VERSAILLES - The old cliché about not letting a team hang around proved true for California against Versailles on Friday night.
For the final three quarters of the game, the Pintos picked up yards with ease, but couldn't convert them into points.
The Tigers, who were down three virtually the entire second half, went on a 68-yard drive in the game's final 2:41 and punched in the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard sneak by quarterback David Connor with three seconds left to claim a 14-10 win.
"When you let a team hang around and don't put them away, bad things can happen," California head coach Marty Albertson said. "That's exactly what happened tonight."
The Pintos' 320 total yards dwarfed the final Versailles total of 149, nearly half of which came on the Tigers' winning drive late in the fourth. Two costly California turnovers, however, kept Versailles in the game.
Midway through the second quarter, California was driving into Tigers territory when a failed pitch on the read-option put the ball on the turf. Connor scooped it up and went 59 yards the other way to put Versailles on the board.
At the time, California had a 10-0 lead and looked unstoppable running the ball with Jacob Wolken and Cory Friedmeyer, but the fumbled pitch changed the dynamic of the game completely, and the Tigers got a boost from it.
The second California turnover came late in the third when the Pintos had goal-to-go on the 3-yard line following a Wolken interception on defense. The ensuing play was a sloppy handoff, again leading to a fumble lost for California.
"(Versailles) found a way to win," Albertson said. "Give them credit for that. We had drives going and we'd just do something silly to stop the drive. They didn't stop us, we did."
The Pintos also had three turnovers on downs in the game, all of which came in the second half. A pair of punts and the red zone fumble ended their other three offensive series in the second half.
California's anemic second half offense came at a great contrast to what it showed before the break. Both California scoring drives ate up at least five minutes on the game clock.
The first was a 10-play, 94-yard drive highlighted by Wolken's 40-yard scramble. The second was a 12-play, 45-yard series that saw the Pintos convert two fourth downs.
In total, Wolken paced the California offense with 141 yards on the ground and 8-of-16 passing for 75 through the air. Friedmeyer added 90 yards on 21 carries.
Sophomore Dakota Henry had just 11 rushing yards for the Pintos, but scored a 6-yard touchdown on California's opening offensive series.
Kicker Jose Magana provided the rest of California's scoring with a 28-yard field goal late in the first quarter. Magana also missed a 33-yard attempt near the end of the first half.
Defensively, California's line was dominant until the final drive. Sam Kirby and Nathan Pickering each notched a sack for the Pintos and interior linemen Rick Worthey and Kent Riley consistently blew up the Versailles run game by timing the snap count.
"I thought the defense played well," Albertson said. "Offensively, we just made too many mistakes. We have to put more points on the board than that."
Shane Randall led Versailles with 55 rushing yards, most of which came on the final drive. Connor finished with 37 yards rushing and 29 yards passing, going 3-of-8 on completions with one pick.
The win gave Versailles (2-2) its first victory over the Pintos (1-3) since 2009. Both teams are 1-1 in Tri-County Conference play.
Versailles will look to move to 3-2 as it hosts Warsaw next week, while the Pintos will look to rebound and cut down on the miscues when they host a 1-3 Eldon team.
"We have to come out and play harder and hopefully a home game and Homecoming will help," Albertson said. "Every team we play is going to be this good or better.
"We just have to dig deep and find a way to get better."