It was fun to cover what has become the annual ‘Battle of 120’ between our Oakdale and Escalon varsity football teams; it is during the preseason since they are in different leagues but the rivalry is there all the same.

Not to mention, the winner gets to keep the trophy – engraved with the final score – at their school until the next year’s game.

Escalon took the win this year, a much-needed one after losing their first two games of the preseason. It wasn’t easy, but they got it done.

Needless to say, I was harassed a bit by some friends because I live in Oakdale but cover all the Escalon sports. I was on the Escalon sideline and was able to look across the field and snap a photo of my colleague, Dennis D. Cruz, who was on the visiting Oakdale sideline for the game to report on it.

There were some exciting plays by both teams and it was a late stop by Escalon’s defense, followed by a crucial first down run, that gave the host Cougars the opportunity to kneel out the clock and get the win on their home field.

The night also included a celebration of the 1996 Escalon team that went 13-0 and won a state championship. Prior to the game, they were selling commemorative programs and I figured I might as well buy one. After all, 1996 was the year that I was moved from Riverbank to Escalon to take over as editor there (after getting back from maternity leave following the birth of my daughter) and that was my first football season with the Cougars. Looking through the program, I saw one of my byline stories and some of my photos …

When the team members that were able to attend the celebration lined up at midfield to be honored and then pose for photos afterward, I was glad to recognize some of them.

Nothing says ‘fall’ to me more than Friday night football; even going back to my radio days in upstate New York, when the morning DJ Homer Charbonneau and I teamed up to broadcast games for Cobleskill High School. They were the Red Devils back in those days but later the school merged with nearby Richmondville High School – my alma mater, the Tigers – and became the Cobleskill-Richmondville Bulldogs.

Since we were a sun-up to sundown radio station, we had to record the Friday night games and play them back on Saturday. Once in a while we got to broadcast the games live, if we had a rare Saturday afternoon contest. Homer was the play-by-play guy and I was the color commentator and also did a pre-game interview each week with the coach. Homer and I worked mornings together at the station, as he was the DJ and I was the newscaster.

Probably our most memorable game was a Friday night in the snow, probably an early November contest. It got so bad we had to guess where they were on the field, as the snow covered all the yard lines by halftime.

There just has always been something special about Friday nights for me, whether it was broadcasting or now being on the sidelines with the notebook and camera.

At the end of a long week, I get that little extra burst of energy to carry me through the game, logging a few thousand steps back and forth from end zone to end zone with the camera around my neck.

My daughter keeps telling me I am getting too old for this. Saturday mornings, my aching neck and back are starting to agree with her, even if my heart still doesn’t.

Marg Jackson is editor of The Oakdale Leader, The Escalon Times and The Riverbank News. She may be reached at mjackson@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 209-847-3021.