California to face Boonville in Tri-County battle

California sophomore Calen Kruger throws a pass during last Friday night's game against School of the Osage in Osage Beach.

CALIFORNIA - The California Pintos are looking to get into the win column tonight as they get ready to host the Boonville Pirates.

The Pintos (0-3 overall, 0-1 Tri-County Conference) are coming off a tough 20-14 loss at School of the Osage, while Boonville (2-1, 0-1) is coming off a 38-21 defeat to Blair Oaks. The Pirates are ranked No. 9 in Class 3 in this week's Missouri Media Rankings.

Last Friday night, California sophomore quarterback Calen Kruger threw two touchdown passes in the loss to Osage. Those were the first two passing touchdowns for the Pintos this season as the team scored a season-high 14 points.

Kruger also avoided any interceptions in the game and California coach Derek Scroggins said the passing game for the Pintos is coming along.

"This was (Kruger's) first game starting at quarterback and so I felt that he settled into the role pretty well," Scroggins said.

California led Osage 14-7 heading into the fourth quarter of their game before the Indians scored 14 points in the final 12 minutes to complete the comeback.

Scroggins said going into this week's game, execution will again be something the Pintos focus on.

"Like most weeks I think our focus should be on ourselves," he said. "Making sure that we execute and play to the whistle and take care of the little things."

On defense, the Pintos gave up a season-low in points and had two takeaways, both interceptions in the game. In their first two games of the season, the Pintos gave up 48 points to both Lighthouse Christian Academy and Mexico.

California has been stayed relatively injury-free through the first three games this season.

Scroggins said the Pintos can be competitive in tonight's game against the Pirates.

"Boonville is a pretty solid football team," he said. "They were beating Blair Oaks for a while and Blair Oaks was able to come back in the second half and then win the game by 14 points.

"But Boonville is a ranked Class 3 opponent and they have some really good athletes on the field. So I feel that if we are disciplined and do the things we are capable of of doing that we we should have a pretty competitive football game with them."

Game time is 7 p.m.

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