Shut out on the road Oct. 20 against Hughson to start the final week of the regular season, the Lady Cougars then battled Ripon in their flag finale, falling just a little short on Oct. 22.

Both league games were away, as Escalon lost 20-0 to Hughson on Monday, Oct. 20.

Then, it was a battle in Ripon, as the Oct. 22 contest saw the home team ultimately prevail with an 18-13 win. Escalon had a rushing and a receiving touchdown from senior Jasmine Barron while Ripon had two scores on the ground and one in the air.

Rachelle Barker and Reagan Baker had five tackles apiece on the day; Georgia Northcutt and Yaya Marsellis added four each. Barker had two sacks, Marsellis added an interception.

Escalon put the long, disappointing regular season behind them, though, with a thrilling 12-0 victory on the road Monday, Oct. 27. They traveled to nearby Riverbank for a Sac-Joaquin Section play-in game, facing off with the Lady Bruins, now in the Mother Lode League but a longtime TVL rival in many sports. The Lady Cougars had the number 19 seed in Division 4 with Riverbank coming in at number 14.

Escalon put together a strong effort and took a 12-0 win off the field. Neither team scored in the first half; Escalon scored a touchdown in the third quarter to go up 6-0 and then parlayed an interception into another score, sealing the victory at 12-0.

Now that they have played their way in to the playoffs, the Lady Cougars are slated to travel to face off with number two seed Colfax for a 6 p.m. opening round contest on Wednesday, Oct. 29.