ALAMO, CA - Pittsburg running back Harris Ross displayed one of the best performances in Northern California history on Friday night in a 49-29 victory over Monte Vista.
Ross rushed for 468 yards and seven touchdowns on 21 carries. Although he had just one touchdown in the first half, he bounced back and ran for six monstrous touchdowns after halftime.
“I feel like I did a tremendous job,” Harris said. “I’m definitely going to practice next week and try to work even harder so that I can have a better game next week.”
None of the touchdowns for Ross was simple. His 94-yard touchdown run to give Pittsburg a 35-21 lead with 2:17 remaining in the third quarter was the highlight of the night, after he broke loose from defenders and sprinted down the sideline for the score.
A 62-yard touchdown run by Ross clinched the game after giving the Pirates a 42-21 lead with 8:05 left in the game and sent the hometown Monte Vista crowd heading to the parking lot early. His other touchdown carries in the second half consisted of 36, 59, 15, and 94 yards.
Ross thinks his teammates deserve much of the credit.
“It’s a great feeling,” Ross said about his breakout performance. “I thank my line. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything I did tonight. Kudos to my line.”
More college offers could be coming Ross's way after recent performances. Currently, Ross holds offers from Eastern Washington and Sacramento State, but that may just be the beginning.
Last week, Ross rushed for 233 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries and almost doubled that stat line this week, while hitting the 12-touchdown plateau in just three weeks.
After getting upset 37-21 in its first game of the season, Pittsburg bounced back with huge victories over EBAL powerhouses Cal (35-33) and Monte Vista (49-29).
“We just remembered that loss and that feeling of losing to Analy,” said Ross. “We just worked hard in practice and came out here and showed it. I thank my O-line for what they did today.”
Despite its impressive victory, the Pirates are still a work in progress.
“We can improve on our passing game,” said Ross. “It’s good but it could get a little bit better and we can step it up on defense to.”
Although the final score may not indicate it, this was a relatively close game throughout the first half. Monte Vista took an early 7-0 lead on a 7-yard touchdown run from senior running back Matt Rood.
The other Mustangs touchdown came on a beautiful 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nikita Zamora to receiver Ben Wensley. This gave Monte Vista (1-2) a 14-7 lead with 53 seconds left in the first half and had many Mustang supporters on their feet hoping they could pull out the victory against a stellar Pittsburg squad.
Zamora, currently being looked at by some schools, completed 25-of-48 passes with three touchdowns and two interceptions. His completion percentage doesn’t accurately reflect his performance on the field. There were multiple dropped passes, leading to stalled drives.
Rood carried the Monte Vista offense in the first half, extending carries with his bruising strength. Rood finished with 89 yards rushing and one touchdown on 14 carries.
