Going in with a 12-1 record, the Escalon Cougars varsity football team had a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

They had to travel – to Lafayette – and face off against the 9-4 Acalanes Dons in the NorCal Division 3-AA contest on Friday night, Dec. 1. Escalon head coach Andrew Beam said he felt his team had earned the right to host that NorCal game by virtue of their overall record and an incredibly tough preseason. But in the end, it likely wouldn’t have mattered where the game was played, as Acalanes had too many weapons and ended the storybook season for the Cougars, handing them a 49-14 loss.

Uncharacteristic is the best way to term the game for the Cougars, who failed to score twice inside the red zone early, including on the opening drive of the game, where they came up short.

Acalanes had a 7-0 lead after the first quarter and went up 14-0 in the second, with Escalon battling back to push one through to get to within 14-7 and find some spark. But the spark was quickly doused as Acalanes went on a surgical march down the field and got the score back, going into the locker room up 21-7.

“We knew they had two receivers that were part of the four-by-100 CIF state runners up last year,” Beam said of the Dons showing a speed the Cougars hadn’t seen this season. “That team had speed everywhere. They were well coached, very disciplined and they played hard. They’re freak athletes.”

Beam said the answering touchdown by the Dons in the second quarter, after Escalon had trimmed it to a one touchdown lead, was a “hard one to swallow” but he feels the back beaker was the Dons coming out for the second half and going 54 yards in a minute, 14 seconds to get the touchdown and extra point to go up 28-7.

“We had to play a near perfect game,” Beam said of having a chance to get past the Dons. “We did a lot of things good … except score points in the red zone. Our first two possessions, we were down in the red zone and each time we came up with nothing.”

Josh Graham scored Escalon’s first touchdown of the night, going in from 2 yards out with 1:17 remaining in the first half, the kick was good by Talan Reider to trim the Dons lead at that point to 14-7. But the ensuing drive by the Dons saw the quarterback hit some razor-sharp passes and go in himself from a couple of yards out, the kick was good, to make it 21-7 with 21 seconds left in the half.

Acalanes went on to score three more touchdowns in the third quarter, one in the fourth. Escalon countered with a 5-yard touchdown catch by Nate Krieger from quarterback Donovan Rozevink with 5:05 to play in the third. That got Escalon to within 28-14; Acalanes answered back with another touchdown at the 4:04 mark, making it 35-14.

Krieger’s catch came after leading rusher Graham was hurt on a hard carry up the middle, suffering an ankle injury. The Cougars then opted to go to the air and the ball was pulled in by Krieger. Reider added the extra point.

Ultimately, Escalon could not match the firepower and quickness of their opponent, even though they had all the statistics on their side.

“They ran 30 plays for 346 yards, we ran 83 plays for 431 yards,” Beam said. “I’ve never run 83 plays in a game, ever. We ran 42 plays in the first half and had the ball for 21:30 of the 24 minutes of that half.”

Josh Graham was the leading rusher, 27 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown before the ankle injury. Donovan Rozevink completed 13-of-22 passes for 124 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Ryan Lewis had four catches for 39 yards to lead the receiving corps. Jamin Miller had an interception, the ball tipped by teammate Talan Reider and Miller hauling it in.

Logan Huebner had five tackles; Nate Krieger had four.

“It’s so staggering that it’s hard to comprehend,” Beam admitted of the lopsided stat book, which would more seem to indicate the Cougars came away with the win.

But while Escalon was working to grind out the yardage, Acalanes showed the ability to strike quickly.

There were also some unexpected rain showers that moved through the area and Beam said he was disappointed in hearing some of fans on the Escalon side getting on the officials.

“Our fans were way out of character and out of line. They represent our name and our community as well,” Beam said. “I thought the refs did a good job; they didn’t impact the outcome of the game.”

And as tough as it was for the coaches and players on the sideline to watch time dwindling down on Friday night, the hope of a return to the state title game slipping away, the head coach said he knows his team still gave everything they had.

“I do think the game the week before had an impact,” Beam added, as the Cougars battled a relentless Patterson Tigers team to come away with the Section crown in Division 4 in a heavyweight fight, 36-35. “I think we were still affected by that; there was some fatigue … but they left it all out there.”