Prep Football: California looks to improve to 3-0 in conference with victory against Hallsville


California quarterback Jacob Wolken and running back Gunner Baquet rung the option during the first half of last
week's game against Eldon.
California quarterback Jacob Wolken and running back Gunner Baquet rung the option during the first half of last week's game against Eldon.

CALIFORNIA, Mo. - Head coach Marty Albertson has a simple plan for California's game tonight against Hallsville: take what the Indians' defense is giving him.

Since sophomore Jacob Wolken has made huge strides in the passing game in the last two weeks, opposing teams don't really know what to expect from the Pintos offense. California entered the season with a veer-style offense, but have moved toward a passing attack.

"After that last game, I'm sure Hallsville will try and take away our trips formation," Albertson said. "We'll use some other formations on them, and I think we can come back and run the veer on them."

During the Pintos two-game winning streak, opposing defenses have tried to load the box to take away the running game. That has allowed Wolken to find open receivers for big gains.

"We're going to run whatever they give us," Albertson said. "Last week, Eldon, the way they covered us, was giving us the pass and they were big inside. The pass was there and that's why we did it.

"This week, it depends what Hallsville gives us. If they take guys out of the box and put everybody out, we'll run the football more."

Wolken passed for just 196 yards and just one touchdown in his first three games of the season. Last week against Eldon, he threw for 329 yards and five touchdowns.

"It's like night and day compared to the first game," Albertson said. "He's throwing the ball better, he's making reads a lot better. So obviously he knows where to throw the football."

But Albertson is still looking for more consistency in Wolken's game, and with the receivers he has, that consistency can easily be there.

Since moving back to his receiver position, Landon Mouse has been a force. He's averaging 14 yards per catch in the three games he's played at receiver with two touchdowns. His season totals are 14 receptions for 195 yards.

Mouse did have a drop for an easy touchdown last week, but followed it up with a 4-yard touchdown a couple of plays later.

Senior Josh Woodruff is second on the team with 177 yards on seven catches, and leads the team with three touchdowns and 25 yards per catch.

Senior Ethan Hodges and sophomore Kyle Hofstetter proved they could be threats last week. Hodges is averaging 24 yards per catch, and Hofstetter became a nice short-yardage target last Friday. Junior Sam Cummings and sophomore Jacob Adams saw some first team snaps at practice Tuesday, too.

"Right now we have four or five kids that can catch the football, and that's a good thing," Albertson said. "You don't have to single-in on one guy."

The running back position has been a question mark, but after serious injuries to California's No. 1 and No. 2 running backs, junior Gunner Baquet is filling in nicely.

Baquet had 31 yards on seven carries last week.

Senor A.J. Kendrick suffered a shoulder injury during the first game of the season that will keep him out for a significant amount of time, and senior Dylan Ratcliff dislocated his elbow early in last week's game. Albertson thinks Ratcliff will be out for three to four weeks.

Junior Hayden Collier is another back that will see some action.

On defense, senior Brandan Gump had what Albertson called his "best game of his career." Gump racked up 18 total tackles against Eldon.

"He was around the ball almost every play," Albertson said. "At linebacker, he's going to do that for us, because he's our senior leader and leader on defense. He's got to do that and he did a great job."

While the California is averaging just 56 passing yards per game, opposing teams are averaging 219 rushing yards per game. That number is high, but Albertson's team is taking a bend-but-don't-break mentality.

Eight of the nine touchdowns allowed by California's defense this season have come on runs, and half of them were from 20-plus-yard runs.

"Hopefully, you won't give up those big plays," Albertson said. "On one of those plays, we had a blitz called and blitzed away from the run. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes they have the perfect play called for what we're doing."

California's defensive coordinator Jason Becker will have to game plan against Hallsville's running back Garrett Vincent, who rushed for 409 yards in the first three games of the season. Against Blair Oaks last Friday, Vincent had just three yards rushing, as the team was in the negative for total rushing yards.

"If we can stop him, I think we can stop their offense," Albertson said. "He either leads blocks, or carries the ball about every time. Then, they'll throw the screen pass to him."

California plays its second home game of the season Friday, looking for a 3-0 start to Tri-County Conference play.

"It's a great feeling," Albertson said. "We knew we let that first game get away, then got drilled the second game by Mexico, but Mexico is a really good team. We've played better each week, so that's the good thing."

California hosts Hallsville - Updates on Twitter: @CDemocratSports and @PintosAthletics. Listen live online: pintosonline.com

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