CALIFORNIA, Mo. - Up by 30 points just before halftime Friday night, things looked pretty good for the California Pintos.
Up by seven with five minutes remaining, things were getting a little too interesting for the Pintos.
"Definitely," California coach Marty Albertson said.
But the California defense came up big when it needed to, snuffing out a pair of late drives by the School of the Osage Indians with a pair of interceptions by Landon Mouse as the Pintos took a 43-29 decision on Senior Night.
"Osage has a lot of good athletes and they were playing hard," Albertson said. "They got some momentum and once you give somebody some momentum, it's hard to get it back."
California appeared to be cruising early, scoring three unanswered touchdowns with three 2-point conversions to take a 24-0 lead early in the second quarter.
California quarterback Jaden Barr got the Pintos on the board midway through the opening quarter on a 23-yard run. Barr then ran for a 2-point conversion and it was 8-0.
The Pinto defense got into the scoring act on Osage's next series when Mouse picked off a pass and returned it 67 yards for a touchdown. Barr ran for another 2-point conversion and it was 16-0.
Barr's second touchdown run and a 2-point conversion made it 24-0 with 9:40 left before halftime.
Osage got on the board with 4:57 on the clock on a 5-yard run by Jake Ulmer. The try for 2 points failed and it was 24-6.
California had a quick answer, going 56 yards in four plays. Barr again did the honors, scoring on a 29-yard run. The try for 2 failed and the Pintos led 30-6.
The Pintos weren't done scoring in the half. With :54.8 left, Barr hit Walker Borghardt for a 29-yard touchdown. The extra point kick failed and it was 36-6.
The Indians came up with a big score in the final seconds of the half, going 72 yards in five plays. The touchdown came on a 15-yard pass from Austin Riley to Ulmer. Again, the 2-point try came up short and it was 30-12 at intermission.
Osage needed just two plays in the second half to score, which came on a 56-yard pass from Riley to Ulmer. The 2-point try failed. The Indians climbed closer when they scored on the second play of the fourth quarter on a 38-yard pass from Riley to Brad Russell. Ulmer ran for 2 points to make it 36-26.
Ulmer booted a 28-yard field goal with 5:01 remaining to pull the Indians to within seven at 36-29.
After a three-and-out, a 38-yard punt by Barr had the Indians starting at their own 25 with 3:19 remaining. The Indians drove to the Pinto 30 before Mouse picked off a fourth-down pass by Riley with a little more than a minute remaining.
On the next play, Aaron Kendrick of California ran 80 yards for a touchdown and the PAT made it 43-29.
Mouse then got his third interception with about :30 remaining to ice the victory.
Barr finished with 171 yards on the ground on 14 carries, while going 13-of-28 for 211 yards through the air.
Riley was 17-of-36 passing for 277 yards for the Indians. Ulmer totaled 81 rushing yards on 17 attempts.
California (8-0, ranked No. 2 in Class 3) will wrap up the regular season next Friday at Warsaw. Osage (6-2) will conclude its regular season Friday at Hallsville.