Oct 7, 2016 2 min read

CARMICHAELS – Ugly weather equals ugly football.

A steady rain fell on Carmichaels High School Friday night as the Mikes hosted California in a matchup of two of the top three teams in the Tri-County South Conference.

Despite the wetness, the field and clean play held up for the first two quarters, which spanned an hour, but by the time the teams returned to the field to start the second half, the rain had started to become angry, shooting downward with volume and force until the final whistle. Neither team played pretty in the resulting muck, but Carmichaels prevailed with a 33-17 win.

It seemed like every play in the second half featured either a penalty or a fumble, with both teams contributing. Carmichaels coach Ryan Krull said his team’s key to eventually sorting out its offense after going scoreless in the third quarter was holding onto the football.

“Once we got that straightened out we were able to go,” Krull said.

Junior running back Brennan Pelzer had both of the scores for the Mikes (5-0, 5-1) in the fourth quarter, which came on four- and five-yard runs.

While Carmichaels managed to minimize the destructive effects of the elements well enough, the same couldn’t be said for California (3-2, 4-3), which left head coach Darrin Dillow frustrated.

“We can’t even take a snap. We can’t run the ball. We can’t throw the ball,” Dillow said. “Carmichaels had the same conditions as us. That’s on us that we fumbled the ball.”

Carmichaels held a 20-10 lead at halftime, but the Trojans received the ball when play resumed and had ended the second quarter on a 10-0 run.

The visitors would maintain their momentum into the second half when quarterback Austin Grillo connected with Collin Phillips for a long passing touchdown in the third quarter, that play and the ensuing extra point by Dustin Mock were the only points of the third period.