Winding their way through a solid campaign, Escalon’s varsity flag football girls put a pair of wins on the books this past week.
They opened up against Hilmar and then traveled to Orestimba.
“We took care of business against Hilmar with a dominant second half from the defense and came out on top 36-12,” head coach Steve Largent said of the Oct. 14 contest. “Rebecca Wampler had two rushing touchdowns and senior Helena Arroyo chipped in with a receiving touchdown and an interception on defense.”
That set up a big game between Escalon and Orestimba on Wednesday, Oct. 16.
“It was an incredibly well played game by both teams,” Largent commented. “Ari Velasco had an 81-yard interception return for a touchdown just before half to give us a 14-7 lead.”
Later, Jessy-Lynn Kesler found Velasco for what proved to be the game-winning two-point conversion after a touchdown b Jasmine Barron.
“The defense held off the Warriors on a fourth down stop to give us the 22-21 win, avenging an earlier 41-12 defeat,” Largent said.
The varsity girls were at Ripon for the Oct. 23 regular season finale and then await the playoff brackets, to be released on Friday, Oct. 25.
They also hosted Senior Night festivities on Oct. 21, recognizing the eight seniors on this year’s team: Jasmine Casillas, Ashlyn Paxman, Isabella Alcala, Helena Arroyo, Liliana Gonsalez, Alondra Gonzalez, Haley Barker and Mia Arteaga.
JV
It was another strong week for the JV girls, with head coach Joseph Dalpogetti reporting two victories for his squad.
They hosted Himar on Oct. 14 and got a last-minute score for a 12-6 victory.
“They were our closest match in the first round of league and proved to be a tough match again,” Dalpogetti said. “We had a big play in the first half; Kenadie Baker tipped the ball on a blitz and Kenley Koops intercepted it and returned it back to the one.”
From there, Bretta Brooks connected with Ava Girardi for the touchdown. The conversion was no good but the JV girls went up 6-0.
A good play by a Hilmar wide receiver, coming down with a ball that was tipped around in the end zone, made it 6-6.
After having a second half drive stopped on an interception, Escalon did get the ball back with just a couple of minutes to go.
“We got a first and goal from the two and ran the halfback toss three times and Kenadie Baker was able to punch it in with seven seconds left to win 12-6,” Dalpogetti said.
Wednesday, on the road, it was a satisfying 28-7 win for Escalon against Orestimba.
“Everyone was able to get in the game,” the coach said.
The JV girls entered the final week of TVL play at 6-0 and 15-2 overall.
