CALIFORNIA, Mo. - The California Pintos are 5-0. The Southern Boone Eagles are 0-5.
But don't think for a second the Pintos are looking past tonight's game against the Eagles in Ashland.
"We can't take any team lightly," California head coach Marty Albertson said. "Though they haven't won, Southern Boone has played a lot of close games. They were ahead in the Blair Oaks game, but ended up losing, and they were tied with Hallsville going into the fourth quarter, then lost. They're better than they've been in the past."
The Eagles lost their season opener to St. Pius X: Kansas City 27-26, lost 35-14 to Hallsville in week 3 before falling 28-23 at School of the Osage in week 4.
Last Friday, Southern Boone dropped a 34-7 decision to Blair Oaks.
"We moved the ball well against Blair Oaks," Southern Boone head coach Trent Tracy said. "We were up 7-0 in the first quarter, then down 14-7 at the half. We out-gained Blair Oaks offensively."
Tracy is in his first year with Southern Boone and is pleased with a lot of things he's seen from the Eagles.
"Our kids really are very focused, which is hard to do when you're 0-5," he said. "One thing I was afraid of going into this season is that the boys would already feel beat when they face teams like Blair Oaks and California, but they haven't done that. At the end of each game, I've never questioned their effort.
"To an outsider looking in, 0-5 looks like we're not doing well, but to be honest, it's going good. Our schedule is brutal. Right now the opponents we've played are a combined 22-3. Then throw California in and that's a tough schedule."
In their last meeting, California (5-0 and ranked No. 2 in Class 3) defeated Southern Boone 42-0.
The Pintos have been consistent this season in coming out of the gate focused to establish an early lead.
"When we get on them early in the game, it makes us hard to beat," Albertson said.
In last week's 68-14 win at Hallsville, California had a 21-7 edge after the first quarter before rolling to a 54-7 advantage at the half. The Pintos ended up with 488 yards of offense to the Indians' 140 yards.
"We took them out of the game early," Albertson said. "Our special teams had some good returns. In all phases of the game, I was very pleased."
Tracy said the Eagles' goal for tonight's game is to "keep it as blank as possible. We're going to give it everything we've got, leave everything on the field. California and Blair Oaks are the teams we eventually want to be. To get there, we have to measure up to them, to see where we need to improve. If you don't play good teams, you're never going to get better."
Tracy is counting on senior middle linebacker Grant Sandifer to be the glue for the Eagles.
"Grant is the heart and soul of our team," Tracy said. "He leads the team, he's in every other tackle at least, and he has a great nose for the football. He's a weight room junkie. Last week he rushed for 115 yards against Blair Oaks, and he had two huge carries where he just ran over a couple of players."
Tracy feels his team can be competitive against the Pintos.
"We go into every Friday night giving 100 percent effort on every play," he said. "Our goal this Friday is to limit turnovers and mental mistakes. If we do that, I have no doubt we can make a game out of it. "
The Pintos are looking to continue the process of improving each and every week.
"We're getting better every game, which is our goal," Albertson said. "Right now we're where we need to be. We should be a pretty good football team by the end of the season."
And the Pintos are looking to improve tonight.
"Our philosophy has always been one game at a time," Albertson said. "Right now we're just thinking about Southern Boone."
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.