Though it will be played on the field at Modesto Christian High School, the Friday night, Oct. 6 varsity football game is being considered a ‘home’ game for Escalon.
“There is no JV game (at MC) and we are going to be, technically, the home team,” explained varsity head coach Andrew Beam.
Escalon is currently planning to have its first true home game of the season at the newly renovated Engel Field on Oct. 20; the Homecoming game against Ripon. But this Friday is classified as a home game and Escalon will staff the front gate at Modesto Christian.
Escalon will be wearing the Army National Guard camouflage jerseys and Oct. 6 will also be observed as Senior Night for the Cougar players and cheerleaders.
Tickets must be purchased prior to the game through GoFan, there will not be any ticket sales at the gate.
The Senior Night recognition will begin at 6 p.m.; game time is 7 p.m.
“We get the gate and Modesto Christian will run the snack bar,” explained Beam. “Out of respect, we’ll still be on the visitor’s side but for the first time this season, the chain gang won’t be on our side of the field.”
Also for the first time this season, Escalon’s Steve Largent will be in the press box, calling the game for the crowd. It is the first of three consecutive games for Largent to be back on the microphone; he is also scheduled to call the Escalon-Hilmar game at Modesto Junior College on Oct. 13 and the Homecoming game against Ripon on Oct. 20.
Beam said the pre-game ceremony for seniors will include recognition of both cheerleaders and players, meeting their families at midfield.
Escalon comes in with a big win against Hughson under its belt, having taken down the Huskies in the Trans-Valley League opener for both teams on Friday, Sept. 29. (See story, photos in Sports, Page A8.)
And while many Escalon fans and former players considered it a rivalry game, the players on this year’s team saw it more as a revenge game for losing to the Huskies last season at the Escalon Homecoming.
Rushing for 119 yards and a touchdown, senior Josh Graham said it was a hard-fought victory.
“I think, honestly, we’re just tougher,” Graham said of defeating the host Huskies 21-14. “I was pretty amped up. You know, last year, it was Homecoming and there was a lot of emotion around that game specifically and we kind of just like, embarrassed our town, embarrassed everyone and it just felt so good to come back and prove that last year was a fluke.”
Making one of the key plays on the night was Chase Cummings, who covered a Hughson onside kick when it was a one-score lead for Escalon with just over two minutes to go in the game.
“It felt amazing, actually,” Cummings said, adding that he finally feels he made up for mistakes he made at the game at California High School, the only loss on the Escalon record this season. “We’re just going to take the win, move on and get ready for next week and hopefully keep pushing, keep winning.”
Some huge receptions to keep drives alive came courtesy of Ryan Lewis, who also pulled in the third touchdown of the night for the Cougars in the fourth quarter to put them up 21-7.
“We still know that it’s a long season ahead of us so we’re not trying to get too cocky yet,” Lewis said of taking the win over the defending Division 5-AA state champion Huskies. “We’re just going to practice hard every single week and try to get those wins.”
Also making some big receptions was Sam Jimenez, who said he and quarterback Donovan Rozevink put in plenty of practice to get ready for Hughson and look to keep that chemistry going as the season moves along. He also said the Friday night game plan proved to be effective.
“Our main focus was just to shove it down their throat, run the ball … we knew if they couldn’t stop that, they couldn’t stop us, run was the main priority for sure,” Jimenez said.
“I think we answered every question,” added Rozevink of avenging last season’s loss. “Our mindset, on top of Beam’s play sheet this week, it was in capital letters, it said ‘run down their throat’.”
He also gave a shout out to his offensive line, noting that he couldn’t be doing what he is without them being there to protect him.
For Logan Huebner, it was a night where he flew around on defense and created some havoc.
“It feels awesome; we’ve been waiting a long time to get them back … it really hurt us when they won at our place,” Huebner explained. “We just wanted revenge.”
Another aspect of the game, he said, was trying to shut out all the distractions.
“It was pretty hard … they were trying to get into our heads with all the social media and stuff,” Huebner said of the Huskies. “But we stayed locked in and pulled it off at the end.”
