This year’s theme for Escalon’s Fall Homecoming may have focused on ‘pure imagination’ – with a nod to Willy Wonka – but there was no imagining the selection of new royalty and the outcome of the featured Friday night varsity football game at Engel Field.
Aniston Hunt was crowned as the Homecoming Queen and the varsity Escalon Cougars soundly defeated visiting Ripon Christian to celebrate a 38-7 Homecoming victory, opening up the Trans-Valley League campaign with a win.
The game and queen coronation also capped off a busy week, which included the Friday afternoon parade downtown, a school rally that unveiled the underclassmen winners of the various Homecoming titles and a class reunion 40 years in the making, as the Class of 1986 celebrated by riding in a school bus during the parade and then came together to watch the game at Engel Field. Their class president, Tom Murphy, also served as honorary captain to help with the coin toss at midfield prior to the varsity contest.
For the Homecoming royalty, Hunt was nominated along with fellow seniors Payton Abbott, Elizabeth Castro, Leigh Garside and Miroslava Torres.
“It just means the world to me that my classmates thought I would be a good candidate to represent them and I’m so thankful for this opportunity,” Hunt said. “And I’m so thankful for everyone that supported me along the way, my family, friends, God … it’s truly such a blessing.”
She was escorted on to Engel Field by her parents, Brian and Cherie Hunt and her brother, Easton Hunt. She serves as the Senior Class president, has played four years of varsity volleyball at EHS and is also a leader in the FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes club.
“My favorite part of the week was probably dressing up as an Oompa Loompa on Monday, that was definitely a highlight,” the new queen shared.
Underclassmen honored during the week included junior Georgia Northcutt selected as Princess, sophomore Avery Bartelink named as Duchess and freshman Nina Duenas chosen as the Lady in Waiting.
The elementary school parade float winner was the entry done by Van Allen, with the high school FFA taking top honors for the club category and the junior class at EHS winning the class float category. The flag football program was recognized with the sports team float honor while the senior class did win the ‘Golden Ticket’ competition hosted during the week at the school.
Junior Jake Ferreira scored a pair of touchdowns in the 38-7 win on the football field, one on the ground and one on a pass reception.
“It feels amazing to flip the script and do it better,” Ferreira said of keeping the team focused on the goal of winning and avenging last year’s loss to Ripon Christian.
He also noted that the squad knew they wanted to keep the momentum going, after having gotten wins against Oakdale and Damonte Ranch to close out the preseason.
“We’ve been ready for this,” Ferreira said. “We had the toughest preseason and this is our time.”
Junior Ian Trejo also had a touchdown and a key interception on the night.
“Last year it was a really embarrassing loss and I’m really glad that we were able to put up so many points,” Trejo said. “It was special to get that score and show what we could do.”
Settling in to his role, sophomore quarterback Archer Sanders said the preseason schedule was tough, but he feels that set up the team for a strong run in the Trans-Valley League.
“I feel like as a team, we’re just starting to get in a groove,” Sanders said. “I don’t think it’s just me; as a team I think it’s very visible to everyone in the stands that we’re saying ‘Remember the Cougars’ … we’re coming to play this year, we’re starting to get more comfortable.”
Senior Curtis Thomas is happy to see the team get on a bit of a roll, but knows there is a lot more work to do.
“A three-win streak is very great, we came out strong, it was a good Homecoming win and I think we played amazing,” Thomas said, adding that they have to be ready to face Hilmar on the road this week. “We’ve got to stay strong.”
