Get ready for 2018 season with Bay Area football preview
QB Turner, who missed last year with a knee injury, rejoins loaded Pittsburg
“Justin is one of the best athletes on the team. When you see him playing wide receiver and DB, you’re going to see an electrifying athlete. He did us a favor last year and played quarterback. He can do anything.”
Pittsburg football coach Victor Galli
PITTSBURG >> Trey Turner remembers dropping back and throwing a simple hitch pass.
“Right when I threw it,” the Pittsburg quarterback said, “I got hit from behind.”
There went the season before it even started. A torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in a scrimmage last August against De La Salle sidelined Turner for the year.
The injury required surgery and months of rehabilitation, rendering Turner a spectator for Pittsburg’s run to league and regional championships, as well as a state championship that stunningly slipped away.
Pittsburg led by three touchdowns in the first half against NarbonneHarbor City but lost the Division I-A title game at Sacramento State 28-21.
“That left a bad feeling for all of us, really,” Turner said. “Even me, and I wasn’t playing.”
Turner is playing now, rejoining a team that returns nearly all of its top players from last season, including four-star defensive lineman Jacob Bandes, receiver Willie Harts and the player who replaced Turner, Justin Boyd, who now goes back to receiver and defensive back. The Pirates have also added some transfers, including former San Ramon Valley tight end Koby Gross.
When asked about Turner, Pittsburg coach Victor Galli first paid homage to Boyd.
“Justin is one of the best athletes on the team,” Galli said. “When you see him playing wide receiver and DB, you’re going to see an electrifying athlete. He did us a favor last year and played quarterback. He can do anything.
“It’s unfortunate that Trey lost a year, but he is so much stronger. Went above and beyond in his rehab. So much stronger and so much more polished. Then to have Justin on the outside, it’s going to be a heck of a ride.”
Turner said the knee feels good and he can’t wait to lead a team that is aiming to go one step beyond last season’s heartbreak.
“We should be pretty good,” Turner said.
The team obviously has plenty of motivation. Nobody in this historic program, where photos of former players line the hallways that lead from the coaches’ office to the locker and weight rooms, has gotten over last season’s near-miss.
Galli even tried to see if Narbonne had the same open dates as Pittsburg, hoping to schedule a rematch, but Narbonne did not.
“How do you get over it? I’m not,” Galli said. “I don’t think any of us are over it. Goes to show you that you have to play four quarters. Not making excuses. The wind was unbelievable. But they had to play in it, too.
“In the end, we didn’t take advantage of the opportunity that we had, and we blew it. I feel like the Atlanta Falcons from a couple of years ago in the Super Bowl. The opportunity was sitting right there.”
Bandes, one of the area’s top college prospects, said he has had flashbacks about that game.
“I don’t want to say haunts me,” he said. “But it comes back to me every single time. Sometimes I have dreams about it. What I could have done better?
“After halftime, we all just stopped with the motor. We all just thought that we were going to win. We can never stop and say we’re done. We have to keep going until after the fourth quarter.”
With Turner back, Bandes is eager to get started.
“He’s going to be a scary weapon,” Bandes said. “He’s fast. He’s smart. He reads the plays well.”
The season begins Friday at home against Clayton Valley Charter, one of five heavyweight nonleague clashes Galli scheduled for a team that potentially could be one the program’s greatest.
“We knew when this group was freshmen, this was a special group,” Galli said. “They haven’t disappointed. We know we’re sitting on something that can be pretty competitive and can go along way. But that’s all talk. Sounds great on paper. If we tap into our true potential, we could be really good. This could be one of the best teams I’ve ever had or one of the best teams ever.”