They knew going in it would be a tough one as Liberty Ranch returned most of their roster and Escalon is on the young side.
Still, the final score was respectable, as the host Cougars took a 28-24 loss to the visiting Hawks in the season opener for varsity football on Friday night, Aug. 28 at Engel Field.
Liberty Ranch went on offense first and used a methodical drive to march steadily down the field, capping a nearly six-minute drive with a touchdown and extra point to go up 7-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, Escalon’s Dylan Ball electrified the crowd with a 95-yard return and with the extra point sent through the uprights by Brody Abbott, it was quickly a 7-7 tie.
“It was great to answer but then you throw your defense right back out there,” head coach Andrew Beam noted of the double-edged sword, as the Hawks offense was right back on the field to go up against the Cougar defense that had just been worn down by the long first possession.
With just over three minutes left in the first quarter, Liberty Ranch struck for another score, going up 14-7.
Escalon then took a 17-14 lead in the second quarter, getting a 60-yard pick six from Jake Ferreira and a 29-yard field goal from Abbott to pull ahead. But a late touchdown from the Hawks gave them the 21-17 halftime lead.
“They got the score right before half and they just grabbed the momentum,” Beam said.
The host Cougars got the ball coming out of halftime but went a quick three and out. Each team did get a touchdown in the third quarter, with Liberty Ranch going up 28-17 with 5:46 to play in the third. Escalon was able to answer on a 26-yard pass play from quarterback Archer Sanders to Jake Ferreira for the score, Abbott with the extra point to get the Cougars to within 28-24. But they wouldn’t get any closer and lost the home opener to the Hawks.
“We as coaches were talking earlier in the week and we said it was going to take 31 points to win the game,” Beam shared. “We held them to 28 … we were right there.”
Escalon was unable to get the touchdown to get them to 31 points, taking the loss.
“Liberty Ranch is probably going to be 13-0 and win the Division 6 Section title,” Beam predicted. “They were very good everywhere.”
Dylan Ball had 11 rushing plays for the Cougars for 34 yards, one catch for three yards and the 95-yard kickoff return; Jake Ferreira had nine carries for 20 yards, a 26-yard touchdown reception and a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“On defense, Conner McDowell from his middle linebacker position had 14 tackles, we got great leadership from him,” Beam said. “Ethan Butler had seven tackles, Jake had the interception and Ball had five tackles.”
Liberty Ranch rolled up 352 yards of offense, Escalon had 111.
“I give credit to Liberty Ranch, that team is good,” Beam said. “I think we played a really good team tough.”
JV/Freshmen
It was a solid 39-6 win for Escalon’s JV team over Liberty Ranch on Friday night, though the visitors jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Ty Caton had a 45-yard rushing touchdown to answer the score and the game was tied 6-6.
In the second quarter, Adam Cordeiro hit Lucas Machado with a 24-yard touchdown pass and it was 12-6 Escalon. Ryker Lial added a 23-yard rushing touchdown and Vinny Reis took in the two-point conversion to go up 20-6.
In the third quarter, Caton went in on a 10-yard rush, two point attempt no good; Reis had a fourth quarter one yard plunge, extra point no good, but Escalon was up 32-6. Final touchdown of the night was from John Kemp on a six yard rush, Moises Cortes added the point after for the 39-6 final.
“It was nice to see the team respond well, not panic, after getting behind early in the game,” said head coach Brant Rose. “Our offense was very efficient from the beginning, scoring on each possession. It was nice to see so many different players make an impact on the offensive side.”
Defensively, Jaxon Degruy recovered a fumble.
The freshmen opened at home against Atwater on Aug. 27 and were shut out, 24-0.
“Coming into this game, we were missing two of our starters and needed to find a way to fill in those gaps,” said head coach Nate Caton.
It was a 16-0 lead for Atwater at half, leading to the final of 24-0.
Caton said the defense played well with three turnovers collected by Jaxxon Kemp, Gunner McCurley and Nixon Walker.
“Everybody did their job and the defense did all they could to keep us in the game,” Caton said. “Unfortunately, our offense couldn’t reciprocate. We had mental mistakes that will need some cleaning up.”
Fullback Danny Arevalo ran the ball well, the coach said, as did running back Mason Rodriguez.
This week, the freshmen travel to face Chavez on Thursday night, Sept. 3 while the JV and varsity welcome Chavez to Engel Field on Friday night, Sept. 4 with JV kickoff at 5:30 p.m. and varsity at 7:30 p.m.
