It was a week of mixed results for the JV and freshman football teams in Escalon. On Friday night, the JV was taken down by visiting Ripon Christian by a wide margin, while the freshmen were winners on Engel Field on Thursday night, hosting Golden Valley.
For the second consecutive week, the JV boys lost the turnover battle and it cost them.
They fell to Ripon Christian by a 34-6 final, trailing 15-6 at halftime.
Visiting RC scored on rushing plays in the first and second quarters, adding an extra point and a two-point conversion to go up 15-0.
Escalon answered with a 34-yard Adam Cordeiro pass to Jaxon DeGruy for the touchdown but missed the 2-point attempt, so the visiting Knights were ahead by nine points at the half.
In the third quarter, a blocked punt by Ripon Christian was returned 26 yards for a touchdown as they went up 21-6 and they added a 42-yard rushing touchdown for a 27-6 lead.
Final points of the night were on a 17-yard RC touchdown pass with the kick good, adding up to the 34-6 final.
“We had another disappointing performance where we did not execute well,” said head coach Brant Rose. “We lost the turnover margin, three to one in this game, with our one forced turnover being a big interception by Adam Cordeiro late in the first half.”
He added that the blocked punt by RC that was returned for a touchdown was a game changer.
“That many mistakes can’t happen if you want to win against any TVL opponent,” Rose said.
The JV team will be in Hilmar for a TVL contest on Friday, Oct. 2.
On Thursday night, the frosh Cougars were 17-6 winners over Golden Valley and head coach Nate Caton said the team had a good week of practice and it seems like “a lot is clicking” with the team.
“Our challenge this week was to play four quarters of football, and we did,” Caton said. “We did a better job on both sides of the ball including special teams.”
Some good defensive plays were turned in by Mason Rodriguez with a deflected pass to stop a Golden Valley drive, along with a Hunter Morrill fumble recovery and a big hit on the Golden Valley quarterback by Alonso Andrade.
First half scoring for Escalon came from Aiden Yates-Perreira and Danny Arevalo to give the freshmen a 14-0 lead.
In the second half, Vasco Pimentel launched a 36-yard field goal for Escalon to cap a drive, making it 17-0; he also hit the extra points on the touchdowns.
Golden Valley scored in the fourth to get to within 17-6 but their final drive was stopped by a Tillman Vick interception to end the game.
“What made that night exciting for the guys is that they’re starting to understand more about the game,” Caton said.
He pointed to the effort of the offensive line of Michael Achterberg, Gunner McCurley, Hunter Morrill, Dylan Borges and Jeremiah Gentry as being key and said Jaxxon Kemp also had a couple of big receptions at wide receiver, thrown to him by Frank Borba.
Also of note, Caton said, no freshmen were placed on the academic ineligibility list.
“Typically, we would get two to three guys ineligible but this year, everybody is eligible,” Caton said. “This shows us as coaches that we can trust them in the classroom to get things done.”
The freshmen will also face off against Hilmar this week, taking on the Yellowjackets on Thursday, Oct. 1.
