Pirates prevail in familiar rivalry
There are few secrets between the Pittsburg High football program and Freedom-Oakley.
And when the two Bay Valley Athletic League rivals meet, there’s rarely a lack of fireworks. What seemed to start out as an evenly matched defensive battle Friday turned into a second-half drag race, and Pittsburg simply had more horsepower.
Running backs Darrion Bartley and Premier Murphy combined to score 20 points in the second half as the Pirates broke open a one-point game with 22 straight points and ran away with a 47-33 win to open BVAL play.
“It feels like the 100th time we’ve played them in the last five years,” Pittsburg coach Victor Galli said. “They’re a good football team. They do a good job. It was tight there for a while. … Just a hard-fought game by both teams.”
Pittsburg (4-1, 1-0 BVAL) trailed 26-25 late in the third quarter when junior linebacker Josiah Porter turned the game around by stripping Freedom running back Giles Jackson and returning the ball 17 yards for the go-ahead score.
“I just saw Giles moving fast. I just had to go for the ball,” Porter said. “We’ve been working all week for this. We just had to come out and play hard and do what we did all week in practice.”
Porter’s play stunned a Freedom team that seemingly had the momentum. It didn’t stun the Pirates’ coaching staff.
“He makes those plays all the time during practice,” Galli said. “He’s a good ball hawk. We’ve been waiting for him to show up in a game, and he did tonight. And it was the momentum-changer, really.”
Three plays into Freedom’s next possession, Willie Harts III intercepted a Joey Aguilar pass at midfield and returned it to the Falcons’ 13-yard line. Bartley would score on a 5-yard run just four plays later for a 40-26 lead.
Bartley led Pittsburg with 126 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Murphy added 87 yards on 18 carries, two touchdowns and two two-point conversions.
“They had a really good game,” Galli said of the two running backs. “Our offensive line is young and inexperienced and we’re getting better. I think we kind of took it to them and controlled the ball.”
Freedom (5-1, 0-1) had a strong night from Aguilar, who completed 16 of 31 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns. Jackson carried 16 times for 65 yards and a score.
Freedom won both meetings between the programs last season, but Pittsburg has now won eight of 11 since 2010. SportStars magazine editor Chace Bryson covers high school sports for The San Francisco Chronicle.