What could be the biggest test of the season awaits the Escalon High School varsity football team on Friday night, Nov. 10.
The Sacramento Dragons will be headed to town, the No. 9 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 4 football playoffs coming off a big road win, 52-20, over No. 8 seed Sierra Timberwolves in Manteca on Nov. 3.
Escalon, with a 9-1 record and the Trans-Valley League title in hand, earned a first-round bye and the top seed in Division 4. This is the first year the Cougars have been in this division; they were moved up due to success the past few years in Division 5, including last year’s state championship run.
“They are in the Capital Athletic League and they were 4-2 in their league but they had to win four straight to get into the playoffs,” Escalon head coach Andrew Beam said of the Dragons. “They got healthy at the right time.”
Sacramento High School is a charter school in Oak Park.
“They are a very athletic team,” Beam added, noting that many of the Cougars attended the Friday night game in Manteca to watch the team play.
“They have a four-star running back in Lamar Radcliffe,” said Beam, with the player heading to Utah next for collegiate football.
Top receiver for the team is Kendahl Hearne.
“They are very explosive and they can score anytime from anywhere,” noted Beam of their Nov. 10 opponent. “This will be a unique match up; we’ve never played them before.”
Entry to the game will be through GoFan only, tickets must be purchased in advance online.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and this is a quarterfinal match, as Escalon had the first-round bye.
Other winners on Nov. 3 were No. 5 West Park defeating No. 12 Wood, 47-35; No. 6 Kimball getting past No. 11 Nevada Union, 25-21 and No. 10 Rio Americano getting the 20-19 win over No. 7 Fairfield.
No. 1 Escalon, No. 2 seed Vista del Lago, No. 3 Patterson and No. 4 Placer all had first round byes.
Winner of the Escalon-Sacramento contest faces off next in the semifinals against the winner of the West Park-Placer battle, which is also set for Friday, Nov. 10.
On the other side of the bracket, Patterson hosts Kimball and Vista del Lago hosts Rio Americano on Nov. 10.
Beam said his team knows the task ahead is a tough one, and many are picking the Dragons to pull out the “upset of the playoffs” by taking down the top seeded Cougars.
“We are going to try to be more physical than them,” Beam said. “This isn’t your ‘mom and pop’ Division 5 and 6; there’s a lot of people that don’t think we can win this. But there’s excitement being in Division 4 and getting the chance to go up against some teams we’ve never seen.”
Escalon will also take their home field for just the second time this season.
“Being at home will be a huge motivator,” the coach said of his team preparing for the contest. “Even with us being the number one seed, there’s a lot of doubters out there.”
Escalon has been considered the underdog more than once … Beam said he anticipates his squad will use that as another source of motivation.
“There’s no school on Friday (closed for the Veterans Day observance) but hopefully the fans and students show up,” Beam said of November playoff football at Engel. “We will have the snack bar open and the game will not be livestreamed due to CIF rules so if you want to watch the game, come fill Engel Field.”
