“A great way to end the season,” Coach Roger Beeman said about the freshman football team’s 22-12 victory over the Huskies at Hughson on Thursday, Oct. 27. “The team played really well. And when we did make a mistake, we just shook it off and went back to work. It was good, solid, aggressive football. I’m really proud of them all. We’ve come a long way.”

Hughson scored first, taking the opening kick-off and capping a short drive with a 15-yard pass play for a touchdown and an early 6-0 lead. Escalon countered with a drive of their own, scoring on the first play of the second quarter. Kaidence Trejo’s 21-yard run tied the score at six apiece.

A three and out by Hughson put the Cougars on a drive again. With four minutes left in the half, Trejo scored again, this time from 6 yards out. Dylan Parks threw to Shane Johnson for the two-point conversion, and Escalon had a 14-6 lead at the half.

The Cougars took the second half kick-off and drove for their final score of the night. Austin Terra pounded it in from the 2 and then carried for the two-point conversion. The 22-6 lead was safely in the hands of a dominant Escalon defense for the rest of the night. Hughson tacked on a late fourth quarter score to make the final 22-12.

“It was really great to see how well our linemen played,” commented Beeman. “They’ve come a long way this year, and they completely controlled the game on both sides of the ball.”

The team’s linemen this year were Jakob Hunter, Mitchell Cole, David Camacho, Brad Hagglund, Miguel Granillo, Mason Hernandez, Noah Rast, Jonathan Santos, Carlos Saucedo, Jesse Castro, Garrett Cox, and Alonzo Teixeira.