The JV boys were at home, the freshmen were on the road, but each team lost its non-league game this past week to Oakdale.
For the JV team, they had the lead in the Friday night game, Sept. 6, at Engel Field but couldn’t hold on and took a 22-14 loss. The freshmen traveled to Oakdale on Thursday, Sept. 5 and were shut out by the host team.
JUNIOR VARSITY
“We were in a great position to win this game.” JV head coach Brant Rose said. “Took over the lead in the second quarter after falling behind early.”
But Oakdale was able to tie the score and then get the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
The visiting Mustangs did take the early lead in the first quarter on a 12-yard passing touchdown and rushed for the 2-point conversion to go up 8-0.
Carter Yates got Escalon on the scoreboard with a one-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter but the 2-point conversion pass attempt failed. That left the JV Cougars trailing 8-6. Escalon did take the lead on a 55-yard passing touchdown from Ethan Butler to Ian Trejo and the 2-point conversion from Butler to Yates was good, with the host JV team taking a 14-8 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the third quarter, Oakdale scored on a three-yard rushing touchdown and then fell short on the 2-point attempt, knotting the score at 14-14.
Final points on the night came in the fourth quarter as Oakdale took the lead for good, scoring on a one-yard rushing touchdown with the 2-point conversion successful to put the visiting JV Mustangs up 22-14.
“We secured the lead after Conner McDowell had a red zone interception in the closing first half minute, and would receive the ball at the start of the second half,” Rose noted. “But the second half was a total collapse for us. Assignment miscues ruined every offensive drive.”
The coach added that the game was “a really disappointing loss” for the JV squad.
“We showed we are a good enough team to win games against a quality opponent, but ultimately a poor second half performance cost us a victory.”
FRESHMEN
After losing starting quarterback Jake Ferreira to an injury early in the road game at Oakdale, the youngest Cougars never found their footing again. The Thursday, Sept. 5 game was a shutout loss, 32-0, for Escalon and coach Joey Costa said they trailed 20-0 at halftime.
While they will be without Ferreira for the foreseeable future, Costa said the team does have an opportunity to take the home field for the first time this week, as they host El Capitan out of Merced in a Sept. 12 contest with kickoff at 6 p.m.
