HARVEST BOWL XXIII: Bulldogs pull away from Pride late for 13th straight rivalry win

After a scoreless first quarter to start the 23rd edition of the Harvest Bowl on Friday night at a capacity Joe Debely Stadium, the tide turned in the same direction it has for the past decade and change.

The Turlock High varsity football continued to take advantage of the breaks in their favor while riding the efforts of dynamic duo Braiden Fuentes and Bobby Hernandez en route to a 30-6 victory over crosstown rival Pitman High.

The win marked 13 straight in the Harvest Bowl for the Bulldogs and extended the lead in the all-time series to 15-8. Turlock has also now outscored the Pride 532-121 during the winning streak.

In the latest chapter Friday, Hernandez rushed for over 200 yards for the second straight game while Fuentes tallied three touchdowns for the third straight contest as the Bulldogs improved to 3-5 overall and 3-0 in the Central California Athletic League. The Pride, meanwhile, dropped to 5-3 overall and to 1-2 against CCAL opponents.

“It was loud and everything was booming,” Fuentes said of the atmosphere. “I’m as proud as can be.”

Friday’s early defensive struggle ended peculiarly by way of a controversial call near the Pitman sideline. Turlock quarterback Owen King completed a 13-yard pass to Fuentes, who was met by Pitman defenders near midfield. Much of Fuentes’ body landed on top of a Pride defender and his legs somehow remained off the turf. The Pitman defense mistakenly thought the play was over, but Fuentes popped out of the pile and sprinted the rest of the distance untouched for a touchdown. The Pride sideline was infuriated, alleging to the officiating crew that they had heard a whistle, but to no avail.

“I knew I wasn't down,” Fuentes said. “I felt the guy grab me and I landed on him. I got up and I looked at the ref and he wasn’t blowing the whistle, so I was gone.”

A fourth straight empty Pitman possession to start the game gave the Bulldogs the ball at its own 4-yard line with 59 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Hernandez rushed for 20 yards and King completed three passes between Fuentes, DJ Robertson and Noel Garcia for another 24 yards. Fuentes then caught another short pass in front of Turlock's visiting sideline and ran for a 50-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 13-0 at the break.

An early third quarter field goal made it a 16-0 game.

On the ensuing drive, the Pride lost starting quarterback Brayden Esparza to a lower left leg injury and forced Omar DeLaTorre into the game.

Pitman’s Xavior Cantu recorded a sack of King to set up DeLaTorre and the offense up at the Turlock 38. Two plays later, the senior gunslinger connected with Jayden Machado for a 40-yard touchdown.

“They got a nasty play action, and they caught us,” said Turlock head coach James Peterson. “When they scored, they caught us bad. I think they had two guys running free on that play, and our safety and our corner both bit down, and that was all it took. Hats off to him for finding that play and making it happen.”

Santiago Flores was ruled short of the goal line on the two-point conversion attempt, the air was further drained from the Pitman home sideline. The Pride defense held strong and forced a punt, which was fumbled away by Santiago. Two plays late, Fuentes broke free for a 14-yard rushing touchdown.

“He just kind of has a knack for getting in the end zone,” Peterson said of Fuentes. “He is our senior. He's one of our captains, a guy that we trust. A high IQ guy, an academic guy. We just love watching him do that. He could do that all night, as far as I'm concerned.”

Fuentes finished with 190 yards from scrimmage — 127 yards and two touchdowns on three catches and 63 yards and a touchdown on seven rushes.

King completed seven of 17 passes for 158 yards.

Conor Pacheco continued the Turlock avalanche with a sack of DeLaTorre to set up an interception by Isaac Jeffcoats.

Amid the scoring of Fuentes, Hernandez carried the ball at least once in eight of Turlock’s nine total drives on the night, and finished the first half with 174 yards on 17 carries.

Following the Jeffcoats interception, Hernandez took a carry 28 yards to the house. The junior finished with 242 yards on 24 carries and 11 yards on two catches.

“The plan is to hand Bobby the ball,” Peterson said with a laugh. Bobby can absolutely ice a game, especially behind that big O-line led by tackle Avery Michael, the Oregon commit, and the rest of the boys. Man, I thought they played great.”

“I've been practicing really hard, trying to run that ball as hard as I can,” Hernandez added.

Jaiden Brown and Daniel Capote each rushed for 50 yards for Pitman.

Esparza completed three of eight attempts for 20 yards prior to his exit. In relief, DeLaTorre tossed for 62 yards, a touchdown and an interception on seven throws. Pitman’s top receiver was Machado and his 60 yards and score on four receptions.

The Pride will have a prime opportunity to bounce back next week on the road against an Enochs team that has a 2-6 overall record and a 1-2 mark against conference opponents.

For the Bulldogs, an even bigger test awaits next week when reigning league champion Downey comes to town sporting its 3-0 conference record. The Knights defeated the Pride by a 36-0 score on Oct. 16. Next week’s game will likely decide the CCAL title, which has been the case for the past seven seasons.

“I always tell these guys, the reason we go travel two hours away to the big cities is because we want to see the big boys play,” Peterson said of his program’s annual gauntlet of a non-conference slate to start each season. “We do that so we are prepared for games like this. I'm going to remind those guys of that this week and remind them what they came from to be here. They've earned the right to be here for the potential league championship game right here at Joe Debeley.”