With a steady rain up until game time, it looked like the weather might be the great equalizer, as the visiting Northwood Timberwolves out of Irvine came to Engel Field to take on the host Cougars of Escalon High.
But in a fitting send off to Engel Field – which is due to be torn out in a few weeks – the home team used a strong second half to take them to the Division 4-AA state championship on Saturday night, Dec. 10. Knotted 7-7 at the half, the Cougars scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half – including the final nail-in-the-coffin pick six by Owen Nash – to claim the coveted championship trophy with a 28-7 final.
An 85-yard scoring drive that culminated in the fourth quarter, anchored by senior Ryker Peters, ate up much of the clock in the quarter and saw Peters carry the ball more than a dozen times on that drive alone. He rushed for over 160 yards for the game.
Ryan Lewis pulled in a touchdown pass in the first quarter and Talan Reider kicked the extra point; Northwood tied it in the second. Escalon’s first touchdown was set up by a Jamin Miller fumble recovery that gave the ball to the Cougars in good position.
Conditions were tough for both teams, and even though the rain let up, the field was wet and muddy, as were the sidelines.
Passing was difficult at best and as the game wore on, the Cougars went back to the smashmouth style of play that has been their hallmark for years; run it up the gut and power past – and over – people.
In the second half, the Cougars got the ball to start and turned the opening drive into a scoring one, Logan Anderson getting the touchdown on a counter, going 49 yards on the misdirection play, and once again, Reider adding the extra point. He was a perfect 4-for-4 on the night.
Both teams had plenty of penalties and several drives stalled but it was Peters taking control late in the third and on in to the fourth, with the short plunge by Peters and the point after coming with 3:31 to play to give Escalon a 21-7 lead.
Nash got his interception on Northwood’s next possession, after just missing on a previous play, the second time was the charm as he pulled it in and ran it down the sideline to extend the lead to 28-7.
The loud crowd at Engel Field erupted as Nash scored, knowing there was not enough time for the Timberwolves to mount a comeback and the Cougars ended the night hoisting the CIF trophy.
“It was exactly what you would picture a 1990 Escalon football team on Engel Field doing; it’s our identity, it’s been our identity forever and what a game to finish it on Engel Field,” said head coach Andrew Beam of the smashmouth style. “It was a state championship game, we knew it was going to be tough and we just had to find what we could get going … it took us a little bit longer, we had some penalties, some turnovers, but we settled in.”
All three senior captains – Anderson, Peters and Nash – scored a touchdown in their final game as Cougars.
“I’m just glad we got to do this with our fans and our community,” added Beam, who earned his second state title as coach of the Cougars; the first coming in 2019. With no playoffs in the COVID year of 2020, this is Escalon’s second state title in three years.
“We’re so lucky and fortunate. Tradition never graduates, that’s our saying and our crowd turned out; it was miserable conditions and that was a packed house,” Beam said.
Look for the full game story, photos and comment from several players, in addition to more comments from Coach Beam in the Wednesday, Dec. 14 issue of The Times.
