California football's late-season hot streak continued last Friday night as they defeated the Hallsville Indians 41-38 for their third straight win.
Senior quarterback Martin Kilmer took center stage and had the game of his career with five rushing touchdowns to propel the Pintos past the Indians.
"This win is important because it's going to give us a little bit of momentum going into next week. I told our team at the end of the game that we have faced a lot of adversity this year. With everything from four straight losses and games that we felt like we should've won, that we didn't," Pintos coach Seth Womack said. "So for us to keep coming to work every day, battle back, and put three wins together in a row is pretty remarkable. Not a lot of teams can do that. Especially against the quality of an opponent like we had tonight."
California got right to work on their first possession. After sophomore running back Brooks Volkart picked up 26 yards for a first down to get the Pintos into the red zone, Kilmer fooled the Hallsville defense on a quarterback keeper and ran into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown. Just 71 seconds into the game, California had a 7-0 lead.
Hallsville went three-and-out on their first possession and California got another big offensive play when junior Ayden Bryant, who had just returned from a concussion, made a catch and run of 47 yards to the Hallsville 24-yard line. Two plays later, sophomore running back Tyler Oden turned on the jets for an 18-yard touchdown to give California 14-0 lead with 7:15 to go in the first quarter.
Hallsville started to make some noise in the second quarter after senior running back Harrison Fowler took control of the game. Fowler converted two third downs for the Indians and found the end zone on a 3-yard run. Fowler completed a 2-point conversion to make a 14-8.
Kilmer called his own number again on California's following possession and found a hole in the Hallsville defense for a 45-yard touchdown run to put California back up by two possessions. However, Fowler bulldozed his way through Pintos defense and scored his second touchdown of the game on a 14-yard run and California led 21-16 at the half.
Womack and his staff knew they had to make changes on defense if they were going to contain Fowler. Womack said even though Fowler was their primary focus for the second half, he was also concerned Hallsville quarterback Brayden Matheney might be ready to explode in the passing game.
"We knew that in the second half, they were probably going to throw the ball a little bit more. So we had to adjust our defensive coverage and alignments a little bit. The quarterback that they played tonight, that's his deal. That's his bread and butter. He's a thrower first and he put some good balls out there, but ultimately, they want to run with Harrison and he's just a big bulldozer," Womack said. "One of the things we did was move our defensive line a little more up front and we called a couple of fronts for our guys to get better angles for their tackles and make plays. With a guy like Harrison, you can't stop him, you've just got to hope to slow him down. That was really our philosophy in the fourth quarter. We know that they're going to move the ball on the ground and try to run down the clock. If we can't stop them or force them into turnovers, then we'll let them eat the time away and let them beat themselves."
Hallsville picked up where they left off at the end of the first half by putting the ball in the hands of Fowler and letting the big running back bulldoze through the Pintos defense. Fowler converted two third downs for the Indians and senior wide receiver Landyn Sievers finished the drive with a 22-yard touchdown reception from Matheney. Folwer scored another 2-point conversion and Hallsville had their first lead of the night, 24-21, with 8:23 left in the third.
With the Pintos in danger of punting on their next drive, Martin Kilmer found his younger brother, sophomore wide receiver Hayden Kilmer, for a 12-yard gain to extend the drive. The Pintos again worked their way down to the red zone, where Martin Kilmer gave the Pintos lead on a 1-yard touchdown to make the score 28-24 with 5:11 left in the third quarter.
In the closing minute of the third quarter, the Pintos got the ball back. On first-and-10 from their own 17-yard line, Kilmer faked a hand-off to Volkart and ran the ball down the right sideline. Kilmer got a block from his brother Hayden and took the ball all the way for an 83-yard touchdown with 8.1 seconds to go in the third quarter.
Down by 11, Hallsville looked once again to Fowler to lead a comeback charge. However, California was ready as California changed front line coverages to allow their best tacklers get to Folwer quicker. The strategy worked in spurts for California, but Fowler managed to get two third-down conversion. On a third-and-8 from the 42, Matheney handed the ball of the backup running back Abe El-Fenaish, who found an opening and took the ball all the way for a touchdown. California managed to stop Fowler on the 2-point conversion to maintain a five-point lead at 35-30.
After California downed the ball at their own 29-yard line on the ensuing kickoff, Womack decided to use Hallsville's own strategy against them. Womack put the ball in the hands of his running backs in an attempt to take time off the clock while looking for a touchdown to go back up by two possessions.
The strategy paid off as Volkart took seven straight hand-offs and totaled more than 40 yards into Hallsville territory. California continued to run the same running plays during the drive and the Indians didn't have an answer to stop it. The drive covered 87 yards and it ended with Kilmer's fifth rushing touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run. California missed the extra point, but led 41-30 with 5:37 to go.
Matheney and the Indians responded with a touchdown in less than two minutes, with Fowler scoring his third touchdown of the night on a 4-yard run. Fowler converted another 2-point conversion to make the score 41-38 California with 3:35 remaining.
California downed the ball on the 13-yard line and tried to hang on to the 3-point lead. Volkart converted a second-and-nine to give California a first down at the 28-yard line and Hallsville had to use their second timeout of the half. On a third-and-5 from the 33, Volkart came through again with an 8-yard again for another set of downs. Hallsville then had to use their final timeout with less than a minute to play. Kilmer made the final plays of the game and sealed the game with a short gain and two kneels to give California a 41-38 win.
Kilmer completed 11-of-19 passes for 204 passing yards. Kilmer also ran for a career-high 172 yards on 15 carries with five touchdowns. Womack said that while Kilmer was struggling in the opening weeks of the season, his talent was still within him and in the last three weeks, Kilmer has become more confident and comfortable in his game, which has helped the Pintos go on a three-game winning streak.
"I think he's got his confidence back. When you lose four games as a quarterback, you can sometimes doubt yourself, and in some of the games where we lost, he didn't have the best of nights. That's hard on a guy, especially a 17-year old young man," Womack said. "However, the thing about Martin is he's a remarkable dude, who is resilient, tough, and gritty. He'll figure things out and when he's gotten an opportunity in these last few weeks, he's getting his confidence back and he's making plays when he needs to."
In addition to Kilmer's big night, Volkart ran for 133 yards on 22 carries. Oden ran for 61 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. Byrant totaled 89 yards on three catches.
But Womack said the offensive and defensive lines played perhaps the most pivotal roles in the win.
"The offensive and defensive lines are always crucial and key to a win and our kids up front tonight took pride in their jobs and did what they had to do to help us get this win. They were able to move bodies. We were able to sustain drive, after drive, after drive and put eight-, nine- or 10-play drive together and score when we needed to in big situations. Holy cow, they came up big for us tonight," Womack said.
California is the No. 6 seed in the Class 2 District 2 Tournament and will travel today to Washington to take on third-seeded Borgia (5-4) in the first round. Game time is 7 p.m.
Sophomore running back Brooks Volkart runs to the sideline for a Pintos first down in the third quarter. Volkart had 21 carries for 156 yards against the Indians. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Head Coach Seth Womack addresses the Pintos after California won their third straight game on Friday night. California will play St. Francis Borgia in districts next week. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
The California Pintos make their way onto the field for Friday's regular-season finale against the Hallsville Indians. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
California's captains meet with Hallsville's captains at midfield for the opening coin toss. Captains form left to right: Senior Martin Kilmer, Senior Hunter Berendzen, Senior Peter Dampf, and Senior DJ Schneider. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior quarterback Martin Kilmer (left) and junior wide receiver Walker Friedmeyer (right) celebrate Kilmer's 46-yard touchdown to put the Pintos up 21-8 in the second quarter. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Senior quarterback Martin Kilmer (right) scores his fifth rushing touchdown of the game to give California a 41-30 lead with 5:37 to play against the Hallsville Indians. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Junior linebacker Chase Schlup makes a critical sack in the third quarter to force Hallsville to punt. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Sophomore running back Brooks Volkart had 156 yards on 21 carries against Hallsville on Friday. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)
Junior wide receiver Walker Friedmeyer had two receptions for 26 yards on Friday night. (Democrat photo/Evan Holmes)