While their Friday night win over Ripon on Oct. 22 guaranteed at least a share of the Trans-Valley League title, varsity football head coach Andrew Beam is hoping that’s not enough.

“There are bigger aspirations ahead,” Beam said, noting that the varsity team will welcome Livingston to Engel Field for the regular season finale on Oct. 29. And the coach wants to see his team show up and take care of business.

“It literally will be the biggest TVL game we have played in 10 years,” he said, with a victory clinching sole possession of the league title, the top seed in the Division 5 playoff bracket and a bye week. Escalon has shared the title a few times in the last 10 years, but never been on top of the standings alone at the end of the regular season.

“It’s the ultimate trap game,” warned Beam, who noted that Livingston has plenty of weapons and plenty of reason to try and spoil the Cougars’ party.

It will be Senior Night for Escalon, with recognition of senior football players and cheerleaders, and Beam said the team has to work hard to make sure they don’t have a letdown after getting the win over rival Ripon this past week.

“Livingston has a four-year varsity starting quarterback, they have brothers who transferred from Oakdale that are a running back and a receiver … they are a very good football team and they are very capable of beating us,” Beam explained.

Escalon improved to 8-1 overall with the win over Ripon and are now 5-0 in the TVL. Their lone loss came on the home field, during Homecoming, a lopsided loss to Valley Oak League powerhouse Kimball.

The Livingston Wolves, said Beam, look a lot like Kimball in the way they spread the field and play the game, something that the Cougars need to be ready for if they want to complete the 6-0 league run.

And while the Cougars defeated Ripon in the head-to-head match-up, Beam said the Indians would be more than happy to claim a co-championship if they win against Hughson on Friday and the Cougars take a loss.

Beam said he and his assistant coaches will get the team as prepared as possible to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Kickoff will be about 7 p.m. at Engel Field.