Pintos romp past Tigers 51-14

The Pintos were on the road Saturday night for game #3 of the 2014 football season (Friday's game was rescheduled due to weather), a conference game at Versailles, where California romped to a 51-14 win over the Tigers.

The Pintos scored on each drive in the first half to lead 51-0 going into the second half. The Tigers managed two touchdowns, one in the third quarter and one in the fourth, against the younger Pintos who saw plenty of action in Saturday's contest.

"Our varsity played well and they were focused," California Head Coach Marty Albertson said. "They couldn't have executed any better than they did, and they took care of business early, which is always nice to see."

Albertson added, "We worked the bugs out of our offensive line from the week before, and we're getting better each week. That's what it's all about."

Scoring for California started off with a 16-yard TD run by Walker Borghardt with 11:25 left in the first quarter. Jaden Barr hit Kade McAdams with a pass to score the two-point conversion. California's next drive was capped with a 9-yard TD by Barr on just the second play. Barr and McAdams teamed up again to score the two-point play.

California's next series consisted of one play, a 44-yard TD pass from Barr to Drew Norton. Jose Magana nailed the kick for the extra point and California led 23-0 at the end of the first frame.

The Pintos opened the second quarter with a 29-yard TD pass from Barr to Allan Burger to top off a 98-yard drive. Magana scored the PAT.

Barr then had a 7-yard TD run, with Magana scoring the point after.

California's next drive saw Borghardt run in a 54-yard TD, however, it was negated by a penalty against the Pintos. The very next play resulted in a 48-yard TD by Burger, and Magana scored the PAT.

California's next drive ended with a 13-yard TD by Barr. After Magana's kick for the extra point, the Pintos led 51-0 at the half.

"We essentially played the first half, then at 51 points, put our younger guys in to give them experience and play time," Albertson said.

The Tigers saw their first score of the night with 6:00 left in the third quarter when quarterback Sean Varner hit Michael Allen with a 15-yard TD pass. David Connor kicked the extra point, and Versailles trailed 51-7.

With 11:50 remaining, Johnathan Cunningham scored a TD on a 13-yard run. Connor scored the point after, and the Tigers trailed 51-14.

"All in all, I was impressed with our younger kids," Albertson said. "It's always great when you can get the younger kids in the varsity contest to give them experience. They're the future of our program after all. They made a few mistakes, like with Versailles' first touchdown, but they learned from it and played better for the rest of the game."

Albertson added, "It was okay to let Versailles have success too. They've got kids they have to build up as well, and they're good kids too."

The Pintos ended up with 33 carries for 325 yards, and Barr completed 4 of 7 passes for 130 yards, for a total of 450 yards of offense.

The Tigers had 39 carries for 176 yards and Varner completed 10 of 23 passes for 49 yards, for a total of 225 yards of offense.

Borghardt led California rushing with seven carries for 95 yards and one TD. Barr had five carries for 110 yards and three TDs. Burger had three carries for 64 yards and one TD, and AJ Kendrick had eight carries for 32 yards.

Leading tackles for California was sophomore Sam Kirby with nine. Sophomore Brent Alber had six, and junior Clayton Percival and sophomore Gunner Baquet each had five.

Looking ahead to the Pintos' conference game against Eldon Friday, Sept. 12, Albertson said, "Eldon is better this year. We have to keep improving each week, because the games just get tougher. The Eldon game is going to be a task for us."

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, at Riley Field.