This is only the second season for flag football at Escalon High School but the varsity Lady Cougars are once again among the elite teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Hosting a pair of playoff games this past week, both went in the win column for the squad.
Escalon entered the Division 4 Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs as the number five seed and first hosted the number 12 Foresthill Wildfires. They came away with a 24-14 victory in the Oct. 29 contest.
“So the injury bug that’s been hitting our program seemed to have arrived this week for us as Tuesday’s playoff opener against Foresthill, we were without our quarterback Ari Velasco,” said head coach Steve Largent. “Junior QB Peyton Merrill stepped in and did an incredible job commanding the offense, connecting on three of her four pass attempts. We set a program record, rushing for 269 total yards with captains Regan Baker giving us 73 yards and Jasmine Barron rushing for 97 yards and four touchdowns.”
Defensively, it was senior linebacker Helena Arroyo stepping up big.
“She had a monster night and racked up 12 flag pulls,” Largent said.
And while they advanced to the quarterfinal with the 24-14 win over Foresthill, it was on the last play of the game that Barron twisted her knee, which meant she was not available for Tuesday’s Halloween showdown against Sacramento Adventist.
“Ari Velasco was back but no Barron meant it was another team effort and the big takeaway was how great the seniors played,” Largent said.
The game was scheduled for a 4 p.m. start at Engel Field, as the freshman football team also had a home game, set previously for a 6 p.m. start on Halloween.
But the flag football game ended up being delayed for a little over an hour, as the officiating crew was mistakenly sent to Sacramento for the contest. Though Sacramento Adventist was the higher seed, they do not have a home field and so had to travel to Escalon. There was a scramble to round up some officials in the local area, who could respond quicker than those in Sacramento at the wrong venue, and it was a little after 5 p.m. when the game kicked off.
“After Rebecca Wampler scored on our opening drive, we found ourselves down 7-6 at halftime,” Largent said, as the Capitals got a late first half score. “The message was clear that this wasn’t how our story was going to end and we called on the defense at halftime to lead us and they sure did.”
The coach said seniors Isabella Alcala, Alondra Gonzalez and Helena Arroyo, along with sophomore Rachelle Barker, the team’s pass rushing specialist, helped pitch the second half shutout, never allowing Sacramento Adventist to get back into the end zone.
“On the offensive side it was seniors Haley Barker and ‘capitana’ Mia Arteaga who made big catch after big catch, which led to the go ahead TD score, Arteaga from Velasco, with five minutes to go,” Largent said of going up by a 12-7 advantage.
Then, it was the defense that came up big again, stopping the Capitals on a fourth down pass play, broken up by Soraya Aguayo to preserve Escalon’s 12-7 win.
Now, Escalon looks at its toughest task yet; a Nov. 6 match up against the number one seed Colfax Falcons. The team will travel to Colfax for the 7 p.m. Wednesday night game.
“Colfax is on a great run of athletes right now and having been at the EHS women’s basketball section title game last year, I’ve seen them with my own eyes and know they’re a great football squad as well with many of the same names and faces,” Largent said. “This is as cool as it gets … getting to travel to a tradition rich program like Colfax in November with a berth for a section title on the line.”
Winner of the semifinal match on Nov. 6 advances to the Section title game on Nov. 9 against the winner of the Orestimba-Hughson semifinal. Trans-Valley League teams account for 75 percent of the final four, with Escalon, Hughson and Orestimba all in the TVL. Escalon is back in the Final Four for the second straight year.
Largent said he remembers a varsity football semifinal game that saw the football team – then under head coach Mark Loureiro – going to Colfax when no one gave the Cougars a chance to win; but they did.
“I shared that story with the girls on the sideline Halloween night and told them that they have earned the opportunity to do something special and I know all the girls and coaches are looking forward to it and believe that we can replicate that magic,” Largent said.
