2012-GameRelease-Divisional

Kaepernick's math teacher, Amy Curd, told of the kid who graduated with a 4.1 grade-point average and
always insisted on sitting in the front row. "He was a great, great student -- a top student,'' Curd said. "He
exhibited a lot of the same characteristics you see on the field. He was very competitive."
Harding, the running back who went on to play at Fresno State, recalled how Kaepernick would go
sprinting toward teammates to thank them for making a big play. Harding saw the same thing Monday
night.
"The biggest thing I saw was that he was having fun,'' said Harding, who now works with special
education students at Pitman High. "He was high-fiving everybody. When he threw that touchdown pass
(to Michael Crabtree), he was the first one to congratulate him."
Brandon Harris, the football coach, was out sick Tuesday, so Hollars rousted him from bed and put him
on the speaker phone. Harris was the offensive coordinator when Kaepernick and Harding helped put the
school on the map in 2004.
Pitman High had been open for two years, but nobody wanted to go there. Many local families go back
several generations at Turlock High and the kids preferred to be part of the Bulldog tradition.
But in the first-ever meeting between schools, Kaepernick delivered some credibility for fledgling Pitman
High. He and Harding led a 19-16 upset, delivering a long touchdown drive in the final minute.
The quarterback would have more prolific games, but the play Harris will never forget was the way
Kaepernick recovered from a fumbled snap on a fourth-and-1 and somehow willed his way to a first down
to keep the winning drive alive.
"He wasn't the big guy you see now,'' Harris said. "He just made it happen."
Believe it or not, there was still at least one skeptic in Turlock earlier this week. Chris Seachrist, a
bartender at the Dust Bowl Brewery, spent the days leading up to the Monday night game telling people
that Smith should start because Kaepernick, just 25, would be unprepared for the ferocious Bears
defense.
The Dust Bowl was closed Monday night, so Seachrist ate his crow via cellphone.
"I was getting text messages from my regular customers saying, 'Are you ready to take back that
statement yet?''' Seachrist said Tuesday.
He smiled wide.
Yes, he said. Yes, he is.