There hasn’t been much time to rest for the Escalon flag football team, as the varsity squad has been involved with tournaments and non-league action. Volleyball and cross country have stayed busy in the past week as well.
FLAG FOOTBALL
The varsity girls were on the road at Central Catholic on Aug. 26, falling there, then were on the home field Thursday, Aug. 28 to host Lathrop and took a loss. However, the girls battled through adversity and played hard until the final whistle in each contest.
“We played well in the first half and had several fourth down defensive stops but a late Central Catholic first half touchdown put us down 6-0 at half and then it snowballed away from us,” said head coach Steve Largent.
Junior Rachelle Barker had 10 flag pulls against Central, though the team lost in a 31-7 decision.
“Against Lathrop, sophomore Yesenia “Yaya” Marsellis had seven flag pulls while senior defensive back Soraya Aguayo had six flag pulls,” Largent said.
The varsity Lady Cougars lost by a 30-12 final to Lathrop, Jasmine Barron scoring both touchdowns in the loss.
“I thought second half against Lathrop on Thursday we had some girls bear down on defense and a few of them had that look in their eye like ‘enough is enough; we need to toughen up’ and so that was a positive,” Largent added.
He also said that their man-to-man defensive unit of four sophomores, Brisa Patino, Ava Girardi, Kenley Koops and Marsellis; junior Tyli Holback and seniors Reagan Baker and Soraya Aguayo “did some nice things defensively as a unit and we will look to build off their grit.”
The team is struggling a bit offensively right now, Largent said, as they look to adapt to the rule changes that took effect this season.
“Unfortunately, a lot of things we had success with in the first two years are no longer working due to the fact the blitzers can now come from one yard off the neutral zone rather than the seven it has been in previous seasons,” Largent explained. “Frustrating week but I told the girls after the game, September is upon us and a new month means a fresh start and we have three weeks to keep getting better against stiff competition before we begin league play on Sept. 22 against Sonora.”
JV Girls
The final score for the junior varsity flag football squad on Aug. 28 was 6-0 in favor of Lathrop.
Lola Duenas had two interceptions and a nice punt return, noted first year head coach Lisa Luis, while Macie Woodruff “was solid at middle linebacker and had some nice flag pulls.”
VOLLEYBALL
In a very busy week for the varsity volleyball team, the girls headed to Sierra for non-league action on Aug. 25 and lost in four.
“It was a tight match and one we should have walked away with but we ultimately made too many mistakes and couldn’t shut down Sierra’s good outside,” said head coach Shay Beam.
Notables were Emma Strong with 14 kills and freshman Avery Bartelink with 10 kills. In the back row, Emma Rangel had 19 digs and setter Aniston Hunt had four aces and 25 assists.
Hosting Merced on Aug. 26, the varsity squad battled to a five-set victory.
“Emma Strong and Chloe Green each had 12 kills, Aniston Hunt had 29 assists and five aces,” Beam noted. “Emma Strong led us with 16 digs, Rangel had 15 and Brynn Caton had 13 digs. We played as a team and our back row really did amazing.”
The girls were off to Reno for the weekend, taking part in the High Sierra Invitational.
“There are some big schools who go to this tournament so we were looking forward to some team bonding and good competition,” said the coach. “Even though we went 2-04 on the weekend we played the best volleyball so far this season and had a great time.”
Escalon defeated Placer and Reno while falling in three sets to Windsor and Truckee and losing in two sets to Del Oro and Nevada Union.
JV Girls
The JV volleyball girls had a busy weekend as well, playing in the Orestimba Tournament all day Saturday.
“It was a good weekend for us,” said JV head coach Alyssa Cogburn. “We went 4-1 at the tournament for third place; we lost to Gregori in the semis, who went on to win the whole thing.”
The JV girls defeated Stone Ridge Christian, Turlock, Gustine and Oakdale at the tourney, losing just to Gregori.
“I’m very proud of how hard they had to work all day, and they pushed through even though they were exhausted by the last game,” Cogburn said.
CROSS COUNTRY
In action on Fridy, Aug. 29, the Cougar runners headed to Ceres for the “Screamin’ Scott Showdown” and got to take part in what head coach Arend Jones termed “a rather unique relay Cross Country meet.”
Prior to that, the team had its first competition of the season at Lodi Lake.
“Despite the heat, some of the Cougars had respectable times, including junior Victoria Calderon and freshman Maria Calderson, both placing in the top 20 of their races,” said Jones.
The first Trans-Valley League meet was scheduled for Sept. 3, to be hosted at Ceres Riverbluff Park.
