Prep football upset specials revisited

Escalon's dramatic victory over state-ranked and undefeated Placer deserves a place among the greatest Stanislaus District playoff upsets in the last quarter-century, the time I've been at The Bee:

2012

ESCALON 27, PLACER 26

Placer was 11-0 and physically dominating its foes, and it featured Eddie Vanderdoes — a 6-foot-4, 305-pound defensive linemen heading to USC. Placer had three other D1 recruits on what many said was the best team in school history. Escalon won it on Thomas Diniz's 23-yard field goal with no time remaining, and Mark Loureiro called it his greatest upset win as a coach in his 23 years leading the program.

2008

HILMAR 17, CENTRAL CATHOLIC 6

Central was 11-1, with a 23-7 regular-season win over Hilmar, and had won a section-record seven straight titles. It ended under the crush of Hilmar's defense, which held CC to 18 rushing yards. Hilmar's Donovan Smith was the star: Three catches for 114 yards and a 57-yard TD, two PAT kicks, a field goal, an interception and two deflections.

2000

OAKDALE 28, OAK RIDGE 21

Oak Ridge was 11-0 and atop Cal-Hi Sports' D2 state poll, had won 23 in a row and was steaming to its second consecutive section title behind a defense allowing just six points a game. An overflow crowd of 7,000 watched 5-10, 175-pound Luke Bell (157 yards, three TDs on 29 carries). The Trojans' star-studded lineup had a national recruit at tight end (6-7, 235-pound Tyler Ecker) and a host of college players.

1998

SONORA 24, DEL ORO 3

Del Oro had won three consecutive Division 2 titles and 23 straight games — and this was considered by many to be its best team ever with future Stanford QB Randy Fasani. Sonora had a future NFL player, though, in Josh Parry, 91 yards and 10 tackles in the final. Parry's knee-buckling tackle sent Fasani to the sideline in the second quarter — one of Sonora's seven sacks.

1998

GOLDEN VALLEY 22, TURLOCK 21

Turlock was 10-1 and beat GV 26-14 in conference play, while GV took a 7-3 record to the playoffs. The Cougars upset St. Mary's a week earlier, but the season looked over on this night — until Morgan Madruna caught a 35-yard TD pass on the final play to make it 21-20. GV went for the win, using the swinging gate play on the PAT, with quarterback Sergio Mendoza diving in just inside the pylon. "The way Turlock was pounding on us up front, we had to go for two," coach Dennis Stubbs said.

1987

DOWNEY 7, VINTAGE 0

An old-school game from an era when defense still won titles, Vintage had never lost a home playoff game (12-0) and Downey was 6-4. A 1-yard run by Donnie Creek with 49 seconds in the first half was the lone TD and Trevor Rush intercepted three passes. Creek and Rush also combined on a fourth-and-2 stop at the 9 in the final minutes. "We were such underdogs to Vintage ... this might be the most gratifying victory I've ever gotten," coach Nick Chipponeri said.

— RICHARD T. ESTRADA