VERSAILLES, Mo. - The California Pintos football team - 5-1 overall and 3-1 in Tri-County Conference play - won its third straight game after handily defeating the Versailles Tigers 43-7 on Oct. 2, piling up nearly all of their points in just the first two quarters.
The Pintos struck first on the night, as they took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. With less than four minutes to go in the quarter, it looked like Versailles was in good position to score as the Tigers had the ball near the Pintos 20-yard line. However, the Pintos' defense forced a big turnover as Bryant Davis intercepted a pass and returned it to near the Tigers' 35-yard line. California's offense then took the ball into the red zone and finished the drive with a short touchdown run by Drake Schlup to make it a 14-0 game with less than a minute to go in the quarter.
On the first possession of the the second quarter for the Pintos, Tagen Higgins broke off a lengthy 67-yard touchdown run to make it a 21-0 game with 9:00 left in the quarter. Near the end of the first half, after forcing a punt and starting at their own 19-yard line, Calen Kruger had a big run of his own as he kept the ball and took it to around midfield. California continued to march down the field and Kruger scored on a 16-yard touchdown run to make it 29-0 with 2:05 left in the first half.
On the following kickoff, the Pintos attempted an onside kick and the ball rocketed off the shin of a Versailles player right back to the Pintos, who recovered the kick.
"Our kicker kicked it right at him and that thing struck that kid hard and thundered off of him and we were able to get it back, so it was good stuff," head coach Derek Scroggins said.
The Pintos were unable to score, though, as they lost the ball on a fumble during the following possession. Nevertheless, California's defense held strong and forced the punt, and Schlup's return gave the Pintos good field position near midfield. A few plays later Kruger found Trevor Myers near the front of the right side of the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown pass to make it 36-0 with less than 20 seconds to go before half time.
With plays like Higgins' 67-yard gallop and Kruger's earlier rush, the Pintos had multiple plays that gave them big chunks of yards on offense; Scroggins said plays like those can increase the energy of the team, regardless of mistakes or turnovers.
"We did a great job blocking to the whistle and running hard and executing," Scroggins said. "We had that one fumble that we can't do. We don't like it when we turn it over and on that one completed pass, we fumbled it. But other than that, our kids were able to go hard and execute. A lot of it started up front on the offensive line leading the way. and our running backs did a heck of a job following their blocks."
In the third quarter, the Pintos scored for the final time on the night thanks to a four-yard touchdown pass from Kruger to Schlup, making it 43-0 with less than 9:00 to go in the quarter. The score remained the same as the teams entered the final quarter.
Scroggins said on defense, the Pintos were hitting hard and playing aggressive. However, California had some struggles with penalties in the game, as the Pintos took seven total penalties throughout the game. Scroggins said the team can lower that number by being more disciplined.
"It is a fine line between playing aggressive and being undisciplined, and tonight we did not do a very good job of that," Scroggins said. "It cost us at moments and, luckily, our kids were able to compensate for our errors in that department, but it is one of those things where we can't make those types of mistakes. So we need to shore it up; that is something that is not acceptable."
With a running clock throughout the quarter, Versailles broke the shutout by scoring on a short touchdown run with less than 11 minutes left to make it 43-7, but by then, the game was firmly in the Pintos' hands.
The Pintos' next game is at 7 p.m Oct. 9 against the Eldon Mustangs (1-4). The Mustangs are coming off of a 69-6 loss to Blair Oaks in their last game.