They went for the win at home … and came up just short.
Escalon’s JV football boys took a heartbreaking 14-13 loss to visiting Ripon on Friday, Oct. 24, in a game that didn’t see any points scored until the second half.
Ripon broke through first, on a six-yard rushing play in the third quarter. They went for the two-point conversion but the pass attempt was no good. Still, the visitors had the 6-0 lead.
Escalon was able to answer on a one-yard rushing touchdown from Val Garcia, with the point after kicked through by Juan Pablo De Luna to put the host JV team up 7-6.
But in the fourth quarter, Ripon would score again, on a one-yard rush, and this time they connected on the pass attempt for the two-point conversion to go up 14-7.
Escalon’s final score was a huge play, a 69-yard pass completion from Archer Sanders to Ian Trejo late in the fourth. They attempted the two-point conversion to go for the win, but the attempt was no good, Ripon escaping with the 14-13 victory.
“A thrilling game that ends in heartbreaking fashion,” said head coach Brant Rose. “Our players played really hard and we had our chances to win. Unfortunately, we had a few really costly mistakes that you can’t have in big games against good teams.”
Rose said the defense put together a good performance throughout the contest.
“They had to manage very short field position on most of Ripon’s possessions and had two goal line stands in the game,” the coach said. “One resulted from a big interception in the end zone by Trevor Jansen.”
The JV boys travel to Orestimba to finish out league play on Friday, Oct. 31.
“Our team missed out on a league championship because we have two losses by a combined two points,” Rose added. “Not sure there is a better way to explain what football is like in the Trans-Valley League.
FRESHMEN
Hitting the road on Oct. 23 for a clash with Ripon, the Escalon freshmen found out how tough the host team could be, as the Indians shut out the youngest Cougars, 36-0.
“We told the kids this will be a fight and Ripon will come with everything, and they did,” said head coach Nate Caton. “They were fast and had athletes, and I believe we could’ve done better despite the score. We moved the ball well in the opening drive but struggled throughout the game as our offense had trouble with blocking against blitzes.”
The best drive for the Cougar frosh came in the final two minutes of the first half, said Caton.
“Our quarterback Trenten Barth threw one to our receiver Kash Kuhlman and he made a catch for 25 yards,” explained the coach. “Couple plays after, Johnny Van Dyk made a good catch for 10 yards, but we ran out of time.”
Escalon did get the ball to start the second half and Barth completed another pass to Kuhlman for 20-plus yards, despite the receiver being in double coverage.
“As Ripon was athletic and fast, we had trouble stopping them on defense. Our tackling was off that night and couldn’t make a stop,” Caton said.
A couple of good plays included a forced fumble by linebacker Brody Krasko and the recovery by defensive end Caleb Kay, giving Escalon an extra offensive possession.
Orestimba does not have a freshman team so Escalon instead will host Tokay for their season finale on Thursday, Oct. 30.
“I know Tokay will come out with a similar game plan as Ripon, and we have to find a way to finish the season the way we want to,” Caton said.
Kickoff will be at 6 p.m. Thursday at Engel Field.
