Kicking off the week with a 24-8 victory, Escalon’s varsity flag football girls took down the Central Valley Hawks on Aug. 28.
“It was a good bounce back after the five-game Saturday,” head coach Steve Largent said of keeping up a hectic pace following the Aug. 26 Lodi Tournament.
Cali Granis had seven carries for 139 yards and two touchdowns against Central Valley.
“We wanted to get her more involved in the run and she really answered the call,” Largent said. “First 100-plus yard single game rusher in program history.”
The varsity then had a film session on Tuesday, a solid practice on Wednesday and then were off for the Livingston Tournament, which, Largent said, “we knew was going to be tough.”
Escalon opened up against Buhach Colony in the tourney.
“It took us a while to find our legs but Hannah Wampler caught a TD pass from Jasmine Barron to jumpstart us,” Largent said. “Alyssa Ball led the defense with four flag pulls and Violette Kent made two interceptions playing safety.”
Escalon took that game 12-0, then moved on to play against the Patterson Tigers.
Escalon had defeated the Tigers earlier this season but this time, Patterson got the victory, 18-6.
“We just never got much going and every whistle or no whistle went against the Cougars, just didn’t catch the timely break and the game quickly got away from us,” explained Largent.
In the third and final game, Escalon lined up against the Los Banos Tigers.
“Our girls did a really good job digging deep and finding a way to finish the day off with a 12-8 win over Los Banos,” Largent said.
Aileen Aguirre hit Helena Arroyo with a touchdown pass to seal the win in the second half.
“We finished 3-1 on the week which is another positive step in the right direction,” the coach noted.
Escalon will play its league games in the WAC, which also includes Los Banos, Ceres, Pacheco, Lathrop, Mountain House, Mariposa and Orestimba.
They start league play on Thursday, Sept. 14 at Los Banos. This week, they are scheduled to travel to Lodi to take on the Flames, who they lost to in earlier tourney play, 12-6. Lodi is currently ranked as the top team in the state.
“Our girls played 12 games in 11 days and won 10 of them,” Largent pointed out. “I don’t think any other sports in the history of the school could hang their hat on a stat like that.”
The JV girls shut out Central Valley in action this past week, final score 30-0, with a multiple touchdown game by Rebecca Wampler. They improved to 3-0 with the win and were scheduled to play Lodi this week as well.
