CALIFORNIA - The California Pintos are still looking for their first win of the season as they get ready to host the Eldon Mustangs tonight. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
California's losing streak to start the season reached five last week with a 38-0 loss to Versailles. The Pintos (0-5) have suffered shutouts in back-to-back games.
California's offense will get a boost tonight as starting quarterback Alex Currens returns from a wrist injury that caused him to miss the Versailles game.
But at the same time the Pintos will be without running back Logan Parish, who will miss tonight's game with what is to be believed as either a sprained shoulder or a broken collarbone. Parish is California's third-leading rusher with 202 yards, trailing Currens and Alex Meisenheimer.
California coach Mikel Gragg said the team is deep in the running back position.
"We are lucky because that is the one area where we have a plethora of people at, so hopefully we won't see too much drop off," he said.
Heading into this game, Gragg said that on offense, the Pintos are going to have to take care of their blocks. Last week the team struggled in that department.
Gragg said Eldon (3-2) does a good job of blitzing with their linebackers and that may cause problems for the Pintos."Last week we did not do a good job of picking up linebackers as they were blitzing through," Gragg said. "That is definitely something we are working on our offense for this week."
When it comes to defense, Gragg feels like his team matches up well with Eldon, which uses a wing-T offense.
"Our defense plays well against teams that are primarily a power run team and don't spread it out a lot," Gragg said. "Defensively, we think it is a good match up for us."
Gragg said the Pintos think their defensive line can control the line of scrimmage against Eldon, allowing their linebackers to make some plays.
Gragg did say there is an unknown about how the Mustangs will distribute the ball offensively, as they will be playing without starting quarterback Dawson Brandt, who suffered a knee injury two weeks ago and did not play in last Friday's 49-6 Homecoming loss to Blair Oaks.
Collin Tamm started at quarterback against the Falcons and scored the team's only touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
California will have to stop Eldon's running game, which has rushed for 1,301 yards through five games.
On the ground the Mustangs are led by Isaiah Parsons, who has rushed for 438 yards on 85 carries (5.2 avg.) with six touchdowns. Brandt was their second leading rusher, but with him sidelined, the Mustangs' next leading rusher is Logan Hall, who has 273 yards on 57 carries (4.8 avg.).
Defensively, Brandt was the Mustangs' leading tackler (32 tackles) and had three interceptions prior to his injury. Parsons will lead the Eldon defense heading into tonight's game with 29 tackles.
Last week, Parsons had 60 yards on 17 carries, while Hall finished with 52 yards rushing.
Related Media: California Pintos Football Podcast [Eldon preview, Sept. 28, 2018]