Closing out the preseason on a high note, Escalon’s varsity football team headed across state lines on Friday, Sept. 18 and took on Damonte Ranch in Reno. Though trailing 13-0 at the half, the Cougars used everything in the tool box to come home with a hard-fought 20-19 win.

That gave them a 2-2 record for the preseason, with losses to Liberty Ranch and Chavez in their first two games, then winning back-to-back contests against Oakdale and Damonte Ranch.

For the team captains, getting the victory at Damonte Ranch was important in many ways, not just for team morale, but also to prove to themselves that they are capable of going toe-to-toe with tough opponents.

Captain Caleb Boatman said it was a little tough having to wait to play the game, after arriving in Nevada for the Friday contest early, and they had a hard time getting started.

“When we got into halftime I feel like something flipped a switch and we were really ready to lock it in, get that Cougar victory,” Boatman noted. “We had to kick it into gear.”

Fellow captain Dylan Ball shared that it was the halftime talk – delivered forcefully – by Boatman that helped turn the tide.

“I really think that helped the most,” Ball said of Boatman’s talk.

He added that the altitude change did make it a little harder to breathe, but it also was a question of Escalon just not “toughening up” as much as they needed to in the first half.

And even though the Cougars got to the .500 mark with a 2-2 preseason, captain Ethan Butler said they still have a lot to work on.

“They were pretty big and physical, a little more physical than I thought but we played through it in the end, out-toughed the team in the fourth quarter,” Butler said of taking the win over Damonte Ranch.

Captain Conner McDowell admitted that it felt “great” to get a big win against a tough team. He also feels the Cougars are starting to set the tone as they move toward TVL play.

“It’s really important, looking to the next few weeks, hopefully it helps us really get on a roll,” McDowell said.

As far as the game itself, Escalon found themselves behind the previously unbeaten Damonte Ranch team, 6-0 after the first quarter, 13-0 at the half.

“They scored on a two-yard touchdown pass but Conner McDowell blocked the extra point,” head coach Andrew Beam said of the first Mustangs touchdown. “In the second quarter, they got a 10-yard touchdown pass and the point after.”

Escalon, with a big crowd on hand for the road game, almost got on the board I the second quarter.

“We got within scoring distance but we dropped one in the back of the end zone,” Beam said of failing to get on the scoreboard in the first half.

Coaches did little talking in the locker room at halftime, Beam said, and the team itself was quiet, though definitely not out of the game, down by just two scores.

As coaches were leaving the locker room, Beam said he heard the start of Boatman’s speech to his teammates and it was a different team that stepped out for the start of the third quarter.

Escalon had multiple long yardage plays in succession, as they moved the ball against Damonte Ranch.

“We did what we were hoping to do from the beginning of the game,” Beam said. “We had to pound the rock.”

Escalon’s first touchdown came on a nine-yard pass from Archer Sanders to Kolten Kjellberg with the point after good, with the Cougars trimming the lead to 13-7 by the end of the third.

“We were able to set the tone,” Beam said of the third quarter action.

In the fourth, Escalon took the lead, as Dylan Ball took the direct snap and, rather than run with it, found a wide open Trevor Jansen, connecting on a 22-yard pass play for the touchdown and with the extra point, it was 14-13 Escalon early in the fourth.

“We got a stop on defense right after that,” Beam said, noting that Escalon didn’t capitalize on their next possession and had to punt it way.

Damonte Ranch took advantage, regaining the lead on a 48-yard touchdown pass.

“They go for two but we stopped them right at the goal line,” Beam said.

Still, the home team took a 19-14 lead.

“There were five minutes to go,” Beam said of the pressure mounting. “We got a 38-yard kick return from Jake Ferreira to get us good field position.”

But they squandered the opportunity, going three and out, and the ensuing punt pinned Damonte Ranch back at their own 20-yardline.

However, the home team went on a march down the field, using the clock and looking like they were going to get back on the scoreboard.

A key penalty on a third and three at Escalon’s 18-yard line led to Damonte Ranch lining up for a field goal attempt but it went wide left.

“That gave us hope,” Beam said. “There was about a minute and 40 seconds left in the game and we had one timeout.”

On the first play from scrimmage, the Cougars used the ‘hook and ladder’ play, with Sanders throwing a pass to Ian Trejo, who then lateraled the ball to Ball, who outran all the defenders and got into the endzone to put Escalon up 20-19.

“We covered 80 yards in that one play,” Beam said.

They set up for the 2-point attempt but were called for delay of game; then the pass on the conversion attempt was incomplete and with the one point lead, they had to kick off to Damonte Ranch with 1:28 to play.

Great coverage by the kickoff team, a key sack by Ryan Huebner, a holding penalty on Damonte Ranch all combined to put the home team in a third and 30 situation. But they got the first down and then faced a third and three when they were called for a hold.

“We accepted the penalty to make it third and 13,” Beam said. “With 12 seconds left, Dylan Ball gets the interception in the end zone and we just had to take one snap and a knee with six seconds left … we do that, and the celebration began.”

Escalon had taken down one of the top teams in Northern Nevada by the slimmest of margins in what Beam termed “one of the top five or six games” in the last eight years.

“It was the most joyous of a moment between players, cheerleaders, parents, and kids we’ve had in a long time and there were contributions everywhere,” Beam said. “That was the best team we’ve played.”

Defensive leaders were Conner McDowell with 11 tackles, K’Oz Castro with nine and Ethan Butler with eight. Kjellberg, Huebner and Curtis Thomas each had a sack, and Ball had the interception.

Offensively, quarterback Archer Sanders was under pressure all night but stood tall, completing six-of-10 passes for 53 yards and a touchdown.

Ball had 18 carries for 176 yards and a touchdown, one catch for seven yards and was 1-for-1 passing for 22 yards and a touchdown.

Trejo had three catches for 37 yards.

The offensive line of Dominic Rissetto, Jaecy Aldasoro, Luke Gutierrez, Noah Gonsalves, Caleb Boatman and Kolten Kjellberg got a shout out from the coach as well.

“It was just a special night,” Beam said.

Back on the practice field in Escalon on Monday, Sept. 21 as they prepare for the start of Trans-Valley League play, the team also enjoyed a visit from Oakdale Mayor Cher Bairos and Escalon Mayor Andy Hagan.

The score from the Sept. 11 Oakdale-Escalon Battle of 120 – which went to the Cougars by a 21-14 final – had been engraved and the Mayor’s Cup trophy was hand delivered to Escalon by Mayor Bairos. She and Mayor Hagan shook hands as the trophy was exchanged, staying for the next year in Escalon to be displayed at the school. Mayor Bairos also went as far as wearing an Escalon Cougars T-shirt for the presentation, before taking that shirt off to reveal an Oakdale red and gold shirt underneath.

Head coach Andrew Beam was pleased to have the trophy back; the Cougars won it the first year the ‘battle’ was played, in 2023. The Mustangs captured it in 2024 and held on to it with a win in 2025; this year it returns to Escalon.

He and the entire team took a few moments out of the practice to pose with the mayors and the trophy, then had to get back to work.

“At 0-2, a lot of people doubted them but they clawed their way back to 2-2,” Beam said of the Cougars. “They’re still figuring it out … but when we can figure it out, we can play with anybody.”