On the home field for their Friday night game, Aug. 26, the host junior varsity Cougars found themselves on the wrong end of a shutout.
They hosted the Buchanan Bears out of Clovis, falling by a 28-0 decision.
The visitors scored on a 50-yard punt return and a 24-yard passing touchdown in the first quarter, with the point after good on each of those scores. In the second quarter, they scored on a 35-yard pass play, PAT good; and closed out the scoring in the third quarter on a 20-yard pass, PAT good, to take the shutout win.
“This was a team that we were outmatched against at nearly every position, but we also had many self-inflicted errors,” said head coach Brant Rose. “Offensively we struggled throughout the game with pass protection and ball security as we fumbled the ball twice.”
On the defensive side, said Rose, the team was in position to make plays at or behind the line of scrimmage, but poor tackling paved the way for big plays by Buchanan.
“Our special teams play was what hurt us most,” Rose admitted, as the team gave up a punt return touchdown and had two of their own punts blocked.
“A bright spot for us during the game was Kyrin Barajas on defense, he forced a fumble at the goal line and intercepted a pass at the goal line.”
The JV boys next host Windsor on Friday, Sept. 2 at Engel Field.
FRESHMEN
It was a tough road trip for the youngest Cougars. Coming off a thrilling home win, the boys traveled to Lodi to take on Lodi High School at the Grape Bowl. The score was 22-0 at the half; the final was 22-7 in favor of the host team.
“We did keep them out of the end zone in the second half,” noted head coach Joey Costa. “We scored our only touchdown in the first quarter; Ben Ferreira scored our touchdown and Bryce Vallee made the extra point kick.”
Costa said the offense struggled early on but did “get things moving” in the final quarter.
“Defense played pretty well again,” the coach added, especially for being on the field for much of the contest due to Escalon’s offensive struggles.
“We also muffed a punt which gave them a short field for one of their touchdowns,” said Costa.
Ernesto Gomez recovered a fumble and the defense was led by Lorenzo Teixeira, Ben Ferreira, Logan Wentzell and Gomez.
“We play on the road again in Lodi this week, at Tokay High School,” Costa said.
