It was a tough week for the JV and freshman football Cougars, as both took losses in their contests.
While they had the lead for a portion of the game, including a 14-7 edge at the half, the JV Cougars found themselves outlasted by Damonte Ranch in Reno on Friday night, Sept. 18, losing by a 35-33 final.
“We beat ourselves in this one,” JV head coach Brant Rose said. “Credit to Damonte Ranch for capitalizing on our mistakes and taking the momentum to get the win.”
It was the first loss of the season for the JV team, having won their first three preseason contests. They wrap up the preseason campaign at 3-1.
In the first quarter, Escalon took a 7-0 lead on a 54-yard touchdown pass from Adam Cordeiro to Kash Kuhlman with the kick good by Emmanuel Calderon.
They got another touchdown in the second quarter to go up 14-0, on a Vinny Reis three-yard run and the kick by Moises Cortez.
But host Damonte Ranch answered before halftime, with a 2-yard rushing touchdown and the point after, trimming the lead to 14-7.
Reis had a five-yard rushing touchdown in the third as the JV boys went up 21-7, only to see Damonte Ranch quickly get one back in the fourth quarter on a 51-yard rushing play, getting to within 21-14.
Adam Cordeiro then had a one-yard rushing touchdown, kick no good, to put Escalon up 27-14.
Then it was back-to-back scores for Damonte Ranch, on a pair of short passing plays, with the kick good each time, giving the home team a 28-27 advantage.
With the clock ticking down, Damonte Ranch put their final points of the night on the board, on a 49-yard running play, kick good, leading Escalon 35-27.
Cordeiro then completed a four-yard pass to Lucas Machado for the touchdown and they went for the two-point conversion but failed, leaving the final score 35-33 in favor of Damonte Ranch.
“Our offense consistently moved the ball throughout the game and our defense forced punts on four Damonte Ranch possessions; but ultimately the difference was our astounding six turnovers to DR’s one,” Rose noted. “Not sure if it’s possible to win a game with that turnover differential. Hopefully we can learn to execute better as we head into the rugged Trans-Valley League play against a solid 3-1 Ripon Chrisitan team.”
The JV boys kick off their game at home on Friday night, Sept. 25 at 5 p.m.
The freshmen squad, meanwhile, took a 35-14 loss against Edison on Thursday, Sept. 17.
“Coming into the game, we knew we were playing against a very fast team,” said freshman head coach Nate Caton. “Edison had some good athletes, and we had a hard time stopping them. We struggled a lot with tackling and fumbled the ball a couple of times. By halftime, we were down 20-0.”
With a directive from coaches to “respond better in the second half,” Caton said they did just that, scoring two touchdowns.
“We got the ball in the third quarter and when it was fourth down at nearly midfield, Aiden Yates-Perreira ran one in from 40-plus yards.” Caton said. “He outran everybody.”
The defense, though, continued to struggle with tackling and covering, so Edison scored on their next drive, making the score 28-7.
In the fourth quarter, Frank Borba IV threw a pass to Jaxxon Kemp to score a 30-plus yard touchdown as Escalon trimmed the lead to 28-14.
“Edison got the ball again and scored at the end of the game, making it 35-14,” said Caton. “I do believe we have a good team, but I feel like for the last two weeks, our team starts to settle in by the second half. We need to play four quarters of football and tackle. That’s going to be our focus going into the next game against Golden Valley.”
Escalon will host Golden Valley on Thursday, Sept. 24 at Engel Field at 6 p.m.
