It wasn’t easy but it was satisfying, as the varsity Cougars held off a desperate Hilmar Yellowjackets team at Engel Field on Friday night. The 41-34 victory was important on a few levels including being the record-setting Sac-Joaquin Section win for head coach Mark Loureiro – 262 – and effectively knocking the Yellowjackets out of the playoffs, as they fell to 0-2. Escalon, with wins over Hughson and Hilmar, stands at 2-0 and heads to Riverbank this week for an Oct. 24 contest before welcoming Ripon in for a Halloween night showdown with plenty of playoff implications.