Building up a 28-0 halftime lead, the JV Cougars cruised to a 42-8 victory over visiting Cosumnes Oaks to kick off the 2009 football season on Friday night at Engel Field.
Kyle Rose was the workhorse for the JV team, scoring three of the team's six touchdowns on the night and carrying the ball 19 times for 120 yards. He scored the first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run and Gino Franceschetti added the point after for an early 7-0 Escalon lead.
Second quarter scoring saw Franceschetti take it in from a yard out, but the kick was blocked, making it 13-0. An 11-yard run by Rose and a 2-point conversion made it 21-0 and Rose went in from a yard out to close out the first half, Franceschetti adding the kick for the 28-0 lead.
"I was kind of leery going into the game because we hadn't seen that offense before," head coach Randy Northcutt said of what schemes the Cosumnes Oaks Wolfpack brought to the field. "They were more of a finesse and speed team."
That proved to be no match for the smashmouth approach of Escalon, with the JV boys rolling up 328 total yards of offense to the visitors' 89.
In the second half, Joey Ratto got on the board for Escalon with a 6-yard run, Franceschetti's kick was good and Robert Steves went in from a yard out late in the third quarter to cap the scoring, with the kick good by Franceschetti.
Cosumnes Oaks avoided the shutout with a 48-yard pass completion and a 2-point conversion in the final minutes of the game.
Escalon had 18 first downs and was 2-for-4 in passing, Franceschetti connecting twice with Colton Smith for 42 yards. The Cougars rushed 51 times for 286 yards. Cosumnes Oaks had one first down, completed one pass for 48 yards and rushed 16 times for 41 yards.
Along with the 120 yards by Rose, Escalon got 10 carries for 67 yards out of Ratto, four carries by Dylan Furtado for 38 yards, two carries by Jake Hood for 28. Also getting some yards were Sammy Machado, four rushes for 19 and Ian Fitzgerald, 2 for 18.
"Kyle Rose had a great game and he played only three quarters," Northcutt pointed out. "Gino Franceschetti did a good job calling the offense and did a good job on defense, too. "We had the ball 55 times to their 20, and if you control the ball, you control the game."
Also getting kudos for their defense were Trey Balber, Robert Steves, Nate Caton and Shane Silveira.
Returners for the team this year are Caton, Rose, Franceschetti, Silveira, Balber and Smith.
"We're still learning," Northcutt said. "We did have a lot of mental mistakes."
The team will work on cleaning those up, as they head to Patterson for a battle on Friday night.
"We've got a pretty good preseason schedule," Northcutt said, noting it will get the JV Cougars ready for the tough Trans-Valley League campaign.
Kyle Rose was the workhorse for the JV team, scoring three of the team's six touchdowns on the night and carrying the ball 19 times for 120 yards. He scored the first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run and Gino Franceschetti added the point after for an early 7-0 Escalon lead.
Second quarter scoring saw Franceschetti take it in from a yard out, but the kick was blocked, making it 13-0. An 11-yard run by Rose and a 2-point conversion made it 21-0 and Rose went in from a yard out to close out the first half, Franceschetti adding the kick for the 28-0 lead.
"I was kind of leery going into the game because we hadn't seen that offense before," head coach Randy Northcutt said of what schemes the Cosumnes Oaks Wolfpack brought to the field. "They were more of a finesse and speed team."
That proved to be no match for the smashmouth approach of Escalon, with the JV boys rolling up 328 total yards of offense to the visitors' 89.
In the second half, Joey Ratto got on the board for Escalon with a 6-yard run, Franceschetti's kick was good and Robert Steves went in from a yard out late in the third quarter to cap the scoring, with the kick good by Franceschetti.
Cosumnes Oaks avoided the shutout with a 48-yard pass completion and a 2-point conversion in the final minutes of the game.
Escalon had 18 first downs and was 2-for-4 in passing, Franceschetti connecting twice with Colton Smith for 42 yards. The Cougars rushed 51 times for 286 yards. Cosumnes Oaks had one first down, completed one pass for 48 yards and rushed 16 times for 41 yards.
Along with the 120 yards by Rose, Escalon got 10 carries for 67 yards out of Ratto, four carries by Dylan Furtado for 38 yards, two carries by Jake Hood for 28. Also getting some yards were Sammy Machado, four rushes for 19 and Ian Fitzgerald, 2 for 18.
"Kyle Rose had a great game and he played only three quarters," Northcutt pointed out. "Gino Franceschetti did a good job calling the offense and did a good job on defense, too. "We had the ball 55 times to their 20, and if you control the ball, you control the game."
Also getting kudos for their defense were Trey Balber, Robert Steves, Nate Caton and Shane Silveira.
Returners for the team this year are Caton, Rose, Franceschetti, Silveira, Balber and Smith.
"We're still learning," Northcutt said. "We did have a lot of mental mistakes."
The team will work on cleaning those up, as they head to Patterson for a battle on Friday night.
"We've got a pretty good preseason schedule," Northcutt said, noting it will get the JV Cougars ready for the tough Trans-Valley League campaign.
