PITMAN HIGH PRIDE

Pride make tradition a point of emphasis ahead of 2022 season

BY CHRISTOPHER CORREA

Pitman High School head coach Eric Reza has been a part of the football program since 2004, the third year of the program’s existence. He realizes that, even though they don’t have the longest history in comparison to other local schools, the history they do have is special and should be embraced.

“It’s not a secret and I’m not going to deny it, we’re still a young program,” Reza said. “Other schools like Turlock have that long history where grandparents and parents played back in the day, and we’re just not old enough to have that quite yet, but we’re still proud.”

After missing the playoffs for three years, the embracement of past players and past teams will be emphasized this year - and it will come in more ways than one.

One of the first ways the Reza will look to bring back the glory of year’s past is through his coaching staff and personnel at all three levels.

At the freshman level, Reza’s son, Eric Reza Jr. (Class of ‘13), will once again serve as head coach, leading the early development of the younger players. Working alongside Reza Jr. are five other alumni: Nick Renteria (’13), Diego Camorlinga (’13), Anthony Leal (’12) and Seth Alvarado (’19). Meanwhile at the JV level, Scott Tyler (’19) is helping coach the defensive line.

“It’s good to see the alumni come out and come back because they truly know what Pitman football is all about,” Reza said. “They bring the traditions that they’ve been through, they bring the same coaching they’ve been taught.”

As the alumni look to mold the latest generation of Pitman greats, the players themselves will honor Pride legends on the field during games. Reza did not reveal how the uniforms would be tweaked to honor Pride alumni, but he believes that former players will appreciate it once the team takes the field for the first time.

“The most obvious thing is that we haven’t made the playoffs in the past couple of years, and that’s not something we want to get used to,” Reza said. “We need to bring that grit and toughness and competitiveness back from the early days when guys like Colin Kaepernick and Anthony Harding were here.”

Reza explained that the rollout for the designs will come slowly on Pitman social media channels.

“Nobody knows about it yet, so I’ll keep it a secret until our first game and when we put it out on social media. I know all the former players will be pretty excited when they see it for the first time,” he said.

One aspect of the uniforms that Reza doesn’t mind sharing is the helmet stickers all three teams will wear to honor the life of 2009 graduate and four-year player Matthew Staack. Staack passed away in March in a car accident at the age of 32.

“Matt Staack was a great man who played at all three levels during his time here. To honor him, every single player will have a #13 sticker on the back of their helmets for the whole year,” Reza said.

Whether it be the leadership of alumni or the details in this year’s jerseys, Reza believes that his players this year can be inspired to create a season full of memories and success.

“With time, the kids will better understand what it means to play for Pitman,” he said. “Some already understand it better than some, but we really hope to instill these values as the season goes on. It’s really exciting.”

Aug. 19 @ Central Valley Aug. 26 vs Cosumnes Oaks Sept. 2 @ Patterson Sept. 9 vs Golden Valley Sept. 16 Bye Sep. 23 @ Oak Ridge Sept. 30 vs Turlock Oct. 7 @ Enochs Oct. 14 vs Gregori Oct. 21 @ Modesto Oct. 28 @ Downey

2021 CCAL standings

Team Overall League

1. Downey 9-2 5-0 2. Gregori 6-5 4-1 3. Turlock 4-7 3-2 4. Pitman 3-6 2-3 5. Enochs 5-5 1-4 6. Modesto 2-8 0-5

Pride set sights on first playoff berth since 2018

BY CHRISTOPHER CORREA

Eric Reza will be leading the Pitman Pride varsity football team for the second year. In Reza’s first year, a combination of inexperience and lack of opportunities stiffened his squad. In 2022, he believes that a return to their winning ways is possible.

“Coming from the cancelled COVID year, a lot of guys had inexperience. And with COVID, we didn’t have a deep roster to begin with and we had lots of guys testing positive, forcing us to cancel one of our games,” Reza explained.

Most of Reza’s top skill players are returning, including running back and wide receiver Joey Stout, quarterback Drew Walker and wide receiver Dylan Freeman. On the defensive side of things, defensive lineman Alex Rodriguez will look to lock down oppositions during his senior year. Reza felt as if defense was a strong suit for the Pride in 2021.

With the combination of a significant returning class, Reza and his team could very well make some noise within the Central California Athletic League.

“We turned to a new offense last year, so they’ve had time to learn and adjust. For the most part, this is a very coachable group… I very much have higher expectations for this year’s team.,” Reza said.

Though the returning group is enough reason for Pitman fans to be excited, Reza is also raving about some of the first-year varsity players.

“We have a lot of guys that are coming up from JV who are going to help out a lot and some who will have opportunities to prove themselves and compete, guys like Matthew Burciaga,” Reza said.

Burciaga will be a key depth tool at running back while looking to play a big role at linebacker.

In total, the 2022 Pitman roster will have more players on the roster compared to last year, providing the Pride with much more stability. With his over two decades of coaching experience, Reza knows that this can make all the difference.

“I’m excited for the entire program down from the freshman level on up, but I’m most excited for the seniors. This is their last year and I want to make it as special as possible,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to win a championship, but the first step is making the playoffs, and I think we have a shot with this group.” 1 Matthew Burciaga Jr. RB, LB 2 Carlos Naranjo Jr. WR, DB 4 Andrew Azevedo Jr. QB/DB 5 Cyruss Snow Jr. TE, DL 6 Sean Forte-Richard Jr. WR, DB 9 Jonathan Beals Jr. RB, LB 11 Drew Walker Sr. QB, DB 12 Cruzito Garcia Sr. WR, DB 14 Jonnathan Delgado Jr. QB, LB 15 Adam Quezada Jr. WR, DB 17 Gabriel Bedolla Jr. WR, DB 18 Michael Schwartz Sr. WR, DB 20 Dominick Heredia-Hernandez Jr. LB,RB 21 Jose Zamora III Sr. RB, DB 24 Joey Stout Sr. RB, WR 25 Aric Singh Jr. WR, LB 26 Cesar Leyva Sr. WR,DB 27 Kolten Pruitt Jr. RB, DB 28 Rayden Rasmussen Sr. WR, DB 32 Marc Ouse Sr. RB, DL 33 Daniel Aguilar Sr. RB, LB 40 Christian Pena Jr. FB, LB 44 Jack McBay Sr. RB, DL 45 Jorge Perez Sr. TE, LB 52 Kabir Sansari Taunk Jr. OL, DL 54 Isaac Simoes Sr. OL, DL 58 Joseant Barrios Sr. OL, DL 59 Iker Pelayo Sr. OL, DL 66 Daniel Ventura Jr. OL, DL 67 Adam David Jr. OL, DL. 70 Lucas Arrizon Jr. OL, DL. 77 Angel Lopez Sr. OL, DL. 78 Sartoj Sahota Sr. OL, DL 99 Alex Rodriguez Sr. OL, DL