Eager to open up their home season on a high note, the freshman football Cougars did just that. The squad celebrated their first home game with a 28-8 victory over Livingston. Escalon dominated the offensive and defensive lines, ripping open the Wolves defense for big gains by the Cougar running backs and stuffing Livingston’s run and shoot offense.

Jacob Dietzel, Austin Narayan, Josiah Beltran, AJ Groves, and Zach Freeseha anchored the O-line. The D-line had great play from Dietzel, Beltran, Alejandro Mancilla, Michael Carroll, Tony Valladolid, and Dylan Dugo.

The Cougars began the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Carson Grogan to Ethan Krieger with 3:33 left in the first quarter. A failed PAT made the score 6-0.

After a quick Livingston turnover, Escalon scored again, this time on a 35-yard run by Jordan Gwartney. Gwartney ran in the 2-point conversion for a 14-0 lead with 2:52 still left in the first quarter.

“A great way to start a game,” said Coach Roger Beeman. “Livingston never really recovered from those two quick strikes.”

Escalon scored again early in the second quarter on a 16-yard TD run by Frank Leal. Gwartney’s second 2-point conversion pushed the lead to 22-0. Livingston countered with their only successful drive of the night, converting on a 21-yard run midway through the quarter. The halftime score was 22-8.

The second half saw only one score, an 11-yard run by Gwartney early in the fourth quarter. Final score was 28-8.

“This was a good, solid team performance,” noted Beeman. “We had good efforts from everyone, and we outplayed them in every phase of the game. Jordan continues to run well, and Carson is starting to lead his team well. If we all continue to work hard, we’ll have a lot of fun.”

Escalon travels to Tracy on Thursday, Sept, 24 to take on Division 1 Merrill West High School.