On a cold Oct. 11 evening, the California Pintos fell to 1-6 on the year as they suffered their first shutout of the season in a 38-0 loss to the Hallsville Indians (5-2).
California head coach Derek Scroggins said the team was not affected by the cold.
"It was nice to see because anytime you put them in an element that they are not used to, you never know how they are going to respond, but I did not feel like that caused us issues," Scroggins said.
The game was close for the first half, as Hallsville scored the first touchdown of the game to make it 6-0 with just over a minute left in the first quarter.
On their next drive, it looked like California was going to answer with a score of its own, as the team marched down the field and completed two fourth-down attempts on the drive to get well within the red zone at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, during the same drive, California got the ball to the Hallsville three-yard line, but on third down and goal, Calen Kruger's pass was intercepted in the end zone.
A couple of plays later, Hallsville scored on an over 40-yard touchdown run to make it 12-0 with 6:38 left in the first half, as the Pintos were able to stop their two-point attempt.
California had to punt on its next drive, and Hallsville would go down the field to score once again, making it 18-0 with 3:37 in the first half as, again, the Pintos stopped their two-point attempt. Later near the end of the first half, the Pintos recovered a fumble close to midfield but the offense could not get on the board. At the end of the first half, the Pintos were still in the game with the score at 18-0.
Scroggins said the defense came out and played physical.
"We were aggressive, and we took a step in the right direction," Scroggins said. "We took some of the things that we messed up on last week, and we were able to improve on those because Hallsville is a pretty darn good team."
California started the second half with the ball but had to punt shortly after. The Pintos' defense played tough as it also forced a punt on Hallsville's first possession of the second half. After another punt by the Pintos, California's defense forced its second takeaway of the game as it recovered a fumble on the Pintos' side of the field. But a few plays later, Kruger's pass was intercepted by Hallsville and returned for a touchdown to make it 24-0 with just under six minutes to play in the third quarter. California was able to block the extra point attempt. The quarter ended with the same score.
Hallsville added two touchdowns in the final quarter to make it a 38-0 game.
California's next game is a senior night matchup at home against the Southern Boone Eagles at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18. The Eagles (5-2) lost 40-0 to Blair Oaks in their last game.