Falling behind early, Escalon's varsity Cougars didn't let a field goal by Linden bother them, turning the 3-0 deficit around and ultimately taking a win off the field from the host Lions.
In fact, the Cougars got a 19-yard reception from Alex Loureiro on the final play of the first quarter Friday night to notch a first down and keep a drive alive, a drive that resulted in a touchdown early in the second quarter. Also making a nice catch on that scoring drive was Johnathon Costa, and taking the ball in was Nathan Chunn from 2 yards out. Thomas Diniz added the point after to make it 7-3 Cougars and the final was 34-10 Escalon.
After the Cougars stopped Linden on their next possession, Jason Robbins got moving, running in from 29 yards out on the second play from scrimmage. With the kick by Diniz, it was 14-3 and that was the lead the Cougars had at halftime.
"Statistically, we dominated," said head coach Mark Loureiro.
But the game was not without its missteps for the Cougars, who missed an early field goal attempt and also gave Linden seven points on an interception.
"Against good people, you can't make those mistakes," Loureiro said.
It was a point he made to his players in their post-game huddle as well, with major opponents looming in the next two weeks, Patterson coming to Engel Field on Sept. 14 and Ripon in town to kick off Trans-Valley League play on Sept. 21.
In second half action Friday, Linden trimmed the Escalon lead to 14-10 on the 75-yard interception return for a score, with Andrew Zavala then hauling in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Phillip Kimble as the third quarter wound down. The point after was no good, but the TD increased the lead to 20-10.
Linden could not get anything else going in the fourth quarter, while the Cougars were able to get some other players involved as time went on, getting good runs from Garrett Wade, another touchdown from Chunn (3 yards, kick good by Diniz) and a 2-yard run by Justin Camara with the kick by Diniz for the 34-10 final score.
"Offensively, Nathan Chunn again had a great game, 24 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns, he is off to a great start this year," said Loureiro. "Our offensive line had a good push, Joey Gutierrez, Troy Doggett, Tyson Pomicpic, Alan Gonzalez, Brent Montgomery and Vince Valenzuela."
Loureiro said he likes the versatility he has seen so far from the squad.
"We're not one dimensional, Nathan's running inside opens things up for us," he explained. "Both tight ends (Alex Loureiro and Andrew Zavala) have been instrumental, also Jason Robbins and Johnathon Costa have been running the ball well."
On the defensive side, Lance Davis was a standout with 10 tackles, having his best game of the season so far. Doggett had a fumble recovery, Costa had seven tackles, Robbie Steves added three tackles and a sack, Robbins had a sack.
"As the game wore on, our defense just got better," Loureiro said.
Escalon had 21 first downs to Linden's four, with 417 total yards of offense for the Cougars and just 84 for Linden. Much of Escalon's attack was on the ground, 48 rushes for 303 yards and the Cougars had six pass completions for 114 yards.
Both teams were flagged for a lot of penalties, eight for Escalon for 75 yards, nine for Linden for 85 yards.
"I thought they slowed the game up too much, made it difficult for both sides," Loureiro said of the officiating.
But the Cougars were happy to get out with the win.
"Rafael Felix came in and ran hard, he and Justin Camara both did well, we also got good minutes off the bench from Luis Estrada, the same with Garrett Wade and Vince Valenzuela," said Loureiro.
Wade was pleased to be involved in the offense.
"It felt pretty good, I was happy to show what I can do," he said. "I just work hard in practice so I can be ready."
Senior Alec Von Alvensleben added that the team will have to play cleaner this week at home to get a win.
"Patterson will be a tough game so we will have to pick it up in practice," he said.
Game time Friday will be about 7:30 p.m.
In fact, the Cougars got a 19-yard reception from Alex Loureiro on the final play of the first quarter Friday night to notch a first down and keep a drive alive, a drive that resulted in a touchdown early in the second quarter. Also making a nice catch on that scoring drive was Johnathon Costa, and taking the ball in was Nathan Chunn from 2 yards out. Thomas Diniz added the point after to make it 7-3 Cougars and the final was 34-10 Escalon.
After the Cougars stopped Linden on their next possession, Jason Robbins got moving, running in from 29 yards out on the second play from scrimmage. With the kick by Diniz, it was 14-3 and that was the lead the Cougars had at halftime.
"Statistically, we dominated," said head coach Mark Loureiro.
But the game was not without its missteps for the Cougars, who missed an early field goal attempt and also gave Linden seven points on an interception.
"Against good people, you can't make those mistakes," Loureiro said.
It was a point he made to his players in their post-game huddle as well, with major opponents looming in the next two weeks, Patterson coming to Engel Field on Sept. 14 and Ripon in town to kick off Trans-Valley League play on Sept. 21.
In second half action Friday, Linden trimmed the Escalon lead to 14-10 on the 75-yard interception return for a score, with Andrew Zavala then hauling in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Phillip Kimble as the third quarter wound down. The point after was no good, but the TD increased the lead to 20-10.
Linden could not get anything else going in the fourth quarter, while the Cougars were able to get some other players involved as time went on, getting good runs from Garrett Wade, another touchdown from Chunn (3 yards, kick good by Diniz) and a 2-yard run by Justin Camara with the kick by Diniz for the 34-10 final score.
"Offensively, Nathan Chunn again had a great game, 24 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns, he is off to a great start this year," said Loureiro. "Our offensive line had a good push, Joey Gutierrez, Troy Doggett, Tyson Pomicpic, Alan Gonzalez, Brent Montgomery and Vince Valenzuela."
Loureiro said he likes the versatility he has seen so far from the squad.
"We're not one dimensional, Nathan's running inside opens things up for us," he explained. "Both tight ends (Alex Loureiro and Andrew Zavala) have been instrumental, also Jason Robbins and Johnathon Costa have been running the ball well."
On the defensive side, Lance Davis was a standout with 10 tackles, having his best game of the season so far. Doggett had a fumble recovery, Costa had seven tackles, Robbie Steves added three tackles and a sack, Robbins had a sack.
"As the game wore on, our defense just got better," Loureiro said.
Escalon had 21 first downs to Linden's four, with 417 total yards of offense for the Cougars and just 84 for Linden. Much of Escalon's attack was on the ground, 48 rushes for 303 yards and the Cougars had six pass completions for 114 yards.
Both teams were flagged for a lot of penalties, eight for Escalon for 75 yards, nine for Linden for 85 yards.
"I thought they slowed the game up too much, made it difficult for both sides," Loureiro said of the officiating.
But the Cougars were happy to get out with the win.
"Rafael Felix came in and ran hard, he and Justin Camara both did well, we also got good minutes off the bench from Luis Estrada, the same with Garrett Wade and Vince Valenzuela," said Loureiro.
Wade was pleased to be involved in the offense.
"It felt pretty good, I was happy to show what I can do," he said. "I just work hard in practice so I can be ready."
Senior Alec Von Alvensleben added that the team will have to play cleaner this week at home to get a win.
"Patterson will be a tough game so we will have to pick it up in practice," he said.
Game time Friday will be about 7:30 p.m.
