HALLSVILLE It wasn't easy, and it wasn't pretty, but California found a way to win.
After dropping a pair of close games the past two weeks, the Pintos found themselves in a similar situation Friday night in Hallsville.
Thanks to a stout and opportunistic defense, California flipped the script on its way to a 6-0 win.
"The kids needed this one," California head coach Marty Albertson said. "It had to do a lot for them mentally. I still don't think we played really well tonight, but we won. If you can play ugly and win, that's a good thing."
The Pintos needed only six points in large part because they forced that same number of turnovers defensively four interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
After posting three shutouts last season, one of which came against Hallsville, Friday's win marks the first one of the year for the Pintos. Through four games in league play, California is again among the leaders in scoring defense in the Tri-County Conference.
"I thought (the defense) did a good job overall," Albertson said. "Any time you pitch a shutout, you can't ask for anything better than that. We got the turnovers when we needed them, so that was big."
The game's lone score came on the second play of the fourth quarter when California's Jacob Wolken hit Alex Meisenheimer on a 7-yard touchdown pass. A 31-yard completion from Wolken to Luke Freeman highlighted the drive, and was the longest play of the game for either side.
Wolken finished the day 6-for-17 passing for 66 yards with one pick in addition to his touchdown pass. He spread the ball around to five different receivers. On the ground, the junior had 74 yards on 20 carries.
Zane Parnell dropped back 26 times for the Indians, completing five passes for 65 yards. The 26 pass attempts nearly equaled the number of total passes California's secondary had seen all season, but the unit responded nicely to being tested.
"I thought the (secondary) played really well," Albertson said. "We gave up a couple plays, but not really long ones. Their longest play was 24 yards."
In the first half, the only sustained drive came from the Indians, who had the ball inside the 10-yard line early in the second quarter.
However, the Pintos' first and most impactful takeaway came on that series when senior lineman Dylan Silvey broke through the line to force a fumble with a hit on Hallsville's DQ Smith. Jacob Adams recovered the fumble and the Indians never sniffed the red zone for the rest of the game.
Kyle Hofstetter corralled California's biggest interception. The junior clinched the win when he picked off Parnell's pass with under two minutes left in the game.
"Coach has been on us about getting better presses than we have been in the past," Hofstetter said. "I pressed pretty tight on that last play and saw the ball come to the flats where I was supposed to be. Sure enough, he put the ball right where I was."
Meisenheimer, Freeman and Kyle Riley had the other three picks for the Pintos. Hallsville's interception came via Jadon Kilpack midway through the third.
Riley, a sophomore, was the standout defensively for the Pintos. He was California's leading tackler and picked off a shovel pass on Hallsville's opening drive of the second half.
"We worked a lot in practice on outside contain and reading blocks up the middle," Riley said. "I thought we just kept our eye on the ball tonight."
The game's leading rusher was California's Cory Friedmeyer, who racked up 81 yards on 17 carries. Smith led the Indians with 76 yards on 17 attempts.
In a game where field position played a huge role, California punter Liam Schatzer was an x-factor. On all five of his punt attempts, a few of which came from deep inside Pintos territory, Schatzer consistently flipped field position with his booming punts.
With just three regular season games left, the district picture is starting to clear up. As it stands now, California is seeded fifth in Class 2 District 4 and would play at Versailles (3-3) if things were to hold.
After losing to the Tigers 14-10 just two weeks ago, the opportunity to for revenge against a conference opponent would be a chance the Pintos would relish.
"It'd be nice to move up by the end of the year and get a district home game," Albertson said. "But right now, Versailles is in that spot. Even if we have to go to Versailles, that wouldn't be a long trip."
Both teams are now 2-4 and with the win, California improved to 2-2 in Tri-County play while Hallsville dropped to 0-4 in the conference.
The Pintos will head to Southern Boone (4-2, 2-2) on Friday.