The California Pintos were unable to get into the end zone until the fourth quarter during their 48-7 loss to the Boonville Pirates on Sept. 20.
The Pirates (3-1) scored first, as they went down the field and scored on a short touchdown run to make it 6-0 with 8:21 left in the first quarter. However, the Pintos (0-4) blocked the extra point attempt.
The Pintos offense struggled in its first drive and was forced to punt the ball. Boonville made it past midfield on its next drive before California forced a fumble that was recovered by Clayton Winkler for the Pintos. California would get to midfield before having to punt the ball again.
On the next Pirates drive, Matt Abernathy got a sack on first down by Trevor Myers to make it second and long. On the next play, the snap would get past the quarterback, but Boonville recovered the ball. The loss on the play made it third-and-47. The punt that followed on fourth down pinned the Pintos deep in their own territory. California was forced to punt again, but the Pintos were unable to get the punt off and Boonville recovered on California's one-yard-line. The Pirates put the great field position to good use as they scored on another short run and converted the two-point attempt to make it 14-0 near the end of the first quarter.
Boonville extended its lead to 21-0 after Tramell Coleman returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown with 10:28 left in the first half. The Pirates scored once more to make it 28-0 with 3:50 left to go in the half. The final score of the half came with 1:11 left to play, as Boonville scored on a 55-yard touchdown run by Avian Thomas to make it 34-0 right before halftime.
The team had some trouble with missing tackles when it came to trying to stop Boonville's running backs. Fundamentals and Boonville's athletes at the position were both reasons for the missed tackles, according to head coach Derek Scroggins.
"This resembled more like we did against Mexico and part of that is because we were trying to tackle a pretty good athlete in their running backs," Scroggins said. "When you are trying to tackle someone who moves in space like that, it is a lot harder to form them up and get a good angle tackle. We definitely made some mistakes in that area."
Thomas made it a 41-0 game as he returned an interception for another touchdown to make it 41-0 Boonville over California with just over 10 minutes to play in the third quarter. The Pintos started to find some success on offense as they were able to get deep into Boonville territory, but they turned the ball over on downs near the Pirates' 20-yard-line. The third quarter ended with Boonville leading 48-0.
The Pintos got on the board thanks to a 17-yard touchdown run by Calen Kruger to make it a 48-7 game with 8:31 left in the game, but the Pintos would not be able to get another score.
Despite the final score, Scroggins said the team did do a lot of good things on the field, as well.
"There were a lot of times where we did tackle pretty good athletes in space, and we did make plays on them, and we were able to stop them," Scroggins said. "We just were not able to do it for a full four quarters, and that is where we (have) to look at that and improve on the areas that are weak."
The Pintos' next game is at 7 p.m. Sept. 27. at home against the Versailles Tigers (0-4).
Versailles is coming off of a 56-8 loss to Blair Oaks.