Pintos, 7-1, to take on Tigers Friday at Senior Night

The California Pintos used stellar offense and defense to tack on yet another win Friday night at Riley Field, this time a 64-6 victory against Warsaw.

The Pintos scored on all but two of 11 possessions as they accumulated 501 yards of offense, while holding the Wildcats to just one productive drive and 200 yards of offense.

"Our kids played well," California Coach Marty Albertson said. "Our offensive line, well anytime you have 500 yards of offense, they're doing a great job up front. And we had seven ball carriers, all with good yards."

While the Pintos went three and out on their opening drive and the Wildcats answered with a touchdown, it was certainly no indication of what was to come.

"We over-pursued on the first drive," Albertson said. "After that, I think we contained Eierman."

Quarterback Jeremy Eierman capped Warsaw's first possession with a 42-yard TD run. After the attempt for the PAT failed, the Wildcats led 6-0...for 18 seconds. From that point on, it was Pinto football at its finest.

California's next possession resulted in Walker Borghardt taking the first play from scrimmage 58 yards for a touchdown. Aaron Cuevas nailed the point after (he was 8-8 on the night), and the Pintos led 7-6 with 8:00 left in the first quarter.

Warsaw then went three and out, and the Pintos answered with a 3-play drive that had Jaden Barr scoring on a 1-yard keeper. After Cuevas' extra point, California led 14-6 with 5:35 left in the first quarter.

The Wildcats were forced to punt on their next possession.

The Pintos countered with a 9-play, 55-yard drive that included a 38-yard run by Jerry Lutz, who topped off the possession with a 2-yard TD. After Cuevas' point after, California led 21-6 with :24 left in the first quarter.

Warsaw went three and out, and the Pintos ensued with another 55-yard drive, this one just three plays (including a 31-yard pass from Barr to Jon Goans), topped with a 3-yard TD by Barr. Cuevas nailed the extra point and California led 28-6 with 10:30 remaining in the second quarter.

The Wildcats achieved three first downs in their next drive, but still came up empty.

The Pintos answered with just two plays, a 9-yard run by Borghardt, followed by a 54-yard TD by Luke Burger. Cuevas ran in the 2-point conversion and California led 36-6 with 5:58 remaining in the second quarter.

Warsaw's drive that ensued was cut short when California's Allan Burger intercepted Eierman's pass. The next play resulted in a 46-yard TD by Barr. After Cuevas' PAT, the lead was at 43-6 with 5:00 left in the second quarter.

The Wildcats achieved five first downs on their drive that followed, but only got to the Pintos' 22 -yard line before turning the ball over on downs.

California's next possession ended with a fumble recovered by Warsaw, though the Wildcats were unable to score from the turnover.

California's first possession of the second half resulted in a 43-yard TD by A.J. Kendrick. After Cuevas scored the point after, the lead was at 50-6 with 1:53 left in the third quarter.

The Wildcats answered with three and out, and the Pintos capped their next drive with a 30-yard TD run by Scott Porter. Cuevas nailed the extra point and the lead was at 57-6 with 9:04 left in the fourth quarter.

The Pintos tacked on one final score with their next possession, a 37-yard TD by Porter. Cuevas got the point after, and the final score was 64-6.

California ended up with 30 rushes for 446 yards and Barr completed 3 of 5 passes for 55 yards.

Warsaw had 42 carries for 149 yards and Eierman completed 5 of 15 passes for 51 yards and threw one interception.

Leading California rushing was Borghardt with eight carries for 99 yards and two TDs. Lutz followed with five carries for 88 yards and one TD. Luke Burger had eight carries for 81 yards and one TD. Porter had two carries for 67 yards and two TDs. Kendrick had three carries for 51 yards and one TD. Barr had three carries for 47 yards and two TDs, and Landon Mouse had one carry for 13 yards.

Lutz led California tackles with 10. Brandan Gump had eight, and Porter, Jon Goans and Nathan Squires each had seven. Dustin Forsythe and Mouse each had six. Goans and Squires each had a sack for a 9-yard loss.

California will host Versailles at 7 p.m. Friday, Senior Night for the Pintos, at Riley Field. The Parade of Champions will begin at 5:30 p.m.

"This will be our final game of the regular season," Albertson said. "We don't take any team lightly. Versailles scored 26 points against Blair Oaks, so we need to play our game and stay focued. Our goal is to get better every game, so we're going to work hard on our passing this week to get ready for playoffs. We haven't had to pass that much since our rushing has been so successful. Our offensive line has done a great job, which is good to have going into the final run."

California's JV traveled to Warsaw Monday night, where the Pintos defeated the Wildcats 34-0.

Scoring for the Pintos included three touchdowns by Landon Mouse; Dylan Norton returned a fumble recovery for a TD; Sam Clennin had a fumble recovery; and Aaron Cuevas kicked four extra points and had an interception.

"We made some early mistakes to start with, but played very well to overcome them," California Coach Rich Matzes said.

California's JV and freshman teams will play their final games of the season Monday, Oct. 28, at Versailles, beginning at 5 p.m.