ELDON, Mo. - The California Pintos suffered their worst loss of the season at the hands of Eldon Sept.15. California lost 55-14 in a one-sided game at Eldon.
There were not a lot of positives for the Pintos in the first half, as they were down 41-0 at halftime. Eldon had success during every possession, as they ran the ball effectively against California's defense. The Pintos did not get a stop until the second half of the game.
It was an off day for an otherwise strong Pintos' defense and Head Coach Mikel Gragg mentioned that the team did not play well.
"We did not play very well up front tonight," Gragg said. "We didn't have a very good performance and there are things we have to work on for next week."
The defense gave up a season high 55 points and could not stop the run, as Eldon ran for six touchdowns.
Offensively, for most of the game, it was the same problems for the Pintos as the offensive line struggled. The line gave up four sacks and could not open up a lane for the running game during the first half.
Gragg said that the team just could not prevent Eldon's defense from getting into the backfield.
"Early on, we didn't think we could stop their pass rush; and it definitely showed in the first half," Gragg said.
In the second half, the team played much better, as the defense only gave up 14 points, while the offense scored 14 points, thanks to sophomore quarterback Alex Currens, who is looking more comfortable in game situations. Currens ran for a 25-yard touchdown and a 28-yard touchdown to get the Pintos on the board in the third quarter.
Gragg noticed Currens' improvement and said that he is improving every week.
"Currens made some great reads and pulled the ball down and ran and made some good runs," Gragg said. "He is getting better every single week. When you try to bring in a sophomore quarterback, he is going to make some sophomore mistakes. He has made those and it looks like he is learning from them."
While the team played better and competed the whole game, it was a case of too little, too late as the large deficit created in the first half was too much to overcome.
Gragg said that the team did well in the second half and that the players continued to compete just like how the coaches have been telling them to do all year.
"We told our kids at halftime, that we just wanted to see them compete in the second half and not give up," Gragg said. "We can take that away from this - even though we were getting beat, we fought in the second half and we never gave up."