Escalon’s defending Section and State champion varsity football Cougars will take the field Friday night in Modesto.

A scheduled scrimmage against Gregori High School on Aug. 11 will feature the JV and freshman squads starting at 5 p.m. and the varsity scrimmage following at 7 p.m.

“It’s crazy to think it’s here again already,” head coach Andrew Beam admitted.

But, he added, his players are ready to suit up and face off against an opponent, even in a scrimmage format, eager to take on someone other than their teammates.

And while a lot of familiar faces have moved on since graduating with the Class of 2023, Beam said there is a strong core group returning.

“We have six or seven kids right now that are all worthy of being a captain,” he said, explaining that the selection process hasn’t been completed.

“We also have five three-year varsity guys coming back, for their junior and senior years,” he said.

Seniors who are starting their third varsity season are Donovan Rozevink, Jamin Miller, Anthony Jones and Gio Chavez. Junior Ryan Lewis also returns for his third campaign at the varsity level.

There has also been a different feel to the team early on, Beam said, with an air of determination as the Cougars look at a true road warrior season, with Engel Field renovations well underway but not yet complete.

“They’re mature in the way they’re approaching it,” Beam said of the team.

Attitude, he noted, will go a long way in charting the course for the squad as they tackle their toughest season ever. So far, the coach said, the demeanor has been a “breath of fresh air” as everyone seems to be on the same page.

Practices are Monday through Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., for the football team with the varsity and JV utilizing the field off Stanislaus Street, near the JV baseball diamond. The freshmen are working off Escalon-Bellota, on the soccer field.

“There’s no comfy confines of Engel Field,” Beam said of the football teams starting the season. “We go to Merced, to Fresno, we make a three-hour trip to Windsor, then the Bay Area … week in and week out, we’ll be getting on a bus.”

How the team copes with the physical and mental demands of that rigorous schedule remains to be seen.

“We are holding out a lot of hope that we could get Ripon at home,” Beam said of the Oct. 20 Homecoming game. It currently is on the schedule to be played at Oakdale but, if all goes well and the field is ready, that night could be the first game played at the new Engel Field.

Between then and now, though, the Cougars will be logging lots of miles.

And if he had to use one word to sum up what is coming, Beam said it would be ‘adversity’ as the team has lined up tough teams in the preseason and will be on the road for at least eight straight weeks.

The coach is, however, looking forward to see what players step up to be this year’s leaders on and off the field.

“We’re excited to see which new names appear,” he said.