CALIFORNIA, Mo. - The California Pintos find themselves in a position they haven't been in for more than a month, looking for a win after a loss.
California will try to get back in the win column today, traveling to School of the Osage for a 7 p.m. kick.
After outscoring its opponents 124-35 during its four-game winning streak, California couldn't keep up with a high-powered Blair Oaks offense last Friday night, suffering its first loss in conference play.
"They scored that last play of the half and made it 20-8, then they got the ball and drove down and scored," California head coach Marty Albertson said. "Sometimes bad things happen in football games, and it's how you handle them that makes a good team. Adversity is something you have to deal with sometimes."
The loss dropped the Pintos to second in the Tri-County Conference, one game behind the Falcons, and they fell two spots in the Class 3 District 6 standings to fifth. California, fourth place Southern Boone and third place Owensville are separated by just two points in the standings.
But for now, Albertson is focused on fixing his team's mistakes from last week, heading into the road contest with the Indians.
Penalties stopped California's momentum on offense and on defense throughout the game against Blair Oaks. The Pintos had seven for 45 yards, with an offside penalty coming on a Blair Oaks' fourth-and-two.
"That's way too many against a good football team, and a couple of them really hurt," Albertson said. "Those are just keeping your focus and concentration. Hopefully we'll get better at that."
Two more problems that hindered the Pintos' offense was starting field position and being one dimensional. California's average starting field position was its own 25-yard line, and after California's scoring drive to start the game, Blair Oaks stacked the box to take away the Pintos' running game. The passing game still couldn't move the ball effectively, though.
"They've got pretty good defensive backs, so they handled us one-one-one really well for the most part," Albertson said.
Albertson likes his offense's chances tonight, especially running the ball off-tackle. With a small offensive line, the Pintos must first handle the their blocks up front before getting outside.
"Right now, they're giving up a lot of yards off-tackle," Albertson said. "The middle linebackers, they're big, but they don't flow outside very well, so I think we can run outside on them. If you handle the front guys and the two inside linebackers, one of the them is a big kid. He's tough in the middle, but not on the outside."
California wants to do exactly what they did against Blair Oaks on its first drive of the game, run the ball. The Pintos just couldn't adjust to Blair Oaks' defense as the game progressed.
With senior running backs A.J. Kendrick and Dylan Ratcliff still out with injuries, junior running back Gunner Baquet will carry the load again.
"I thought (Baquet) ran the ball hard the other night," Albertson said. "He'll get you the tough yards up the middle, he's not a break away running back."
Defensively, California will have a number of Osage players to keep an eye on.
"They run 5,000 formations, so they try to get you out of alignment," Albertson said. "Hopefully we've seen all of their formations. That coach will probably figure out a few more that we haven't seen.
Sophomore quarterback Zach Wheeler has totaled 1,285 passing yards on a 51 percent completion rate with 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
"He throws the ball pretty well. He's a better than average runner, not a break-a-way runner usually. He's a big kid, kind of like Jacob (Wolken)," Albertson said.
The Indians have two running backs that have combined for 566 rushing yards. Senior Brandon Pierce has accounted for 324 yards and a touchdown, and junior Dylan Riley has added 242 with five touchdowns.
Pierce is also third on the team with 215 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Senior Britten Mclaughlin leads the team with 442 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
"They have some good athletes," Albertson said. "Basically, they try to get you out of alignment and take advantage when you're out of alignment and throw or run where you're not."
Osage (3-4, 2-3) sits two games behind California (4-3, 4-1) in the conference after suffering back-to-back losses to Blair Oaks and Eldon. The Indians lost a high-scoring game to Eldon last Friday, 52-49.
"If they scored 49 points against Eldon, they can move the ball," Albertson said. "They're going to move the ball, we just have to try and slow them down a little bit."
California at School of the Osage - Updates on Twitter: @CDemocratSports, @PintosAthletics and @SOTOsports. Listen live online: pintosonline.com or cool1027.com. Watch live online: Lake TV
Podcast