By all accounts, the 2024 Fall Homecoming for Escalon High School was a huge success.
The selection of senior Lisa Murga as Homecoming Queen, along with a princess chosen at each of the three underclassman levels of freshman, sophomore and junior classes, the downtown parade, a high school rally, and a big win on the gridiron for the varsity football Cougars combined for a memorable week.
Murga, daughter of Eunice Galvez and Roberto Murga, was crowned as the new Homecoming Queen during halftime of the varsity football game on Friday night, Oct. 18. Escalon defeated new Trans-Valley League foe Ripon Christian, 43-20, in the contest.
For Murga, it was the culmination of a fun, exciting week.
“It feels like a dream, honestly, the inner child inside of me is screaming, I’m so excited. I didn’t think I was going to be chosen as the Homecoming Queen so this is really an honor and I’m really, really grateful to have this experience,” Murga said, adding that the entire week was one that she, along with the entire student body on campus, enjoyed. “It was so fun, I’ve had so much fun dressing up, experiencing it with the girls, it’s been such a dream.”
Fellow Queen candidates were Charlotte Shaddix, Riley Ogilvie, Darla Garcia Sandoval and Carolina Sandoval.
Chosen as the Homecoming Princesses, announced at the Thursday rally, were junior Skylar Anderson, sophomore Aniston Hunt and freshman Maci Alvarado.
Serving as Homecoming Commissioners this year were juniors Gianna Wilson and Natalie Ruiz, who welcomed the big crowd to Engel Field on Friday night and handled the introductions of all the Queen candidates during the halftime festivities.
Along with playing volleyball all four years at Escalon High, Murga is also involved with the Peer Interaction Team, and, outside of school, enjoys baking, babysitting and spending time with her friends. She listed math as her favorite subject and said she plans to keep playing volleyball in college, as she pursues a degree in business management.
“It went by so fast; I mean, it truly does go by in the blink of an eye,” Murga summarized of her high school years at EHS. “I’m just so grateful to experience so many things throughout high school.”
Earlier on Friday, people flocked to Main Street, lining both sides, as the Homecoming Parade stepped off at 2:30 p.m.
With the Escalon American Legion Post 263 Colorguard leading the way, they were followed by Ray and Cathy Scott, on a float surrounded by other family members, waving to the crowd as they were recognized as the Homecoming Grand Marshals.
Floats from many of the district schools were featured, along with the Youth Cougars football and cheer teams, Escalon High sports teams, a number of high school clubs and organizations, the marching band and more.
Class floats were also featured, each taking on one of the movie themes of the week. The junior class, with its Top Gun-themed float, was chosen as the float competition winner.
For the game itself, all the players got involved as Escalon built up a big lead, and it was a satisfying win for the varsity team, which has been dealing with the loss of multiple players to injury this season.
It was a particularly good night for senior captain Carson Medina; he scored three touchdowns for Escalon; one rushing, one on a pass reception and one on an interception return.
“I think I just knew we needed our energy back. I knew we needed to bounce back and I knew it was in us,” Medina said of getting in the win column again. “I can’t take too much credit because we had beautiful blocking from the O-line; all of our wings did their job, all of our tight ends, it was a good game overall.”
He also said getting the big win was an important way for the team to send a message to all those watching.
“We’re still a prominent TVL team,” Medina said.
Fellow team captain, senior Ryan Murphy, was in the trenches all night, doing his fair share of battle on the offensive line working to open up holes for the running backs and keeping the Ripon Christian defense at bay.
“It’s a good feeling mainly because that’s the kind of team we’ve always been,” Murphy said of performing well and getting the win on their home field. “It’s been a struggle kind of finding our identity this year but that’s kind of what Escalon football is, being that more physical team; and I feel like tonight we got back on the right track to what Escalon football is. We played a hard game; we played a good game.”
Ryan Lewis, a senior captain, said the team was definitely looking forward to the opportunity to play Ripon Christian, which came into the TVL for this season.
“Winning our Homecoming is one thing but we’ve been wanting to play RC for a super long time; they’ve always said that we’re too scared to play them and they would beat us,” Lewis pointed out. “I’m so glad, for Homecoming, that all these fans came out here to watch us play … it was good to have a win, we’re rejuvenated.”
Back for the Homecoming game after being injured in the Trans-Valley League home opener several weeks ago, junior quarterback Logan Huebner said being able to connect with his receivers and come away with the win was a satisfying way to close out the busy week.
“It feels amazing to be back, I’ve been waiting for like four weeks now and I’m glad we got the win, maybe we can get on a streak,” Hubener said.
He also said his knee feels strong and he thanked trainers Bob McCune and Travis Bartelink for assisting with his rehabilitation and getting him back to the football field.
“I think we proved that we’ve just been unlucky in the games that we lost,” Huebner added of taking some very close losses to Vacaville, Hughson and Oakdale this season, with the Cougars now having a 3-5 record and still needing one more win to get into the postseason.
“I sort of wanted to show that I’m back now,” the junior said of being under center on offense and also playing most of the game on the defensive side of the ball as well. “I’ve been waiting for this … I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a kid so it’s just nice to be back.”
