Head coach Andrew Beam said he didn’t want to make a ‘David vs. Goliath’ comparison. He didn’t have to; everyone else was.

Escalon’s ‘David’ took down the ‘Goliath’ of the Buchanan Bears, the Cougars avenging last year’s 41-40 double overtime loss at home with a come-from-behind 23-21 classic victory on the road Friday night, Aug. 25 in Clovis.

Those that made the two-hour plus trip to take in the game in the huge Olympic-trials stadium on the college-like campus of Buchanan High got everything they wanted and more.

Players on defense flying to the ball, great drives by each squad, great stops by each squad, a safety, some 2-point conversions, and some missed opportunities. Toss in a final play series of laterals in a last gasp attempt by Buchanan to avoid the loss and a nerves of steel performance by Talan Reider on the game-winning 32-yard field goal … even the fans were exhausted by game’s end.

Reider admitted to “totally” being scared when he lined up for the field goal, but wanted to atone for a couple of mistakes he made earlier in the contest.

“I knew if I missed, Monday would have been horrible at practice so I knew I had to focus not on anything else and just make it,” Reider said.

And watching it sail through the uprights, with plenty of height and distance to spare?

“Awesome, it was so amazing,” Reider said, adding that he feels the victory was also a statement of sorts by this year’s Cougars to anyone who is watching, as they graduated several key players. “Not all the good players left … we’re still a good team.”

Another player that stepped up to the challenge given by his coaches was Josh Graham, who made a number of offensive plays in crucial situations.

“It feels so good, especially after losing last year, you know this game meant something for us and we came out and gave it our all and we beat them. We beat them,” Graham said.

Along with being on the road, several non-calls cost the Cougars, with just a couple of penalties called in the contest.

Graham said while that was frustrating, the team could not focus on that.

“We had the mentality that we were going to win and we just pushed through and we made it happen,” he said.

For center Darius Higby, being in the trenches for every offensive snap made him appreciate all the hard work he and his teammates put in for the victory.

“Last year they came to our field, we played a hell of a game last year and they got us. That stuck with us, so the bus ride here and in the locker room, we were ready,” Higby said. “In the huddle, every single play, we told ourselves we wanted it more and guess what, we showed them we wanted it more.”

After winning the toss and deferring, Escalon’s defense opened up with a strong effort and forced a Buchanan punt.

But it took a favorable home team roll and pinned the Cougars deep, with the Bears taking advantage to tackle Reider in the end zone for the early safety and a 2-point lead.

In the second quarter, the Bears converted on a 31-yard pass play and added the point after to go up 9-0. Buchanan was driving again – after recovering a questionable fumble on what Escalon felt was an incomplete forward pass – when Sam Jimenez came up with “the play of the game,” said Beam.

“Sam gets the interception and a 47-yard return; they were up 9-0 at that point and knocking on the door of going up by three scores,” Beam explained.

The interception paved the way for Escalon to get into the end zone with less than a minute to go in the half, Jamin Miller scoring the touchdown and the Cougars then using a set play for a 2-point try as opposed to the PAT.

“We practiced that all week; Carson Medina snapped it directly to Talan Reider; he threw the pass and Logan Huebner caught it in the end zone so we were down 9-8 at the half,” Beam said. “The kids were hyped, going in at halftime, they felt ‘we can do this.’ The laser focus from the kids from the time we got to that field; I started to believe at halftime.”

Buchanan had 134 yards of offense in the first half to Escalon’s 87 but that tide turned in the second half.

“We rushed for 148 yards to their 19 in the second half; we ran it 22 times, they ran it nine times,” Beam said.

Escalon got the ball to start the second half and the first three plays of the third quarter were all first down runs; Miller for 14 yards, Miller for 29 and Graham for 12.

Graham punched through the touchdown on that drive, going in from four yards out, but the 2-point conversion failed. Still, that put Escalon in the lead 14-9.

Buchanan grabbed the lead back on a methodical march down the field, going up 15-14 after failing to convert their 2-point attempt.

“The fourth quarter, things got exciting,” Beam said.

Escalon went up 20-15 on a seven-yard touchdown by Jimenez, 2-point no good; Buchanan regained the lead two minutes later with a touchdown but missed the 2-point conversion, leading 21-20.

Escalon’s final drive then started with 4:30 left in the game.

“We had plenty of time on the clock and three time outs,” noted Beam. “We just had to go down and score or kick a field goal with no time left and we had some huge plays.”

Among them, conversions on a third and long by Ryan Lewis, and a fourth down completion from Rozevink to Lewis to keep the drive alive. A missed opportunity on a third down play, with Miller wide open in the end zone but the ball going over his head, forced the Cougars to set up for the 32-yard field goal.

Reider lined up, Medina snapped it to holder Rozevink and with plenty of leg, Reider sent the ball high and slightly to the left, but kept it inside the uprights to put the Cougars in the lead for good.

“There were six seconds left so we had to keep our cool,” Beam said of getting his players off the field so they could do the kickoff.

Sending off the squib kick that Beam asked for, the Cougars then had to scramble as the Buchanan team used a series of laterals to work the ball dangerously down the field in the closing seconds.

“Credit to Buchanan, they didn’t quit and a huge shout out to my kickoff team,” Beam said. “They ran sideline to sideline to make that last tackle.”

When the last ball carrier was down and the game officially over, it touched off a huge celebration on the field and Beam also sent his players to the visiting sideline, where they joined the cheerleaders in the EHS alma mater and saluted the fans.

“We’ve been playing bigger schools and knocking them off for 30 years, it’s in our DNA,” Beam said. “These guys were challenging themselves to find a way … they found a way.”

He pointed to huge efforts from Lewis, Miller, Rozevink and Graham, junior Trenton Powell who never left the field, playing every snap at guard and defensive tackle, and Derek Silva and Carson Medina with six tackles each.

“I could throw out a ton of names; the kickoff team, the special teams, they did an outstanding job, the defense flew around … we challenged Josh Graham and he rose to it; he had 19 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown, the smallest guy on the field and he played one of the biggest roles.”

Nico Franzia had a huge game on both offense and defense, Nate Krieger added six tackles, Reider had seven and Miller, at middle linebacker, had eight tackles. Miller also had nine carries for 59 yards while Lewis had six catches for 72 yards.

“We took down a giant … it was a beautiful facility but our kids weren’t intimidated, they never backed down,” Beam said.

Now, the Cougars return to their road warrior status, as they will head to Windsor High School, north of Santa Rosa, to take on the North Coast Section powerhouse Jaguars at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1.