A satisfying way to end their seasons, both Escalon’s JV and freshman football teams were on the rod in Livingston this past week, each coming away with a win to close out the campaign.

For the JV team, it concluded a perfect 4-0 run in the Trans-Valley League, and they brought home the TVL title. They shut out the host Wolves, 35-0 on Friday, Oct. 27.

In the first quarter, Ben Ferreira scored on a 13-yard rushing play; the kick was no good but the JV Cougars had a 6-0 lead.

Second quarter scoring saw Ben Gonzalez go in on a 17-yard rushing play, Jeremy Grivette took in the two-point conversion and it was 14-0 Cougars. They added another score, on a 10-yard Donovan Martinez pass to Ferreira for the score and Ricardo Felix-Chavez tacked on the extra point for a 21-0 edge at halftime.

There was more to come in the third quarter as Bryce Vallee scored on a 10-yard rushing play, Felix-Chavez sent the extra point through to make it 28-0 and the JV boys closed it out with a final touchdown in the fourth quarter. Kamari Castro went into the end zone on a 5-yard rush, the kick was good by Felix-Chavez for the 35-0 final.

“They boys finished a remarkable season, finishing as undefeated champions of the TVL and with an overall record of 8-2,” said head coach Brant Rose. “Truthfully, our coaching staff did not expect us to have this record at the onset of the season based off of the grueling non-league schedule we had, combined with the always tough TVL.”

The only two losses for the JV boys came in contests against powerhouse teams Buchanan and California High School.

“These boys went toe-to-toe each week with teams, on paper, we had no business hanging with. But, each year there is just something about these boys from Escalon that play football with a different edge than just about everyone else. And that seems to make all the difference.”

Pulling down interceptions in the finale were Ben Ferreira, Daniel Marrufo and Isaac Petalio. Marrufo also forced and recovered a fumble, said Rose.

“I give a lot of credit to (varsity head coach) coach Beam, because he put together a brutal non-league schedule that seemed insane to a lot of people,” said Rose. “But without a doubt it raised the level of our team’s play for the TVL and is a big reason why we are league champions.”

FRESHMEN

For the youngest Cougars, it was a 29-8 victory over Livingston, traveling there on Thursday, Oct. 26.

Livington got the scoring started, however, on a long drive that took up basically the entire first quarter, as they ran the ball. They scored from a short distance out and added a running two-point conversion for the early 8-0 lead.

“We answered quickly by scoring right back with a short Noah Dooley rushing touchdown,” said head coach Joey Costa. “The kick by Damien Morales was no good due to a high snap, so the score was 8-6 Livingston.”

The Escalon defense then started playing better and got a stop on the Wolves, which included an interception by Mikey Lourenco.

“We went on to score another short Noah Dooley rushing touchdown, and Noah also added the rushing two-point conversion making the score 14-8 us in the second quarter.”

The defense continued to hold and late in the first half, K’oz Castro had a big sack that led to a fumble and got the Cougars the ball back.

“We marched down the field with some passing led by quarterback Houston Sizuela, and it ended in a touchdown pass to Mikey Lourenco from about 20 yards out, right before the half.”

Dooley added the two-point conversion and it was 22-8 Escalon. The final touchdown for Escalon came in the fourth quarter, on a long 60-yard counter by Castro.

Carson Criteser kicked the extra point for the 29-8 final.

“Castro had a big day rushing (over 100 yards) with some big runs for first downs and actually had a touchdown called back in the first half,” Costa said.

Connor McDowell was the leader on defense while the offensive line of Ethan Tellez, Cole McDowell, Logan Castellanos, Tyler Power and Caleb Boatman got kudos from their coach.

“I am super proud of this team; we finished 3-1 in the TVL which was second place, and 4-5-1 overall, losing a couple of close games,” Costa said.