If there’s anything Escalon varsity football players know about, it’s tradition.
A tradition of success in arguably the toughest small school league around, the Trans-Valley League, along with a tradition of community support and a tradition of families making sure the players are well-fed when it comes to game day.
For years – decades, actually – the home games for the varsity team have been preceded by a team meal, which is coordinated, prepared and served by team parents. The meals are traditionally hosted at the covered pavilion adjacent to the Escalon Community Center and are ready shortly after the school bell rings on those game day Fridays. Football players leave school and head over to the pavilion for some camaraderie, gather in a prayer circle, then enjoy the food that parents have prepared.
On a recent Friday, prior to a home game, the Ball, Ferreira and McNeil families were in charge, serving up pulled pork sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and Ceasar salad. Players make their way along the food line and take as much or as little as they want, depending on personal preference, as there is plenty of food to go around. They also make sure to thank the families providing the meal for that particular day.
“I know 20 years ago when I was in high school, it was a tradition back then,” said Escalon varsity head coach Andrew Beam. “The parents have really embraced that, feeding the boys, it’s all parent run, parent organized, parent funded and, as a coach, I love it.”
Having families step up, whether they are cooking, coordinating, providing monetary donations or supplying some of the food needed for the meals, it’s a system that works efficiently. Even for away games, sack lunches are put together for the players, receiving them as they get on the team bus for the trip back home.
Beam said it is something the entire varsity football program, from players to coaches, appreciates and doesn’t take for granted.
This week, it will be the bagged lunches, as Escalon heads to nearby Ripon Christian. The Cougars had their bye week on Oct. 10 and now gear up for the final three weeks of the Trans-Valley League season. They play at Ripon Christian on Oct. 17, host Ripon on Oct. 24 and close out the regular season on the road at Orestimba on Halloween, Oct. 31.
Escalon comes in to the Friday night battle with Ripon Christian at 1-2 in Trans-Valley League play, 3-4 overall, making the final three weeks critical in terms of getting into the playoffs. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
The Cougars need to win two of their last three games to get to five wins, which would most likely get them a postseason berth.
“We control our own destiny,” Beam said.
But going up against an improved Ripon Christian team – which is 6-1 overall and 2-1 in league, losing only to Hilmar so far in TVL play – constitutes a tall order.
Meanwhile the Cougars, noted Beam, are keeping pace with the San Franscisco 49ers in terms of losing key players to injury.
“We are running out of bodies,” the coach said. “In two years, we’ve had more major injuries than I would say in the previous 13 years combined.”
The host Knights will be a formidable foe, and Beam said Escalon will need to play hard-nosed football for a full four quarters. And in the always tough TVL, it’s interesting to note that Hilmar, the only team to defeat Ripon Christian so far, lost to Escalon in their head-to-head contest.
“This will be a big two weeks for us with the Ripon teams,” Beam said of the Oct. 17 and Oct. 24 contests. “We’ve got to find a way to win one of those.”
With their bye week, the Cougars did attend the Ripon Christian-Ripon contest on Oct. 10 at Ripon, with the Knights defeating the host Indians, 35-21.
“They are very fundamentally sound,” Beam said of the Knights. “They are well coached.”
And even as the next few weeks will be critical in determining whether Escalon plays on after October, Beam said the new playoff system approved by the California Interscholastic Federation, CIF, Board of Managers earlier this month will be in effect.
That means there will be an eight-team bracket in each of the Sac-Joaquin Section Divisions for playoffs, while teams that earn nine through 16 seeds will be matched up in a ‘Bowl game’ on Friday, Nov. 7.
“They are looking at making regionally attractive games,” Beam said of the bowl game scenarios, which could put teams in different divisions against each other for the one-game postseason appearance.
As far as the actual eight-team playoff brackets, those games this year will begin on Friday, Nov. 14.
“It’s in an effort to shorten the season,” Beam explained of the CIF changes, noting that some schools, with deep playoff runs, have been playing 14 to 16 games a season.
The format change for playoffs, plus moving the first day of practice to Aug. 3 next year, will shorten the campaign starting in 2026.
