ELDON - Eldon Mustangs coach Chad Hult is well aware this squad faces a red-hot opponent tonight in the California Pintos.
But with no disrespect to the Pintos, they're not an angry Blair Oaks on a mission, which is what Eldon had to endure a week ago.
This week the Mustangs travel to California for a Tri-County Conference clash with the Pintos. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Eldon is 1-4 overall, 0-3 in the Tri-County and trying to snap a four-game losing skid, which included last week's 69-6 blasting by a Blair Oaks Falcon squad still steaming after having its 51-game regular-season winning streak snapped by fill-in small-school powerhouse opponent Valle Catholic.
California is 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference after whipping Versailles 43-7 a week ago.
"I feel like we are doing some things we need to do," California coach Derek Scroggins said. "Although last week we were not as disciplined as we want to be."
To be sure Scroggins was preaching discipline this week in practice while preparing for an Eldon wing-T offensive attack full of misdirection.
"They run an offense that's unique right now," Scroggins said of the Mustangs. "They're the only team in the regular season we'll face with that kind of play. We definitely need to make sure we're disciplined and play assignment football."
Eldon's wing-T will have to pick up its point production to stay with the hard-charging Pintos.
California is one of several high-octane Tri-County offenses, with 1,499 rushing and 721 passing yards so far in 2020. The Pintos average 37.2 points per game.
For the Pintos, junior quarterback Calen Kruger has completed 41-of-75 passes for 649 yards, two interceptions and nine touchdowns while rushing for 515 yards (9.0 yards per carry) and six TDs.
Also for California, junior running back Tagen Higgins has rushed for 566 yards (7.2) and five TDs, junior Enoch Dunnaway has 148 yards and junior receiver/running back Drake Schlup has 133 yards and three TDs.
Junior wideout Trevor Myers has 15 catches for 338 yards and three touchdowns, Schlup has 11 catches for 105 yards and four TDs and senior Dawson Gump has eight receptions for 135 yards and two TDs.
For the Pintos defense, senior linebacker Bryant Davis has 59 tackles; Higgins, a linebacker, 41 tackles, and junior cornerback Kaden Bax has four of the team's 10 interceptions.
"The first thing that stands out about them is how hard they play," Hult said of California. "They play as hard as anyone we face. California has got a great tradition and Coach Scroggins has come in and has gotten the kids to buy into his system.
"Their guys in the backfield are talented. (Higgins) and the quarterback (Kruger) do a lot of read plays. And up front they're big and physical. Defensively their strength is how many people they get to the football. That goes back to how hard they play."
Eldon was the 40th straight Tri-County victim to fall to the Blair Oaks Falcons last week.
The Mustangs were limited to less than 100 rushing yards on 40 carries last week. And the big deficit forced Eldon to attempt many more passes than its comfortable with.
"Their guys came out on a mission to get back to where they were," Hult said of Blair Oaks. "The pros for us were we didn't quit; we competed the whole time. We had some success early on with a few decent drives."
"They've got a couple linemen on both sides of the ball who come off hard," Scroggins said of Eldon. "No. 50 (junior Sam Coppock) is aggressive and quick. They've had to deal with kids being quarantined, so they're a little bit of an unknown."
Hult said the Mustangs will be without a pair of key players - one due to injury and one due to COVID-19.
The injured player is two-way starter Owen Levesque, a team leader at both running back and linebacker. He suffered a knee injury against Blair Oaks and was to have an MRI this week.