Pacheco, out of Los Banos, will be the opponent and Engel Field will be the place.

Escalon’s varsity football Cougars will host an opening round Sac-Joaquin Section Division 5 playoff game on Friday night, Nov. 4 with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

The Cougars, 4-2 in Trans-Valley League play, got the No. 5 seed in Division 5 and take on the No. 12 seed Pacheco team. The winner on Friday night moves on to face Hilmar in the next round. The top four teams in the division have a first round bye.

And while Escalon would like the chance to avenge a regular season loss to the TVL champion Yellowjackets, head coach Andrew Beam said it’s a matter of first things first; Pacheco has their full attention.

“We have to take it one game at a time,” Beam said. “Pacheco likes to run the football; they have a running back who went over 1,200 yards this year so it should be an interesting matchup.”

Tickets are available through a special website for the Section competition; the link is: https://gofan.co/app/events/760733?schoolId=CA22540

General admission tickets are $12; senior and military are $8 and student tickets are $5. Electronic tickets only will be available for the event.

Escalon closed out the league campaign with a 56-20 victory on the road at Livingston on Oct. 28, entering the playoffs on a winning note.

Senior captain Owen Nash said, coming off that big regular season win, he and quarterback Donovan Rozevink seem to be hitting stride at the right time.

“We’re just trying to stay on the same page,” Nash said of gearing up for the postseason. “Anybody in our path, I’m ready for.”

He also said the team needs to be prepared, since the playoffs are a win or go home situation.

“I think we’ve got to work on our leadership and morale, that I think is our missing link, that leadership,” the senior pointed out. “Everybody’s got to step up but our senior leaders especially need to step up, me included.”

Junior Josh Graham got involved in the Livingston game with some big rushing plays in the second half.

“It feels good, it feels like the momentum is building up, it’s going, like a train, we’re just going to make a big push to the playoffs,” Graham said. “I think everyone is just in unison, especially the defense. The defense has been making a big impact, especially against Ripon with the shutout and against Livingston, the first defense giving up just seven points, so defense has stepped up big time for us.”

Getting on the scoreboard with a touchdown catch against the Wolves, Nate Krieger is eager to keep moving in the right direction.

“This helped us a lot because it got some of our starters a break and gave them a rest, this win was important for us,” Krieger explained. “From here on we’re just going to take it a game at a time. I feel great for the postseason.”

Beam said there are many that are not pleased with the D5 bracket, as three Trans-Valley League teams – Escalon, Ripon and Hilmar – are all on the same side of the bracket. If Escalon wins Friday night, they face Hilmar in the second round and Beam said he agrees with the argument that the Yellowjackets, as the TVL champion, should have gotten a higher seed.

Still, the bracket is set and the Cougars will start with the Friday night contest, hoping to play for the next few weeks.

“We get a home game, which is nice, we will have our home crowd,” Beam added. “But there has to be a different level of focus.”