The California Trojans will be playing in front of their home fans against the Jeannette Jayhawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. California knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past seven matches -- so hopefully Jeannette likes a good challenge.
California put the finishing touches on their ninth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat Bentworth 61-0 on the road. Given California's advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 229th, while Bentworth is ranked 491st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
California had a senior duo take command as Spencer Petrucci rushed for 130 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 7.6 yards per carry and Jake Layhue rushed for 102 yards and three touchdowns on only ten carries. Layhue was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 58 yards.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Bentworth to a paltry 92 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to California's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out six times before it was all said and done. The heavy lifting was done by Malachi Peak and Fred Sherman who racked up four sacks between them.
Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 60-14, which was the final score in Jeannette's tilt against Clairton on Friday. Jeannette was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 42-14.
California's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 9-1. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-9 Carmichaels and 3-7 Bentworth (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 33.3% over those games). As for Jeannette, their loss dropped their record down to 7-3.
