Taking control of the game early and never letting up, Escalon’s JV football Cougars nailed down their first Trans-Valley League victory on Friday night, Oct. 4.
It was on a road trip to Hughson, and they came away with the 28-7 decision.
Escalon scored in the first, second and fourth quarters and allowed just one late touchdown to the host JV Huskies in the fourth.
“We controlled this game from the start, taking the opening kickoff and marching down the field for the score,” said head coach Brant Rose.
The drive ended with a 10-yard rushing touchdown from K’Oz Castro and the Carson Criteser kick for the point after, putting Escalon up 7-0.
In the second quarter, two more scores went on the board for Escalon. Ethan Butler tossed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Mike Lourenco, Criteser kick good, and then Butler hit Carter Yates with a 28-yard touchdown strike, kick good by Criteser, to put the JV team up 21-0 at the half.
There was no scoring in the third quarter but Escalon extended their lead to 28-0 in the fourth, on a 20-yard rush from Castro, with the kick added by Criteser.
Hughson made some big plays in the closing minutes to get on the board, ultimately converting on a one-yard rush and adding the point after to avoid the shutout. Still, the JV Cougars had their first TVL win in hand, 28-7.
“Although we did not play a perfectly clean game, with two turnovers; one from a muffed punt return in the first half and an interception in the end zone in the third quarter; we did win the turnover battle after recovering a fumble and intercepting two passes by Conner McDowell and Houston Sizuela,” explained Rose. “We are hoping this first league win will build us momentum the rest of the way.”
Escalon does not have a league game this week; the JV boys will be on the road to play at Wheatland on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m.
Freshmen
A disappointing tie went on the books for Escalon’s youngest Cougars, the freshmen playing at Hughson on Thursday, Oct. 3 and ending with an 8-8 draw.
“We scored early in the mid first quarter when Erin Vanderwerff returned a punt for a touchdown and Val Garcia ran in the two-point conversion, making it 8-0 us,” said head coach Joey Costa.
The two-point play was used as the team’s kicker was out this week, the coach noted.
Hughson did get a good drive going and made it into Escalon territory before the drive was stopped by an Ethan Morrill interception at the 2-yard line.
Escalon held on to the 8-0 lead at the half.
“We held them on the first drive (of the second half) after they picked up some first downs,” Costa said. “We took over possession and started moving the ball into their side of the field before fumbling and giving the ball to them.”
That allowed the host Huskies to drive down the field and score, also getting the two-point conversion to tie the score with about three minutes left in the game.
“We then started moving the ball and had a big pass to DJ Bass from Stratton McCurley and also got a late hit penalty which moved the ball into the Hughson side of the field,” Costa explained.
The frosh squad got it all the way inside the Hughson 20-yard line but couldn’t convert from the red zone as the game ended.
“DJ Bass had a couple of big catches that were our biggest offensive plays,” Costa said.
However, he added, the team “did not play anywhere near our standards” on the road at Hughson.
The frosh boys will have a non-league game at home this week, hosting Stagg with a 5 p.m. kickoff on Thursday, Oct. 10.
