CALIFORNIA, Mo. - Confidence was the word used by head coach Marty Albertson during Tuesday's practice, and by senior Landon Mouse after Friday night's win.
It was something the Pintos needed after being outscored 44-6 in the first two games, and now they have confidence after last week's 42-0 shutout victory of Versailles.
"It was a game that we needed," Albertson said. "It was a game to build a little confidence. I thought we improved. As long as we keep improving, that's what we're working for right now."
To be more specific, the defense needed confidence after allowing more than 300 yards rushing and 35 points to Mexico two weeks ago. The California defense forced two Versailles interceptions that were returned for touchdowns and didn't allow the Tigers to reach the century mark in total yards.
"It's a confidence booster," Mouse said after the game. "We kind of had a rough game last week. We had a good week of practice."
But probably the most important person on California's team that need a confidence boast was sophomore quarterback Jacob Wolken. Wolken passed for 155 yards on 6-of-9 passing and a touchdown against the Tigers.
"He had made some nice reads on where to throw the ball," Albertson said. "That's the important part of it. That's what a young kid has got to learn to do."
Wolken was also the leading rusher for the Pintos, carrying the ball 11 times for 40 yards.
The Pintos' rushing attack was definitely the weakest part of their game last Friday. While they did gain 117 yards on the ground, 54 yards of those came on California's last possession with its junior varsity offense on field.
That doesn't concern Albertson, though.
"We went back to the pro-set when they were running the football," he said. "The whole game, we played without a tight end and stayed in the spread. Obviously with the pro-set and tight end, your running game is going to be better."
Albertson said that Versailles basically dared California to throw the ball with the way they lined up on defense. So that's what the Pintos did.
But it made sense for the Tigers to force them to do that. Before last week's game, Wolken compiled 41 yards on 9-of-16 passing and had three interceptions in the first two weeks of the season.
With a healthy Mouse at receiver and Wolken improving at quarterback, the duo could be really dangerous as the season moves forward. Mouse caught two of Wolken's six passes for 64 yards.
The two players are going to have to be at their best against Eldon, because the Pintos have to match a high-scoring Mustangs' offense, averaging 45 points per game.
"They're big up front, so truthfully, running up the middle is going to be very hard," Albertson said. "But we ought to be able to run the flank and run outside because our team's speed is better than theirs."
As long as they can get outside the Mustangs' bigger defensive line, California's speed might be the difference becuase conditioning has been an issue for Eldon.
"That's the deal, they're big up front," Albertson said. "Those big boys, if you make them run sideline-to-sideline, you know, things going outside, by the fourth quarter, they're tired."
Blair Oaks scored three unanswered touchdowns last week against Eldon in the fourth quarter to take the win.
Eldon (1-2, 0-1 Tri-County Conference) allowed 128 total points in its last two games, 66 points to Hogan Prep two weeks ago and 62 to Blair Oaks last Friday night. While those games were both losses, the Mustangs scored 93 points on offense, which in most cases would equal wins.
The Mustangs had two 100-yard rushers last week in Levi Shinn and Trenton Kidwell.
"They're both good running backs," Albertson said. "So, we're going to have to tackle, going to have to gang tackle and tackle low. We can't tackle those kids high because they're strong."
Eldon returns 20-of-22 starters from last year's squad, so Albertson is very familiar with the personnel his team is up against.
"They've been talking at Eldon the last three years that this was their team, this class is their team," he said. "Hopefully we can hold them down enough and outscore them on Friday."
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