Touchdowns were hard to come by this week at the younger levels of Cougar football, as the freshman and JV teams both took losses.

The JV Cougars were on the road at Sonora on Friday evening, Sept. 3 and fell to the host Wildcats by a 20-7 final.

Scoring the only touchdown of the night for Escalon was Josh Graham, finding the end zone after a 3-yard run in the first half. Talan Reider added the extra point.

Serving as head coach for the contest was Johnathon Costa, filling in for Brant Rose. Costa said after Sonora took the lead, they were able to put together some sustained drives that ate up much of the second half clock.

“We were flat,” added Costa, noting that the team didn’t bring enough energy to the field. “We have a good enough group of kids, now they just need to realize what they have to do to fix the mistakes they made.”

The coach said the JV Cougars did play pretty well on defense against the run but Sonora was able to beat them through the air. A late first half penalty against the Cougars saw Sonora take advantage, and a couple of other miscues also helped the Wildcats pad their lead.

“These are mistakes we can fix,” Costa said, indicating that the team definitely has the capacity to grow and improve as the season progresses.

This week will be another big test, with the Kimball Jaguars coming in on Friday, Sept. 10 to play at Engel Field.

FRESHMEN

The youngest Cougars hosted Sonora on Thursday, Sept. 2 and lost by a 35-6 final.

It was 27-0 at the half, with the visitors nabbing a pick six just before halftime to put plenty of distance between the two squads.

“Their quarterback was an athlete; he accounted for four of their touchdowns,” explained head coach Joey Costa.

For Escalon, the touchdown was scored by Jacob Augusto.

Down several players this week, Costa said the team was “pretty thin” but also got outplayed by their opponents.

“I was happy with the effort,” the coach pointed out. “We played hard and we’re learning what the responsibility is of being a Cougar.”

The schedule is packed with tough teams, Costa said, but that is by design, to help the team sharpen their game.

“On defense this week we had a few bright spots,” explained Costa, pointing specifically to the efforts of Josh Limones, John Konradi and Ryan Murphy.

The score by Augusto came on an 18-yard run and he also played outstanding defense, putting together an all-around game, said Costa.

The freshmen face off this week with Kimball, going on the road to play the Jaguars on Thursday, Sept. 9.