Friday night, Sept. 15 the Cougars will once again be on the road. This time, they will play a little closer to home, heading to Galt High School where they will face off against Liberty Ranch.

The host team, which is coming off a 45-20 win over Franklin of Stockton this past week, is now 1-2, sporting the same record as the Cougars.

“They’re a scrappy team,” said Escalon head coach Mark Loureiro. “They run the Wing T, do a little shotgun, they have multiple looks.”

Liberty Ranch is led by quarterback/linebacker Thomas Thornburg, 6-0, 170; and their top rusher is Mason Peterson, 5-6, 160.

Top lineman is Blake Ritchie, a center/linebacker who checks in at 5-9, 205.

“We’re young and we’re making young mistakes,” Loureiro said. “We’ve got to bounce back … this week will be key.”

A win would get the Cougars back to the .500 mark and set them up with a little momentum.

Game time for the varsity is 7 p.m. Friday night.