The real season starts now.
Escalon will travel to Hughson to face off with the rival Huskies in the Trans-Valley League varsity football opener on Friday night, Sept. 29 with kickoff scheduled at 7 p.m.
No cash will be accepted at the gate for entry; only GoFan tickets will be allowed, so those planning to attend must get the tickets online prior to the contest.
“Both teams had a bye this last week,” Escalon head coach said of his Cougars and the Huskies. Both teams also put together 4-1 records in the preseason and each is a defending state champion.
“I think that there’s a lot of noise around this game,” Beam admitted. “These are two teams that are the favorites (for a league title) early in the season but that doesn’t mean anything with the likes of Ripon and Hilmar in league. I feel as though the winner may have the inside track to the TVL title and the loser will be playing catch up.”
Hughson lost one game this preseason, falling 19-13 to Downey; they got wins over Pitman, Ceres, Central Valley and Elite out of Vallejo. Escalon, meanwhile, had one loss in preseason as well, to California High out of San Ramon, while defeating Golden Valley of Merced, Buchanan of Clovis, Windsor and Oakdale.
Beam said the Cougars will need to be focused and play a smart game, not letting their emotions get the best of them.
“Hughson beat us last year on our Homecoming so we have had some guys itching to get to this game for a year,” Beam pointed out. “But we will have to control our emotions.”
Last year, he said, the team made uncharacteristic mistakes and fell to Hughson by a 29-14 final.
“They’re really motivated, we’re really motivated,” Beam added. “Hughson returns more starters than anyone in the TVL and they have a very good quarterback, he already has two Division I offers.”
Escalon will have to shut out all the noise, the build-up, the ramifications and just play the game.
“We’ve seen bigger, we’ve seen more athletic,” the coach said of taking on some tough competition in the preseason, and he’s hoping that might give his squad the edge.
But it will be a road game and Hughson – defending Division 5-AA champions – would like nothing better than to start the league season off by handing defending 4-AA state champion Escalon a loss.
Beam said the team was buoyed by the community support this past week, during the bye, as they hosted a tri-tip drive thru dinner on Friday, Sept. 22 to benefit the football program.
“We had pre-sold 665 meals and we did have a few tickets for the day of,” he said. “We had a lot of great help from our parents and the varsity football players, I appreciate all the parents and players for helping out.”
The coach said they hope the community will turn out to support them in Hughson but he advised fans to get there early, as Hughson has a very small bleacher area for visitors and denied an Escalon request to bring in some portable bleachers for the crowd.
“It is a rivalry game,” Beam added, anticipating a playoff-like atmosphere for the contest. “It’ll be fun.”
