Ball control, crucial first downs, and experience in pressure situations.

That was the formula for an Escalon victory on Friday night, getting a Trans-Valley League opening win over host Hughson, 21-14.

It was a battle of defending state champions and the Huskies, fully intent on playing rude hosts, instead found themselves on the losing end of the score, watching the Cougar players and cheerleaders gather on the visitors’ sideline after the game, singing the Escalon alma mater.

“Hughson blinked first,” head coach Andrew Beam said, noting that both teams came in with 4-1 preseason records and both with state titles to their credit in 2022.

Escalon won the Division 4-AA title, Hughson the Division 5-AA crown.

The coach said the ‘blink’ comment was made to him by a fan after the game, with the feeling that the tide would turn when one of the teams blinked.

In the first half, it was a back-and-forth battle, Hughson taking a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a short run and adding the point after. The drive came following a failed conversion attempt by Escalon on a fourth and 4 that gave the ball to the Huskies and set them on the scoring drive.

But in the second quarter, the Cougars drew even, quarterback Donovan Rozevink going in on a 1-yard QB sneak and Talan Reider adding the extra point to make it 7-7.

Hughson had a long, sustained drive in the second quarter but a huge defensive stand by the Cougars turned them away from getting back into the end zone, including several stops when the Huskies were inside the 5-yard line.

“That was a great boost for our kids,” Beam said of the stop in the red zone. “We had to go 97 yards in three-and-a-half minutes and we just couldn’t quite finish, so at the end of the first half it was 7-7.”

Hughson, which had won the opening coin toss and deferred, came out of the locker room and took the second half kickoff. That, said Beam, was a major turning point in the game.

“It was a three and out by Hughson; that was where they blinked,” the coach said. “They threw the ball three straight times. They had an incomplete pass, a 1-yard gain and an incomplete pass and had to punt it away.”

Beam said the second half strategy by the Huskies was surprising, since Escalon did have some trouble stopping their run game in the first half. But they defended the pass well and took full advantage of the momentum coming off the three and out by Hughson.

“We stayed the course and we went with what we had planned,” Beam said. “I had asked Coach Cowan; how do we win this game and he said just run it at them.”

And run it at them they did, the Cougars primarily going with their ground game, and getting the ball to tough senior Josh Graham for much of the night.

Graham had 25 carries for 119 yards and a touchdown.

“Nate Krieger didn’t have any carries on the night but his blocking on every play offensively was outstanding,” Beam added.

Sam Jimenez and Derek Silva had huge defensive nights, and the Cougars held Hughson’s sought-after DI prospect quarterback to just 22 yards passing on a 2-for-12 night.

“We ran 28 plays in the second half and we kept the ball away from them,” Beam said.

Graham scored from a yard out in the third quarter, following a huge fourth down catch by Ryan Lewis to extend the drive, and Reider added the point after to make it 14-7.

After a failed field goal attempt by Hughson from 35 yards out, Escalon got the ball in the final minute of the third quarter and kept it until there were just a little over four minutes left in the game, parlaying that eight-and-a-half minute drive into a touchdown. Lewis pulled in the 5-yard pass from Rozevink for the score, Reider hit the extra pint to make it 21-7. Lewis had a fourth down catch on that drive and Jimenez had back-to-back catches on the drive as well.

Hughson answered back quickly, making it 21-14 with a couple of minutes to go and tried the onside kick, but Chase Cummings pounced on it for the Cougars. They were able to get the first down they needed to run out the clock and take the league win.

Defensively, Reider had seven tackles and Logan Huebner had five.

Offensively, Rozevink was 9-for-11 for 79 yards and a touchdown. Jamin Miller had nine carries for 51 yards, Reider had eight carries for 51 yards.

Lewis had three receptions for 39 yards, Jimenez had six catches for 40 yards.

“It was a physical game; good, old school smashmouth football,” Beam said.