Football playoff time in Escalon; ask any longtime fan and they’ll tell you, there’s just something special in the air.
And the Cougars gave their fans a special treat on Friday night, putting away the Fairfield Falcons by a 30-7 final in opening round action of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 4 playoffs on Nov. 8.
“That was the 12 seed in D4,” varsity head coach Andrew Beam said of their opponents. “And that was a really good team.”
Visiting Fairfield won the coin toss and opted to defer, putting Escalon on offense first.
All the Cougars did was make a methodical march down the field, getting the first points of the night on a six-yard touchdown run by Ben Gonzalez and the point after from Ricardo Chavez for an early 7-0 lead with 8:33 left in the opening quarter.
“We had a couple of third and longs on that first drive but it just took us seven plays to get into the end zone,” Beam pointed out.
Key runs were a 24-yard run by Dylan Ball and a 31-yard run by Gonzalez, setting up his six-yard scamper into the end zone.
“On our second drive, we went for it on fourth down but they got the sack,” the coach added.
But the Fairfield possession was short-lived, as Alex Jones went up to deflect a pass, tipped it, and then pulled it in as he fell to the ground, getting the interception.
That turnover eventually led to a second quarter touchdown by Carter Yates, on a 24-yard catch and run. The point after again was good and the Cougars staked themselves to a 14-0 lead.
As time wound down in the half, Fairfield again went on a drive and, on a pass that looked destined to be caught by a Falcon for a touchdown, the ball was intercepted by a diving Dylan Ball, coming up with the catch and the second takeaway of the night by the Cougars. That negated a potential scoring threat by the visitors and sent Escalon into the locker room at halftime with the two-score lead.
The home team went up 20-0 on a third quarter touchdown, a 20-yard scoring strike from quarterback Logan Huebner to Ball. The snap on the point after attempt was high and sailed over the holder’s head, picked up by Fairfield.
The Falcons avoided the shutout, as they got on the board in the fourth quarter, on a leaping, one-handed catch by Davion Johnson, who concentrated on getting both feet down in bounds in the corner of the end zone. The kick was good and it was a 20-7 contest.
But two more Escalon scores in the fourth quarter put the game comfortably out of reach. Chavez connected on a 25-yard field goal, and the final score of the night came on a Carson Medina three-yard rush up the middle and into the end zone, with Chavez adding the extra point for the 30-7 final score.
“Our defense played really, really well,” Beam said. “They were athletic, they were physical and, again, that’s the 12 seed … every team in this bracket can beat you, this is not D5 or D6.”
Beam said it was once again a total team effort, with Huebner having a solid game throwing the ball at quarterback and Dom Arauza putting together a strong effort in his first game at wide receiver.
“Ben Gonzalez, Dylan Balland Carter Yates had almost identical numbers at running back,” added Beam.
Gonzalez had eight carries for 54 yards and a touchdown along with three catches for 39 yards. Ball had six carries for 73 yards and one catch for 20 yards and a touchdown along with an interception. Yates had a total of 79 yards, rushing and pass receiving, and one touchdown. Quarterback Huebner had two touchdown passes and was 11-for-18 for 143 yards.
Defensively, Noah Gutierrez had four tackles and a sack while Nathan Belletto had two sacks and made every stop of the kick returner on kickoffs. Co Northcutt had a fumble recovery and a couple of pass break-ups.
“We did our job, we got a home playoff game and we got the win,” Beam said.
Escalon, with the number five seed in Division 4, now moves on to face the number four seed Placer Hillmen on Friday night, Nov. 15. Game time in Auburn will be 7 p.m.
