After roaring out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, Escalon seemed poised to run away from the visiting Wildcats of Sonora on Friday night, Oct. 30.
But the Wildcats had other ideas and came back with two touchdowns of their own in the second quarter, tying the host team 14-14 at the break.
It would take extra time for the Trans-Valley League contest to be decided at Engel Field, with the teams knotted 28-28 at the end of regulation.
Ultimately, Escalon got the win, edging Sonora 35-34 in overtime, keeping their chances of a co-championship for the TVL title with Hilmar alive.
“If we’ve come to know anything, it’s that in the TVL, there’s no weeks off,” Escalon head coach Andrew Beam said.
Sonora was on a losing streak, while Escalon was moving in the other direction and looking to stay on a roll. But Sonora put together one of their best efforts of the season and nearly stole the game from Escalon.
“It was their first game without a turnover all year,” Beam said. “They had four fumbles and a pick six against Ripon.”
That led to a Ripon win against the Wildcats but they held on to the ball against Escalon and pushed the Cougars to the limit.
The host team did score the first two touchdowns of the game, with Dylan Ball getting into the end zone on a 24-yard run and the kick by Brody Abbott for the 7-0 lead. Quarterback Archer Sanders then hit Ian Trejo on a 68-yard pass play for the score, Abbott kicking the extra point for a 14-0 first quarter lead.
After scoring their second touchdown of the night, Escalon tried an onside kick but it was picked up at about nine-and-a-half yards by Escalon, just shy of the 10-yard requirement.
“We took a gamble,” Beam admitted. “That gave them a short field and they scored, we got the ball and then took some penalties, we had to punt and they scored again.”
Sonora answered with the two quick scores in the first five minutes of the second quarter, including a 68-yard run by their quarterback, who was elusive throughout the contest and amassed 252 yards rushing by himself.
The Wildcats had the chance to get even more points before the half but after getting a first down just a couple of yards from the end zone, ran out of time before setting up for another play.
That left the teams knotted 14-14 at the half, with Sonora getting the second half kickoff.
“Their mistake was to our benefit,” Beam said.
But the Wildcats did their best Cougar impression opening the second half, taking almost the entire third quarter to get a touchdown and take a 21-14 lead.
Escalon got a nice pass completion from Sanders to Jake Ferreira into the red zone to close the third quarter, and Ball then went in from a yard out early in the fourth, Abbott adding the extra point to tie the game 21-21.
It was another time-consuming possession by Sonora that resulted in a score with less than five minutes to go in the game, going up 28-21.
Sanders engineered the game-tying drive, including a long pass completion to Trejo followed by the handoff and a short TD run by Ball. With Abbott’s extra point, it was 28-28 with 1:55 to play.
Escalon was able to contain Sonora in the final two minutes, forcing the overtime session.
“In overtime, we won the toss and opted to go on defense,” Beam said.
Sonora made the most of their opportunity and got the touchdown to go up 34-28. But the extra point attempt was wobbly and low, going wide right.
On Escalon’s possession, they had two touchdowns called back, both on holding calls, both of them run in by Ball but negated.
“On the first play we scored but had it called back,” Beam said. “So, we were at first and 20, there was a bad snap that Archer just had to throw away.”
Sanders also had to leave the field briefly after being shaken up, so Jake Ferreira stepped in at QB, a position he has played in the past.
“We were at a second and 21 and Jake just did a QB power drive for the first down,” Beam explained. “Jake made his best run of the season.”
After having a second touchdown by Ball called back, the third time proved to be the charm.
“It was from about 14 yards out, an unbelievable run by Dylan, he was breaking tackles, carrying guys with him and finally, he dives into the endzone,” said Beam.
That tied the score at 34-34 and set up the extra point try by Abbott.
“Both the kickers, those whole kicking units for both teams, I think felt the nerves,” Beam said of the crucial kicks in OT. For Escalon, it was Abbott coming through, sending the game-winning kick – though a little low – through the uprights for the 35-34 final.
“A lot of pressure, just knowing that he (Sonora’s kicker) missed it, I knew it was going to come down to me and I ended up getting the job done,” Abbott said. “It feels good, much needed win, especially for playoffs.”
For Ball, he said you just have to not let the frustration of penalties bring you down.
“You just have to forget about it, you’ve got to move on, it’s in the past and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said of getting past the miscues. “It was a close game but I’m proud of the way we played at the end.”
Kolton Kjellberg said they did have to make some adjustments defensively at the half to focus more on containing the Sonora QB while Ian Trejo said they just had to keep fighting.
“In a close game like that, I think just sticking together and not trying to point fingers or anything, keeping calm, making sure we do what we need to do, so we can get the job finished,” Trejo said.
It was also a matter of trying to guarantee another game – in the playoffs – at Engel Field for the seniors that was important to Jake Ferreira.
“We just knew that if we lost this game it would be the seniors’ last time playing on Engel Field so we just had to stay determined the entire game,” Ferreira said.
Sanders said it did take a total team effort, from Trey Herrera stepping in at center to Ferreira taking some snaps at QB, and on down the line to the final extra point by Abbott that made the difference.
“I think he’s on his way to being the greatest kicker in Escalon history,” Sanders said of his teammate Abbott, who has been nails for the varsity squad this season.
Ball had 14 carries for 123 yards and four touchdowns. Trejo had three catches for 126 yards and a touchdown. Ferreira had three carries for 24 yards, two catches for 61 yards.
Sanders was 6-for-10 for 187 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Conner McDowell had 11 tackles, Ball had six tackles from his safety position, while DJ Bass, Jaxon Degruy, Kolten Kjellberg, and Ryan Huebner had anywhere from five to seven tackles each. Degruy, a sophomore, was making his first varsity start.
In the game, starting center Luke Gutierrez went out early with an injury and Trey Herrera was able to come in and fill in admirably, as he takes some reps in the position in practice.
“I was nervous the first couple of snaps and then I got into a groove,” said Herrera. “We battled some adversity with Luke going out and a couple other injuries but we still battled through it as hard as we could and came out with the ‘W’ which was the best possible thing we could do.”
Val Garcia also went out early in the fourth quarter and Sanders was out briefly after tweaking an ankle.
The regular season finale will be on the road for Escalon, as they travel to Newman to face off with Orestimba on Friday night, Nov. 6.
“We are still playing for something,” Beam said, as they can tie Hilmar for first place in the TVL with a win against Orestimba and a Hilmar loss to Hughson in the finale.
And though wishing the Huskies well is not typically in Escalon’s DNA, Beam said they might make an exception this week.
“We would take a co-championship over no championship,” he said.
JV/Freshmen
While the Escalon varsity won by a point, it was the opposite for the JV Cougars, falling by one point to Sonora, 28-27, on Friday night.
Sonora went up 7-0 on a 26-yard rushing play in the first quarter, with the kick good, then added a 55-yard score, kick failed, to lead it 13-0.
Adam Cordeiro scored on a 66-yard rushing play and Moises Cortes added the extra point for Escalon, trimming the lead to 13-7.
In the second quarter, Vinny Reis went in for Escalon on a 2-yard rush but the point after attempt was no good, tying the teams at 13-13.
Sonora scored on a 49-yard pass play for a touchdown and the 2-point rushing attempt was good, putting them up 21-13 at the half.
Third quarter scoring saw Cordeiro complete a 68-yard scoring strike to Lucas Machado. The 2-point attempt failed but Escalon trailed just 21-19. Sonora added an 8-yard rushing touchdown and the PAT later in the third, extending the lead to 28-19.
It was Cordeiro again in the fourth quarter, forcing a fumble and returning it 90 yards for the score, then completing the 2-point pass attempt to Machado to make it 28-27.
But that’s as close as they would get, unable to get back into the end zone before time ran out.
“We fell just short again, but we were happy to see the boys compete and remain competitive the entire game,” said JV head coach Brant Rose. “Adam Cordeiro shined in every way, with his arm, legs, and defensive play. That was a solid Sonora team that has beaten a few league opponents.”
The freshmen kicked off the week’s contests with the Wildcats on Thursday night, Oct. 29 at Engel Field. That game ended in a 20-20 tie, as Sonora was able to get a late touchdown and a two-point conversion to forge the tie.
This week, the freshmen are scheduled to play at Bret Harte on Thursday, Nov. 5 in non-league action to round out their season. The JV will take on Orestimba with a 5 p.m. start time on Friday, Nov. 6, followed by the varsity game at 7 p.m.
