Top 10 lowest scoring California high school football games of 2016

Video: Freddy Casillas' highlights vs. Williams High School
See the Colusa kicker hit a 37-yard field goal that was the game winner in a 3-0 victory.

Depending on the sport, low-scoring affairs can be masterful or ... well, not. A 1-0 pitcher's duel in baseball can be a work of art, where a 34-31 basketball game might have you wishing you'd left for home in the third quarter.

Low-scoring football games can be both defensive masterpieces or offensive failings depending on the game. And that's the beauty of the top 10 low-scoring California high school football games of 2016 - many are thrilling contests with drama late into the contest. You'll find that four of the 10 come from the Northern Section (not exactly a huge number of teams up there), that one team ends up on the list twice (San Diego High) and one city has two different teams on the list (Anaheim). On top of that, one city's rivalry game made the top 10 as well.

We have rivalry games, overtime games and a victory that kept a season from being winless.


Colusa 3, Williams 0
Colusa beat its rival on a 37-yard Freddy Casillas field goal in the fourth quarter of the Sept. 23 game.
The teams combined for 269 yards of total offense on the night and neither team was able to mount a scoring threat in the first half. In the second half, Colusa twice fumbled the ball deep in Williams' territory.

Orange 3, Godinez (Santa Ana) 0 (OT)
Four quarters weren't enough for this Sept. 30 defensive slugfest, as the teams needed overtime to settle this baseball-score game. The Panthers' Nick Guzman delivered the game-winning 15-yard field goal with just under a minute left in the overtime period to beat the Grizzlies.

Pajaro Valley (Watsonville) 3, Watsonville 0
Sure, it's great to win a high school football game. It's better when you beat your rival – in the final game of the season. Diego Navarro made a 24-yard field goal after Kevin Suarez recovered a fumbled punt in the third period for the Grizzlies and Navarro capped a seven-play drive with a 24-yard field goal on Nov. 4. The 3-0 win snapped Pajaro Valley's 17-game losing streak, giving it a victory in the Belgard Kup for the second time in the 11-year history of the rivalry. It also sent retiring coach Joe Gregorio out with a win and ice water bath.

Central (El Centro) 3, San Diego 0
Central's Ricky Guzman made a first-quarter, 47-yard field goal that proved to be the difference in this low-scoring affair on Sept. 16. The teams were pretty evenly matched, as Central wound up with 226 all-purpose yards and San Diego finished with 264 yards of all-purpose offense. The Cavers were actually involved in two of the 10 lowest scoring California games of the year, but we'll get to that later.

Anderson 6, Orland 0
Dylan Brooks kept the Cubs' second-quarter drive alive with a big fourth-and-short run deep in Orland territory and then finished off the drive on the next play, plunging into the end zone from a few yards out. The extra point attempt failed and Anderson's stout defense, which held the Trojans to 189 total yards offense, made the lone touchdown stand up for the Sept. 2 win.

Muir (Pasadena) 6, Desert Oasis (Las Vegas) 0
An injury to the Desert Oasis quarterback, a stout Muir defense and an Elijah Blades touchdown run added up to a win for the Mustangs in Las Vegas on Sept. 2. The game could've been 13-0 but a second Blades touchdown run – this one for 87 yards – was called back due to a penalty.

San Diego 6, Crawford (San Diego) 0
The Cavers came into this game 0-7, including the 3-0 loss to Central earlier in the season. Scoreless through three quarters on Oct. 21, San Diego would get what it needed to snap its losing skid in the fourth period. Raiden Hunter's interception set up the Cavers. Indae Gammon's 34-yard run brought San Diego deep into Crawford territory and Gammon capped the drive with a 6-yard scoring plunge.

Willows 6, Pierce (Arbuckle) 0
Pierce and Willows were knotted at zero deep into the fourth quarter of this Northern Section game. The Honkers, however, started to move the ball late in the game and quarterback Danny Chavez hit Luke Taylor for a 10-yard TD pass and the game-winning score with just under a minute left. The 2-point conversion failed and Pierce held on to beat the Bears. Willows held Pierce to under 200 yards of offense for the Oct. 28 game. Wheatland 6, Las Plumas (Oroville) 0
The Pirates' Mitch Hernandez only ran for 34 yards on the game, but none bigger than his second-quarter TD run.
Las Plumas entered the Oct. 28 game 1-7, but earned redemption the following week beating rival Oroville in the Victory Bell Bowl. For Wheatland, Hernandez's points were the final ones of the season, as they were waxed 42-0 the following week by Sutter and lost a first-round playoff game to Lassen 48-0.

Costa Mesa 6, Saddleback (Santa Ana) 0
Costa Mesa kept itself from going winless for the first time since 1989 – when George H.W. Bush was president. The Nov. 4 loss ended Saddleback's season on a four-game skid.