KAISER - California's 41-21 win against School of the Osage was not only a statement win after suffering its first Tri-County Conference loss two weeks ago, but it assured at least a tie for second place in the conference and improved its position in the district standings.
The Pintos (5-3, 5-1) are now fourth in the Class 3, District 6 standings, .08 points behind third place Southern Boone, whom the Pintos beat 20-12 last month. They're also holding a one-game lead over Eldon in the conference standings, another team California beat last month.
"We knew we didn't play our best game last week," California head coach Marty Albertson said. "They had a lot to prove this week. I told them how important it was to win this game for district standings. If we wanted to get back and have a shot at Blair Oaks, we have to win-out. That's one game at a time, this was the first one."
The Pintos played one of its most complete, balanced games against the Osage Indians Friday night, recording 476 total yards on offense and six touchdowns with one turnover. California had its best rushing performance of the season, picking up three rushing touchdowns on 263 yards on the ground.
Sophomore quarterback Jacob Wolken led the team with 121 yards rushing and three touchdowns while passing for 213 yards and two touchdowns.
"We were going to put some points on the board no matter what," Wolken said. "We were just going to come out, play our best and hopefully come out with a win in the end."
Senior Brandan Gump picked up 72 rushing yards and junior Gunner Baquet added 66 more rushing yards. Gump had just two carries and 71 yards came on one play, busting through the middle for the long touchdown to give California a three-touchdown lead early in the second quarter.
Baquet has been the every-down back for the Pintos, as Albertson used Wolken an Baquet on read-option plays that proved to be successful the entire game.
"We tried to run it wide a few times, and then Gunner hit the a-gap a few times and had a good run," Albertson said. "... We were running the inside zone with our running back, and faking it to him and keeping it on the outside trap, which was open quite a bit for Jacob."
Wolken's favorite target, senior Landon Mouse, caught seven passes for 126 yards and a touchdown, and while senior Ethan Hodges on had one reception, it went for 56 yards and a touchdown. Senior Josh Woodruff added three receptions for 31 yards.
"It's comforting because I can put the ball up and they're going to make a play for me," Wolken said of his receivers.
Wolken used two long passes on the Pintos' first drive of the game to help set up a first-and-goal. Woodruff hauled in a 16-yard pass on a first-and-10 near midfield, and Mouse caught a 17-yarder on a fourth down to put the ball at the Indians' 10-yard line.
On the next play, Wolken took the snap and sprinted around the right side for the 10-yard rushing score and the 8-0 lead after the 2-point conversion.
"Early, they were giving us five men the in box like Blair Oaks did last week on the first drive," Albertson said. "We kept running it on the them."
California answered the touchdown drive with two more scores before Osage could stop its offense. Wolken connected with Hodges for the 56-yard touchdown, and Gump's 71-yard run gave California the commanding 22-0 lead before the Indians could get on the board.
After Baquet intercepted Osage's quarterback Zach Wheeler at the Indians' 24-yard line, Baquet and Wolken combined for 23 yards on back-to-back rushes to get to the 1-yard line. Wolken pushed ahead for the touchdown on the next play to take a 29-7 lead.
The Indians cut the Pintos' lead to 29-14 just before halftime.
"I thought our defense played a lot better, especially in the second half," Albertson said. "I thought they missed a lot of tackles in the first half, but I thought the second half they played a lot better."
The Pintos' defense held Osage to just seven second half points, while California added two more touchdowns to put the game away.
On California's first drive of the second half, Wolken found Mouse for a 21-yard score to give the Pintos a 35-14 advantage. Mouse made a move on the defensive back at the goal line that adjusted his body in front of the defensive back for the easy reception.
Wolken completed a 14-yard pass to Woodruff on a fourth-and-13 the play before to give California a new set of downs.
"They had their corners lined up kind of funny," Wolken said. "They would blitz them, bring them in and once they brought them in, we would just check down and I would just throw to whoever they came off of. The receivers made some great plays for me on the sidelines, middle, they just caught the ball and took off for me."
Early in the fourth quarter, Wolken capped off his impressive night with his fifth touchdown by rushing it in from 8 yards out. That gave the Pintos the 41-14 lead, essentially putting the game out of reach for Osage.
California will host a winless Warsaw team for senior night Friday at 7 p.m. The Wildcats are coming off a 57-0 loss to Blair Oaks last week.
"You can't worry about the opponent," Albertson said. "It might be their last home game, so I don't think any of those seniors want to go out with a loss. They're going to come out and hopefully be very impressive next week."