CALIFORNIA Eldon and California have played in many close games in recent years. With both teams entering at 1-3 and desperate to get that second one in the win column, this year's edition of the rivalry figured to be another tight contest.
The teams didn't disappoint.
In what was an old-fashioned defensive struggle that featured 12 punts and five turnovers on downs, Eldon's size, both on the line and in the backfield with Isaiah Parsons, eventually wore the Pintos down en route to a 15-8 Mustangs win.
"We let down a little bit defensively in the third quarter and let them break off a couple big plays on us and that's what hurt," California head coach Marty Albertson said. "The rest of the game we played pretty well."
Despite a tough first half offensively where they went into the locker room trailing 8-0, the Mustangs were committed to running the ball in their wing-T set and it eventually paid dividends.
The second play following the break was a Parsons 46-yard run that put Eldon in the red zone. Though the Mustangs were stuffed on the goal line on that series, Parsons found the end zone on the next drive with a 23-yard run. He also punched in the ensuing conversion attempt to tie the game.
After Eldon found its footing on the ground, the pass opened up early in the fourth when quarterback Austin Kempker hit Jacob Whittle for a 53-yard touchdown that wound up being the game-winning score.
With the lead late, Eldon held the Pintos to a pair of turnovers on downs, including a red zone stop from the 8-yard line with 30 seconds to play. Eldon junior Trenton Dillon wore the California blockers down with two fourth quarter sacks.
Though California had three pass completions of 20-plus yards, the explosive scoring play never happened for the Pintos the way it did twice in the second half for Eldon. On 29 carries, California's longest run was 16 yards.
"Obviously we just haven't found the big play yet and we're still searching for it," Albertson said. "We're more of a team of sustained drives and if you're doing that, you can't stub your toe and have penalties to stop the drive. That's what we did early."
For the third week in a row, California dominated defensively early on as the Pintos held Eldon to just four total yards in the first half. Eldon's six first half series were comprised of five punts and a turnover on downs.
While California's first half offense wasn't much better with five punts to start the game, the Pintos did put together a 62-yard drive late in the half that ended with a 9-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jacob Wolken. Senior Jackson Trachsel reeled in a catch for the ensuing two-point conversion.
Wolken finished with 46 yards on the ground to bring his season rushing total to 427. He also had his most prolific passing game of the season, going 15-of-30 for 138 yards. Jacob Adams was his top target with six catches for 75 yards.
"I thought we had to throw against them because they were all geared up to stop Wolken and our running game," Albertson said. "They did that early and as we started to open up the passing game, a few running plays came open."
The Eldon run game was all Parsons, who totaled 114 yards on 27 carries. Kempker went 2-of-5 through the air for 55 yards. Both completions were to Whittle.
With California's regular season halfway in the books, a trend has developed. The Pintos have dominated the opposition in the first half in each of the last three games, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
However, they've been unable to hang onto leads as the games have worn on. The early-season rash of injuries may be tied into that.
"We have to be in good enough shape to play all four quarters," Albertson said. "We just haven't put four quarters together yet. A lot of that is mental. They have to get it through their heads to play all four quarters."
The injuries have led to the Pintos fielding a younger team than initially expected. The unforgiving Tri-County Conference does not leave much room for teams to have a learning curve, and it won't get easier for a California squad that has two still-unbeaten teams waiting on the schedule in Blair Oaks and School of the Osage.
"We're halfway through the season now and young kids have to grow up," Albertson said. "Our conference is tough and every game is going to be tough. If you make mistakes, teams are going to capitalize on them and honestly they did tonight."
Both teams are 1-2 in Tri-County play. California visits Hallsville next while Eldon will head to Warsaw.