Prep football: Pioneer overcomes sloppy play, improves to 3-1 as expectations stay high
Things didn’t start smoothly for the Pioneer Patriots on Friday night in their jaunt to start their season 3-1 in nonleague play.
Their first two drives on the warm night in Woodland ended in turnovers against Rio Americano, including an interception on a screen pass near the goal line. That led to head coach Matt Bryson seeming miffed about his team’s slow starts early in the season.
“It hasn’t been smooth,” Bryson told The Bee. “Everything just seems to be a grind.”
The first half between the Patriots and Raiders was scoreless until inside the three-minute mark of the second quarter, when Pioneer quarterback Carson King found receiver Haiden Aletto for a 24-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-8. It broke a scoreless tie and earned Aletto the honor of wearing an oversized chain with a giant number six pendant on the sideline, the celebratory jewelry given to players who score.
From there, the Patriots continued to give the ball to star running back Jack Carner, who finished the night with some 250 yards and four touchdowns. Pioneer took care of winless Rio Americano, 35-14, while Carner carved up the Raiders defense using speed and power.
“He’s tough. He’s what we are,” Bryson said. “He’s resilient. He didn’t panic. Things weren’t going well in the first half. ... So offensively he’s a problem for people, and he’s our guy. When push comes to shove, he’s our guy. We’re going to get behind our offensive line, put it on them and see what we can do.”
Carner dominated entire drives, getting as many as five consecutive carries multiple times throughout the game. Bryson credited Carner’s blockers — Ryan Bryson, Brandon Nolan, Dominic Vittone, Payne Tejeda, Hayden Newsom and tight end Francisco Romero — for setting the tone in the trenches and giving Carner space to showcase his athleticism.
“They just keep grinding. It’s what we’ve done. We just go play four quarters of football and we’ve been able to wear people down,” said Bryson.
Rio Americano’s two touchdowns came on a long run from Charles Hausman and a slant pass from quarterback Frankie Cervantes to freshman Robert Hamel. It took them less than a minute to respond to Aletto’s touchdown with Hausman’s 42-yard sprint. Hamel’s score made it 20-14, but that’s as close as the game got in the second half.
Bryson said his team cycled through more players on defense because of injuries and attrition than any point of this young season.
“They’ve played well all year,” he said. “We’ve been just not sharp in the first half, and then we’ve taken off in most of three wins in the second half.”
Pioneer’s only loss of the season came in the opener on the road to Wood in Vacaville, when Carner was sidelined with an ailment.
King, meanwhile, has been dealt a difficult hand. He’s coming off a torn ACL suffered in last season’s opener while playing defense. He wears a bulky brace on his knee after having surgery last October.
“He’s been on the mend,” Bryson said. “(He) didn’t get spring reps, didn’t get much summer (seven-on-seven drills). And is kinda feeling his way back in. He’s played well. He’s spun the ball well for us, we didn’t really show much tonight obviously. But he’s getting there.”
For now, Pioneer will continue to lean on Carner to back up last year’s second-place finish to Dixon in the Golden Empire League. The 2021 campaign ended a streak of eight straight losing seasons, from 2012 to 2019, in which the Patriots had a combined record of 25-56. Last year’s turnaround has lifted expectations for this fall.
Next up for the Patriots is a bye in which they’ll work to get healthier and emphasize getting off to stronger starts early in games. Then they play on the road against crosstown league rivals Woodland Christian and host Woodland. Rio Americano will look for its first win on the road the next two weeks against Capital Christian and El Camino.
