Engel Field was the site for two playoff games this past week, both for the inaugural season of girls flag football.

Escalon played host to Millennium in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 2 playoff bracket opening round on Tuesday, and after winning that contest, hosted the Vista del Lago Eagles on Thursday night, Oct. 26.

“Tuesday night against Millennium we turned in our best performance of the season in front of the home crowd,” said head coach Steve Largent. “As always it started with our defense getting the three and out and that led to us connecting on a long touchdown to Violette Kent.”

The final score in the game was a decisive 30-14 win for the varsity Lady Cougars.

“We never stopped having fun or playing at full speed and took advantage of the special opportunity of playing on the new field,” Largent noted of having the first playoff action on the renovated Engel Field at Memorial Stadium.

Thursday night was the quarterfinal round, with the Eagles coming in for a landing and the two teams battling it out, the game going to overtime before Escalon pulled off the thrilling win.

“It was an instant classic and I told the girls it will be one that people will talk about for a long time,” Largent said. “It was like a boxing match in the first half. Neither us nor Vista really knew much about each other but both teams felt each other out in the first half.”

Escalon uncharacteristically had five passes picked off on the night.

“We turned the ball over a few times in the first half but our defense led by Hannah Wampler, Alyssa Ball, Andrea Fuentes-Caldoron and Ashley Titsworth showed tons of heart and determination and kept us in the game that first half,” noted the coach.

Escalon went ahead on a Sammy Lang to Violette Kent touchdown pass for a 6-0 lead.

“We failed the initial conversion and led 6-0. The Eagles took advantage after we made a bad mistake and turned the ball over at midfield and the game became tied with under a minute to play,” Largent explained. “The Eagles went for a one-point conversion and essentially the win but our defense held true and we found ourselves in overtime tied 6-6.”

In flag football, teams can go for either a one- or two-point conversion, though neither involves kicking. The one-point attempt starts from the 5-yard line and is a ‘no run’ zone, Largent explained, while the two-point attempt is from the 10-yard line and can be either a run or pass.

“Overtime is played in a college football type format with both teams getting a possession in the red zone,” Largent added. “Vista won the toss and elected to go on offense first and on fourth down they scored a touchdown in the far northwest end zone and converted their one-point conversion and we were down 13-6 with the ball coming our way.”

In their first year of flag football, the Lady Cougars gathered themselves for the overtime possession.

“We ran one of our go-to plays on our first offensive snap and Rayah McNulty did her job and gave the ball off to Hannah Wampler and we picked up a huge chunk on first down,” the coach said.

On the next play, Lang hit Wampler for a short passing touchdown and it was then the pivotal decision was made to go for the two-point conversion for the win, rather than trying for the tie.

“We told the girls during the timeout we haven’t worked as hard as we have for as long as we have to go to a second OT,” Largent said simply. “And they looked at each other and accepted the challenge.”

On the winning play, Kent found Lang in the end zone for the walk off two-point conversion winner, 14-13, setting off a celebration for the Lady Cougars, their coaches and fans.

“I was a little scared on that but right when I got the ball I looked and I was in the pylons and I was like, ‘no way’; you’re down by one and we go for the two-point, (coach) Largent had faith in us and Largent wanted to win it and that’s what we did,” said a happy Sammy Lang after pulling in the conversion catch and coming down inside the end zone.

Lang said despite several turnovers, the team was able to move past that and got “their spark back” after getting the first touchdown of the game, following through with the thrilling OT win.

The team has truly come together as a family this season, players and coaches agree, and sophomore Jasmine Barron said that has made a big difference in their approach.

“It’s amazing, us being family is all that and I think us just being together and being able to play together, first year ever for flag football, just amazing,” Barron said.

A key part of the win as well, Rayah McNulty shared the excitement of the moment.

“Definitely the coaches and the team, we have a lot of fun and we get along so well,” McNulty said of the best parts of playing this inaugural season, and getting the win to move on in the playoffs was icing on the cake. “We thought it was about to end and that was devastating; it’s so nice that we got the win.”

Along with head coach Steve Largent, the coaching crew includes assistant Steve Riesenbeck and JV head coach Joseph Dalpogetti, who also assists at the varsity level.

“It was such a massive burst of emotion,” Largent said of the clinching the quarterfinal victory. “Happiness, exhaustion, tears. Just a testament to what these kids have built and worked so hard for … we get the Saint Mary’s Rams on Wednesday (Nov. 1) at 7 p.m. at Engel Field with a trip to the Section title game on the line.”