Lack of offense hurts Pintos

BOONVILLE- Plain and simple: California's offense couldn't gain any traction in its 9-6 loss to Boonville Friday night at Gene Reagan Field.

The Pintos mustered up 101 total yards and the turned the ball over three times in the game, as the offense was shut out of the end zone. California's lone touchdown came in the third quarter when Brandon Gump blocked Boonville's botched punt attempt. Gump recovered the ball and sprinted for the 52-yard touchdown to give the Pintos a 6-3 lead after a failed extra point attempt.

"Like I told them, I thought the effort was great," head coach Marty Albertson said. "I thought they played hard. We have to start somewhere, so hopefully we can learn from it and get better next week."

Starting quarterback Landon Mouse suffered an ankle injury in the first half to sideline him on offense, but he continued to play on defense. Sophomore Jacob Wolken took over under center, a move Albertson was going to make throughout the game anyways, since Mouse plays free safety, too.

"Well Jacob (Wolken), he's probably not feeling good right now, but I thought he did some good things," Albertson said. "He moved the football a few times and got some first downs when we needed it."

Wolken used his feet to gain 25 yards on five attempts, but also fumbled twice on hand off exchanges.

"It's tough when you put a kid in there for the first time in varsity, in the heat of battle, when he's a sophomore," Albertson said.

California's defense allowed Boonville to move the ball, but when the Pirates moved closer to the endzone, the Pintos made plays to prevent any scores. Boonville reached the California 25-yard line on six different occasions, but could only scored nine points in the game.

"I thought we gave up some yards early, but they stiffened," Alberton said. "They did a pretty good job down the stretch, and made plays when they had to. I think they'll improve as we go."

On the opening drive of the game, Boonville moved down the field in eight plays to the Pinto 2-yard line before fumbling on the goal line for a California touch-back. After failing to score on its second time inside the 25-yard line, Boonville converted a field goal with seven seconds left in the half to take a 3-0 into the locker room.

With the 6-3 lead late in the fourth quarter, it looked like the Pintos made their last stop of the game to seal the win. But Boonville converted a fourth-and-four with a minute to go in the game on its own 40-yard line. Pirates quarterback Nick Zeitlow found Kole Ficken for a 40-yard pass. Five plays later, Zeitlow connected with Makiah Waibel for the 8-yard score with 31 seconds remaining to give the Pirates the 9-3 lead.