A lengthy road trip to Newman on Thursday, Oct. 12 was a successful one for Escalon’s flag football girls. Both the varsity and JV came away with wins over the Orestimba Warriors in the Western Athletic Conference.
The varsity squad took a hard fought 20-18 victory on a picture-perfect football evening.
“After a sluggish start on offense, it was again a defensive spark that got us going,” said head coach Steve Largent. “Andrea Fuentes Calderon made a fantastic tipped interception that got us going. The interception led to our first score of the game as Violette Kent hit Sammy Lang for a touchdown and we followed it up with a 2-point conversion.”
Defense then forced another turnover, Largent said, which in turn led to another Kent touchdown toss, this one to Rayah McNulty. Orestimba battled back, though, with two touchdowns of their own to trail 14-12 at the half.
“We went on a really long drive that was sparked by a 41-yard pass completion to Jasmine Barron on a big third down conversion,” explained Largent. “Kent found Lang again … we couldn’t finish the conversion but with under four (minutes) to play, it was 20-12 Cougars.”
Kent’s third touchdown pass of the day was the first time in program history someone has thrown for three scores in a single game.
Even with the clock winding down, the home team kept the pressure on.
“The Warriors wouldn’t quit and scored with 57 seconds left to make it 20-18 and that would be the final as the 2-point conversion was no good,” Largent said.
Hannah Wampler was the defensive leader for Escalon with four tackles/flag pulls.
It was Escalon’s third straight win in WAC play.
“It puts one foot of ours in the playoff bracket but we have to finish off league play strong this week as we take some deep road trips,” noted Largent.
The varsity girls were scheduled to travel to Mariposa on Oct. 17 and go to Pacheco on Oct. 19.
“We are very much looking forward to finishing the regular season and putting forth our best effort as the pieces start falling into place around us,” Largent said. “We are focused on adding two flag football wins to the Homecoming Week festivities.”
JV
After a long layoff in league play, the JV girls got back on the field for the Oct. 12 game against Orestimba and made the most of the opportunity.
“We beat Orestimba 18-0. We finished the season 9-1 overall and 3-0 in the WAC,” said head coach Joseph Dalpogetti. “Rebecca Wampler had a two-touchdown game and Natalee Martinez added the final one.”
The coach said the defense once again played a great game.
“We shut out seven teams out of 10, and only gave up four touchdowns on the season,” Dalpogetti said. “We outscored our opponents on average 21-3. It was a great way to finish off the season. Everyone got playing time on both sides of the ball.”
Players from the JV team that will move up and be added to the varsity roster are Natalee Martinez, Rebecca Wampler, Tyli Holback and Brooklyn Dugo.
Dalpogetti said that it was a fun season, but one that also saw players, coaches and officials learn throughout the campaign.
“There was a huge learning curve for everyone involved. From having to teach the girls what the line of scrimmage was to watching officials pull out rule books mid-game because they didn’t know what a certain call was,” Dalpogetti explained. “However, it was a lot of fun. I think the sport is going to take off and it will be fun looking back in 20 years and knowing I was a part of the first season.”
