Getting a win at home, the JV football boys gave up the first score of the night but came back to defeat Rodriguez, while the freshmen were shut out in their first game of the season, on the road at Los Banos.
JUNIOR VARSITY
For the JV team, the final was 34-12 in the Aug. 22 game at Engel Field.
In the first quarter, Rodriguez got on the scoreboard with a 91-yard interception return for the score. They tried the 2-point conversion but were stopped, through they had the early 6-0 lead.
It was short-lived, as Jake Ferreira answered with an 85-yard kickoff return for the touchdown and Juan Pablo De Luna tacked on the extra point to put Escalon up 7-6.
Rodriguez converted on a three-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter with the point after attempt falling short, going up 12-7.
Dylan Machado scored on a two-yard rushing play for Escalon, but Rodriguez blocked the extra point attempt. Escalon had a 13-12 lead at the half.
Opening up the third quarter, it was an 87-yard kickoff return for the score by Ferreira, then Val Garcia scored on a two-point rushing attempt to put the JV Cougars up 21-12. Cade Riesenbeck added a four-yard rushing touchdown, point after attempt failed, to make it 27-12 Cougars.
The final score of the night came on a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Ferreira and the point after kick was good by De Luna, making it 34-12, which was also the final score.
“It was nice to get this first win against a talented Rodriguez team,” said head coach Brant Rose. “A lot of breaks in the first half kept the game closer than it would have been. A holding penalty took back a would-be touchdown pass on our first possession; the next play was the pick six that led to Rodriguez’s first score.”
A muffed punt in the second quarter set Rodriguez up in the red zone, leading to their second score.
“Excluding two drives where we threw interceptions, our offense was able to consistently move the ball each possession,” Rose explained. “Defensively, we put a lot of pressure on the Rodruguez QB; Ryan Huebner and DJ Bass both had multiple sacks.”
Noah Gonsalves had multiple tackles for loss and Ferreira had an interception in the end zone to prevent a touchdown while Leo Marrufo also pulled down an interception.
This week, the JV team travels to face Chavez of Stockton on Friday night, Aug. 29.
FRESHMEN
At Los Banos, it was a 36-0 loss for the youngest Cougars, under the direction of first year head coach Nate Caton.
“There’s a whole lot of things we’ve got to work on but I was happy that we’ve got guys who we could highlight from the game, such as our corner, Kash Kuhlman, he made a big interception for us to try and turn it around,” Caton noted.
Kuhlman also had another interception that put his team in the red zone, said Caton, but they made some mistakes and couldn’t cash in on that chance.
Another solid effort came from Christian Camara, who had a sack and played well on defense.
“It was only our first game; we’ve got nine left and there’s a whole lot of room for growth,” Caton said.
The freshmen will host Chavez of Stockton at Engel Field on Thursday, Aug. 28.
