A 35-0 victory for the Escalon JV football team was a satisfying way to start the 2017 season. The win came on the home field Friday night, as they shut out Enochs in convincing fashion.
The score was 25-0 at the half, with the young Cougars putting scores on the board in both the first and second quarters. They added more scores in the second half and kept the Enochs Eagles grounded for the duration of the contest.
“It was a good way to start the year,” said JV head coach Andrew Beam. “We received the opening kickoff and ended up scoring on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Ty Harris to Colton Panero.”
The pass came at the end of the first Cougar possession and Beam said Panero did a great job, outjumping the defender in the end zone. The extra point was blocked but the touchdown capped a roughly six-minute drive.
“Then we stopped them, came back and got a 2-yard rushing touchdown from Luke Anderson,” Beam said.
This time, the JV squad went for the 2-point conversion and was stopped, but held a 12-0 lead. After a three and out by Enochs, Panero burned the defense for a 69-yard score and the 2-point try was stopped, leaving it an 18-0 advantage.
With a couple of minutes left in the first half, Bryan Hale broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run on a fourth and one, with Ricky Erazo adding the extra point for a 25-0 lead at the half.
Second half scoring for Escalon came with Bryan Hale going in from 11 yards out and the extra point good in the third quarter, with Erazo then drilling a 41-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on the final score, 35-0.
“This is his first year in football, his first year kicking for us and that was his first ever field goal, we were all excited for him,” Beam said of Erazo.
Escalon had 11 first downs to the five recorded by Enochs, with the Cougars rolling up 314 yards of total offense to 102 for the visiting Eagles.
“We played smart football,” added Beam. “We had just one penalty, they had eight.”
Leading the defense were Kaidence Trejo with nine tackles, Luke Anderson with eight and Colton Panero with seven, while sophomore Miguel Souza did a good job at cornerback. The sophomore returned to Escalon this year after one year in Stockton and Beam said he’s pleased to have Souza as part of the team.
Beam was also excited about the total team effort.
“To pitch a shutout, the first game of the year, with a lot of new kids and a lot of freshmen, that was satisfying,” Beam said.
The Cougars return to the home field again this Friday night, Sept. 1, to host Calaveras as non-league preseason action continues.
Calaveras beat El Capitan this past week, 20-0, so both teams are coming off opening week shutouts.
“We know we’ll get a physical game,” Beam said.
Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at Engel Field.
