Pitman bounces back after season-opening loss, rolls past Gregori 48-20
Keep your chins up. That was the message the Pitman High football coaches were sending their players after a disappointing loss to Enochs in the spring season opener.
The Pride may have took one on the chin in that game, but Pitman bounced back and delivered a knockout punch Friday night against Gregori.
The Pride (1-1) dominated on the line of scrimmage on both sides and rolled to a 48-20 win.
Sergio Romo ran for two long touchdowns, Jared Moren threw two TD passes and Joey Stout scored two TDs — one running, one receiving — in the Pride’s Central California Athletic League victory.
It was a special night for the Pride, who overcame the season opening defeat to score an impressive win in front of their home crowd, cheerleaders and band.
“It feels good, I’m really happy for our guys right now,” Pitman coach Lance Weckerle said. “We talked about ‘chin up’ and persevering after last week’s loss and they responded extremely well tonight.”
After exclaiming “how about that W!” to his team in the post-game chat, Weckerle expressed his appreciation for how the Pride bounced back from the 30-24 loss a week earlier.
“I think we did a lot better job game-planning this week,” said Romo, who scored on a 66-yard run in the second quarter and added a 67-yard TD run late in the game. “This week at practice we were focused mentally, and we just came out with that ‘dub.’ ”
Pitman’s defense, after giving up 30 points a week earlier, responded with a nice effort.
After Pitman took a lead on a 6-yard TD run by Stout, a speedy sophomore running back, Gregori quickly drove down the field and scored on a 5-yard TD run by quarterback Cruz Marines. It seemed we were in store for a high-scoring affair.
But the Pride defense clamped down the rest of the night, stuffing Gregori’s running game and pressuring Marines on most of his passing attempts.
“The (defensive) front really tightened up and we stopped their run game which was a huge threat for them last week against Modesto,” Weckerle said. “After we stopped the run it made them a little one-dimensional.”
Pitman’s offense, meanwhile, was in high gear. After a punt on its second drive, Pitman scored on five straight possessions and took a 34-6 lead with 1:24 left in the third quarter.
Evan Kiely, a 6-foot-3 junior kicker, showed that he will be a weapon for Pitman. He drilled two field goals, from 44 and 25 yards out, and nailed all six of his extra-point attempts.
Marines, who passed for 198 yards and four TDs and added 118 rushing yards the previous week against Modesto High, wasn’t nearly as successful against Pitman.
He scored on two 5-yard TD runs and connected on a 60-yard TD pass to Timmy Ruiz. But he Marines felt the heat from Pitman’s defensive line and the Jaguars could never get into a rhythm. Two lost fumbles didn’t help.
“We came in on a high and maybe we just came in a little too high,” said Marines, a junior. “After this week I think we just have to persevere and just nothing but going up from here.”
The Jaguars (1-1) will face Downey (0-2) at home on Thursday night at 7.
Pitman will play Modesto High (0-2) at Downey High’s Chuck Hughes Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 11:44 PM.
