On the road in Sonora to open up Trans-Valley League play this past week, the varsity football Cougars had to come back down the hill with a loss. And even though the Wildcats are widely considered the favorite for the TVL title, head coach Andrew Beam said his squad definitely had their chances.
“In big games, when you’re the underdog, you have to capitalize on your chances and we didn’t; there were some things that could have been game changers,” Beam said.
In one case, Escalon was driving and was in the red zone, looking to strike first. But a 99-yard pick six gave the first score of the game – and the momentum – to Sonora.
Final score of the TVL opener for both squads was 49-14 in Sonora’s favor; they had a 28-14 lead at the half and kept Escalon off the scoreboard for the entire second half.
Scoring the Escalon touchdowns were Chase Cummings, pulling in the touchdown pass from Logan Huebner, and Carter Yates, on a running play after a pitch from Huebner and with a good lead block thrown by Luca Cerasi.
Escalon took the opening kickoff and drove down the field methodically, getting into the red zone, before the pick six gave the home team a 7-0 lead.
“To our guys’ credit, we marched down the field again and we scored to make it 7-7,” explained Beam.
The pass play for the touchdown was on a fourth and goal at the 5-yard line, Cummings leaping up at the end of a crossing pattern in the middle of the end zone to pull in the ball. Brody Abbott added the point after to make it 7-7.
Sonora quickly answered, scoring again to go up 14-7 before the end of the first quarter.
Escalon again got into the red zone but another interception, this one run back 60 yards, ended the Cougar scoring threat.
“Those are monumental, game-altering plays,” Beam said.
Escalon’s second touchdown of the night was on the 13-yard rushing play from Yates, with the point after from Ricky Chavez. Sonora, though, cashed in with two more touchdowns in the second quarter to lead it 28-14 at the half. They added one touchdown in the third quarter, two in the fourth for the 49-14 final.
“They had 381 yards, we had 282,” Beam said. “They had 20 first downs to our 11.”
Beam said Escalon did have some success with short yardage passing plays, with Huebner going 16-for-31 on the night for 174 yards. He had one touchdown and two interceptions.
Dylan Ball had five carries for 68 yards and two catches for 28 yards. Sophomore call up Ian Trejo got in on the action with four catches, while sophomore Jake Ferreira had a couple of kickoff returns and some carries from scrimmage as well.
“We’ve had some kids get a baptism by fire,” the coach pointed out, as the injury-riddled varsity squad has had to lean on plenty of underclassmen, with six sophomores and a freshman starting against the Sonora squad.
Beam noted freshman Trey Herrera, playing on the defensive line and doing well against a big Sonora offensive line; sophomore Kolton Kjellberg has been playing both tight end and defensive end; along with the contributions from Trejo and Ferreira on Friday night.
Defensively for the game, Mason Haverkamp had 11 tackles; Conner McDowell had nine tackles and a sack; Ethan Butler added nine tackles.
Escalon looks to get back on track this week; they will host rival Hilmar at Engel Field with a 7 p.m. kickoff scheduled on Friday, Sept. 26.
JV/FRESHMEN
It was a hard fought 14-7 victory on the road for Escalon’s JV football team, the squad opening up Trans-Valley League action with the win and improving to 5-0 overall.
They traveled to Sonora to take on the Wildcats in the Sept. 19 contest.
Dylan Machado scored on a 32-yard rushing play in the first quarter for Escalon, with Juan Pablo De Luna adding the point after to put the visitors up, 7-0.
But Sonora answered back on a one-yard TD plunge, kick good, to knot the score in the first.
Escalon regained the lead in the second quarter, with a six-yard touchdown pass from Archer Sanders to Trevor Jansen. The De Luna kick was good and the JV Cougars went up 14-7 by halftime.
There was no scoring in the second half, the Cougars coming home with the win.
“Offensively, we put together four very efficient, methodical drives that kept the ball away from Sonora’s dangerous offense; those were our only possessions,” explained head coach Brant Rose. “Two ended with scores, one in a turnover on downs in the red zone after advancing the ball the length of the field in the third quarter, and the last ended in a kneel out to seal the victory.”
Rose said Sonora was a very tough opponent and it was a big team win, with both the offense and defense contributing.
“Defensively, we came up with the big plays in the most critical times, highlighted by two red zone interceptions by Cade Riesenbeck late in the second quarter and Trevor Jansen in the third,” Rose said.
The JV boys will play at home this week, hosting Hilmar on Sept. 26.
Escalon’s freshmen hosted Sonora on Thursday, Sept. 18 and were shut out by the Wildcats in a 28-0 final.
“They’re a good team, my hat is off to them, and I know they’ll be successful this year,” said head coach Nate Caton. “Despite the score, we are improving on the offensive side by driving the ball down the field, but continue to struggle with scoring.”
For the team, Lucas Trejo, Ty Caton and Adam Cordeiro moved the ball well, with teammates providing some good blocks, but the frosh squad still couldn’t get it in the end zone.
“Kash Kuhlman made a great play when we needed a first down for 10 yards,” added Caton. “Another great play was Johnny Kemp running down the sideline for 20 yards.”
But none of the drives ended with a score.
“Defensively, we must be willing to tackle,” added the coach. “Our starting defensive tackle had an injury last week, so we subbed in Kevin Rocha for that spot. He stepped up to the role and did a good job.”
The freshmen travel to Hilmar this week to take on the Yellowjackets on Sept. 25.
