Taking the football field for some games this past week, the flag football girls for Escalon were busy, as were teams at all three levels in the EHS volleyball program.
Flag Football
It was an overtime win, 6-0, for Escalon at home against Beyer to start the week on Aug. 24 but their second game of the week was a loss, falling to Manteca in overtime, 25-19.
“At the end of the game the score was tied 13-13, resulting in an overtime procedure consisting of alternating possessions near the end zone,” explained head coach Danelle Hagen. “Ultimately ending in a loss for Escalon.”
Scoring in the contest were Georgia Northcutt, with two rushing touchdowns, and Kenley Koops with a receiving touchdown. Koops ran her route, saw the ball tip off the hands of two different defenders, then grabbed it herself and pulled it in for the score.
Ava Rodriguez had a one-point conversion after a touchdown. The team alternates quarterbacks, using both Lola Duenas and Bretta Books.
“Both are great athletes. We are strategically rotating them in order to assess their individual strengths in various situations,” Hagen said. “We have a feeling we will do well in league this year. We have a solid group of dedicated athletes that trained over summer break and have played in some good games recently. I think all of that preparation will pay off.”
The girls took part in a weekend tournament, with Saturday, Aug. 29 games featuring losses to Gregori and Buhach Colony, and a win over Riverbank.
Captains for the team this season are Yesenia Marsellis, Brooklyn Dugo, Rachelle Barker and Kenley Koops.
For the JV team, they put two wins on the books, doubling up Beyer 24-12 and then defeating Manteca, 6-0.
Against Beyer, Hadley Casazza paced the offense with three touchdowns, while quarterback Kyla Holback connected on a 20-yard touchdown pass with Lauryn Siegel. Leading the defense was Briley Silva, with a sack and several tackles for loss.
In the Wednesday game against Manteca, the JV girls got an early score on a 35-yard run from Abigail Perreira and made it hold up.
“We struggled a little bit offensively, but our defense played well and shut Manteca out,” said JV head coach Lisa Luis.
Siegel had an interception on defense while Silva had two quarterback sacks and several tackles for loss.
Volleyball
Making a clean sweep of their opponents, Escalon’s varsity Lady Cougars defeated Sierra, Turlock and Pitman on the volleyball court.
“We are playing some really great competition to get ready for a strong TVL,” head coach Stephanie Ceja said of preparing for what lies ahead. “I planned a preseason full of bigger schools in hopes to get us physically and mentally prepared, and the girls are stepping up to the challenge every night.”
The girls defeated Sierra, 16-25, 25-18, 25-18, 26-24 on Monday, then got the shutout over Turlock on Tuesday, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17. They welcomed Pitman to the Cougar Dome on Thursday and went the full five sets, getting the win 25-22, 23-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-9.
“We also only have nine girls this season which is rare for a variety program,” Ceja noted. “So far, we’ve played schools with much larger rosters and full benches, but our team doesn’t need a lot of players to be successful. We have quality talent. We may only have nine, but they are the right nine.”
The JV girls defeated Sierra this past week, while they took losses to Turlock and Pitman. For the freshmen, they started the week with a win over Sierra, fell to Turlock but then came back with a two-set win over Pitman to round out the busy schedule.
