The California Pintos' football team had a solid performance during the jamboree Aug. 11.
The Pintos scrimmaged against Moberly and Owensville high schools.
The Pintos' played strong defense against both teams and caused a turnover by intercepting an Owensville pass. The interception came at a crucial point, as Owensville was close to scoring before turning the ball over.
The Pintos contained the running game against both teams well, but there was some miscommunication on a few passing plays. Luckily, it did not hurt the Pintos much.
Head Coach Mikel Gragg said that the team's growth in between the two scrimmages was important.
"We wanted to see them get better from the first one to the second one and show growth, because the first one is that quick learning curve. And so, for the second one, we are ready to go," Gragg said. "They came out and they grew and they got better as the night went on."
The offense struggled during the jamboree especially when it came to blocking. The blocking for both the running game and the passing game was not the strongest for the Pintos, as the other teams' defenses were able to get to the running back or quarterback quickly.
Gragg noted that blocking is something that the offense is going to need to work on, as they want to sustain blocks longer. The team also played cleanly, as they only had two penalties during the jamboree.
Despite the blocking problems, Gragg thinks that the offense can overcome their struggles, as they review the film from the jamboree.
"Once we get into the film, we will be able to really look at what we need to fix," Gragg said.
Gragg liked seeing the intensity from the team on both sides of the ball and the team's ability to overcome the difficulties they encountered during the scrimmages.
"We had really good intensity from our defense. They got to the football and they looked 'lights out' in that second scrimmage," Gragg said. "We saw that we are able to overcome some stuff and saw that we have the intensity that we are looking for."
Gragg said that there is a lot of positive to take away from the jamboree and that the team is on the cusp of being a good football team.
"There is a lot to take away from the positive side and we need to keep building on it and not be satisfied," Gragg said.