CALIFORNIA, Mo. - After spending the first two weeks of the season on the road against non-conference opponents, the California Pintos will return to the friendly confines of the new Riley Field tonight against conference foe Versailles.
"Yeah, I think we're ready for some home cooking," head coach Marty Albertson said before Tuesday's practice. "We're young, and when the kids start off on the road, it's pretty tough to go out on the road and play."
The Pintos (0-2) are coming off a rough two-game stretch against Boonville and Mexico, being outscored 44-6 which included a 35-0 rout at the hands of the Bulldogs.
Despite what the scoreboard said, Albertson believes his team improved from Week 1 to Week 2. The penalties were down, the passing game was better and the special teams put the Pintos' offense in good field position multiple times throughout the game.
"Kyle Hofstetter, a sophomore, had a couple of really nice returns," Albertson said. "Josh had a couple returns which he was really close at breaking. I thought our kickoff returns did well."
But even with the good field positions, the turnover margin was not something California improved on. After fumbling twice and throwing an interception in Week 1, the Pintos had two interceptions and a fumble last Friday.
"Obviously, we played a lot better of a team this week," Albertson said after Friday night's game. "We made three mistakes in the first half that killed us. You know, we have to cut them out."
But when asked about his team's improvement in the penalty department, Albertson wasn't having it.
"But that one on the goal killed us," Albertson said. "That was a wide receiver didn't get up on the line of scrimmage. He wasn't moving, just didn't get up on the line of scrimmage. That's a mental mistake because we scored on that play."
Compared to his first appearance in week one, sophomore quarterback Jacob Wolken had a better game in his first career start, completing 7-of-11 passes. He looked more comfortable behind center, but while he completed some good passes, he also over threw some receivers.
After a lengthy film study session, Wolken and his receivers spent some time running routes during Tuesday's practice to help build better chemistry.
"He's young and made a few mistakes," Albertson said. "I think Jacob's a great kid, he's going to keep working at it and get better as the season moves on."
Senior Landon Mouse is still coming off a knee injury, as Albertson called him "75 percent" last Friday night. Mouse played his free safety position the entire game and saw a lot of time at his old wide receiver position. He caught four passes for 17 yards.
Mouse led the team in receptions, and he was tied for first on the team with Josh Woodruff in yards. Wolken just missed a wide-open Mouse down the sideline on a fly route during the game, which could have been an easy touchdown, and Wolken overthrew Mouse on a curl route. The ball was high and tipped off Mouse's hands right into the open arms of a Mexico defender.
"Passes were there that we should have completed," Albertson said. "That's just a bad break. (Mouse) was wide open, we just didn't get it done."
Senior A.J. Kendrick is the only California player that has been officially ruled out this week, but Albertson will probably hold sophomore Cory Friedmeyer out one more week. Senior wide receiver Ethan Hodges missed last week's game, but is expected to play tonight.
With Friedmeyer likely out, that gives more young players a chance to step up for California. Albertson liked what he saw from sophomore Jacob Adams and and junior Ricky Worthy against Mexico.
Adams recorded seven tackles, tied for first on the team with Mouse, and had one sack.
"I thought Jacob had a great game," Albertson said. "He made a couple of mistakes, but he did good things."
This week in practice, Albertson is stressing the importance of containing Versailles' first-year quarterback Duane Danner in the pocket.
"They run spread," he said. "The quarterback is pretty good. We have to keep him in the pocket because he scrambles really well. He usually scrambles and finds somebody open."
On offense, Albertson wants to get his speedy playmakers in space, like Josh Woodruff. Albertson had him at running back to begin the season, but has been moving out wide in practice since.
Woodruff's skill-set may be best utilized at receiver.
"We'll probably leave him out at receiver," he said. "Just because right now we're trying to improve our run block. If he's on the outside, at least he's a threat out there."
California hosts Versailles - Updates on Twitter: @CDemocratSports and @PintosAthletics. Listen live online: pintosonline.com. Watch live online: Lake TV.
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