Turlock quaterback Moreno sparks Harvest Bowl romp over Pitman

Bubba Moreno wasn’t ready for the ride to be over.

With the Turlock football team’s season hanging in the balance on Friday night, the senior quarterback turned in a near flawless performance. Moreno was 20 of 25 passing for 307 yards and three touchdowns, and he rushed for 67 yards and another score as the Bulldogs ended Pitman’s three-year Harvest Bowl winning streak with a decisive 41-10 victory at Joe Debely Stadium.

The victory gives Turlock second place in the Central California Conference and an automatic playoffs bid.

“We just wanted one more chance to come out and prove we’re a pretty good team,” Moreno said. “We’ve lost some close games we probably shouldn’t have because of our mistakes. Tonight we kind of put it all together.”

Turlock (6-4, 4-1 CCC) was the model of efficiency on offense, scoring on its first six possessions of the game.

The Bulldogs needed just five plays to open the scoring as Jeffery Hines (two catches, 115 yards), back after missing the Merced game with a concussion, took his first reception 56 yards for a score.

Moreno broke free for a 10-yard touchdown run on Turlock’s next possession.

Pitman was just as effective offensively out of the gate, cashing in a Donovan Bravo 20-yard field goal and Matt Carrigg’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Bravo to make it 14-10 Turlock early in the second quarter.

The Pride couldn’t keep pace, however. Moreno was a big part of that. His dual-threat ability burned the Pride (7-2, 3-2 CCC) time and again on what looked like favorable down and distances for Pitman. Turlock finished the game 8 of 9 on third down conversions, with the only miss coming midway through the fourth quarter.

“Our defense looked like it was putting us in good spots, but we just couldn’t get off of the field,” Pride coach Tom Tyler said. “(Moreno) deserves a lot of credit for that. He really used his feet to extend plays and then made completions when he needed to.”

Moreno connected with Danny Velasquez for a 15-yard TD pass in the second quarter and then found Bear Padilla with 15 seconds left in the half to send the Bulldogs into intermission up 28-10.

Andy Jennings all but put the game away on Turlock’s first possession of the second half, punching in a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 34-10. Brandon Booz would tack on a 1-yard TD run to make it a 41-10 final as the Bulldogs turned to its ground game in the second half.

“We’d planned to run the ball more early, but they were taking that away,” Bulldogs coach James Peterson said. “We were able to hit a number of passes early and built some quick momentum. Once we established the pass, they fell back a bit and we were able to get the run going late.

“I got the feeling from our team meeting that this was a team that wasn’t going to be denied tonight. Our coaches came up with a great game plan and the kids went out and executed it.”

This story was originally published November 7, 2014 at 11:41 PM with the headline "Turlock quaterback Moreno sparks Harvest Bowl romp over Pitman."