's back-to-back wins, Pitman had won three straight and is looking to snap their losing streak, all while Turlock looks to win three in a row against the Pride for the first time ever.
Both Turlock and Pitman have been a force in the CCC this season, but also a star studded team in the entire Stanislaus District. Each have been above the state’s top 200 rankings, especially heading into the final week of the regular season.
Each defense has proven themselves this year to be of top caliber and perhaps the score might be very low when looking at each teams’ capabilities, especially physically.
Harvest Bowl XIII is scheduled to take place at Joe Debely at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
