A road game didn’t end the way Escalon’s freshman football had hoped.

“We really don’t match up well with that team,” said coach Roger Beeman in response to the team’s 28-8 loss to Hilmar on Thursday night. “The guys work hard, but we seem to get frustrated and abandon fundamentals. Rather than sticking to our assignments, we try to help by doing something else. We’re a very competitive team, and we’re good teammates; we just have to work on consistency and repetition. Hilmar is good. And they make us look pretty bad sometimes. They’ll be a good target for this team to catch over the next few years.”

The first quarter saw Escalon go three and out in their first two possessions. Hilmar followed both with touchdowns, one on a 3-yard run and the other on a 34-yard pass play. Trailing 14-0, the young Cougars regained their balance in the second quarter, but another stalled drive gave way to Hilmar scoring again on a 6-yard run.

“Hilmar took the second half kickoff 72 yards straight up the field for their fourth and final touchdown of the game,” Beeman added. “The third and fourth quarters saw both teams trade short drives without scoring.”

Escalon got on the board in the final minute of the game on a 1-yard run by Wyatt McCune. McCune then connected with Levi Hale for the two-point conversion and a final score of 28-8.