Escalon uses strong second-half performance to beat Pleasant Valley in NorCal final
They may have been 150 miles away from campus, but members of the Escalon High football team felt right at home in Saturday’s CIF State Division 4-A NorCal championship game at Pleasant Valley High School in Chico.
Purple and yellow reigned from the visitors stands and the Cougar faithful provided an extra spark all night.
“We have tremendous support from our community,” Cougars coach Andrew Beam said. “We knew wherever we had to go (for the NorCal title game), we were going to bring a large crowd.”
The Cougars (13-1) made their supporters’ three-hour trip worth it as they used a strong second-half to beat Pleasant Valley, 41-17. Escalon advances to next Saturday’s state championship game, where they will host La Jolla (10-4) at 6 p.m.
“It’s the Escalon way,” Kaden Christensen said. “Without them (crowd), the game would have been a lot closer. They gave us momentum.”
Christensen, who has been one of Escalon’s top all-around players this season, had another big night, rushing for 125 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. He also had a receiving touchdown and an interception.
“He is one of the most versatile players in our area and a three-year captain,” Beam said.
After stopping a fake punt attempt on fourth down, Escalon scored on its opening drive as Christensen ran for 25 yards on 3rd-and-goal to give the Cougars an early 6-0 lead. They missed the extra point.
The Vikings (7-6) made a field goal late in the first quarter and took their first and only lead when quarterback Ian Guanzon connected with senior Austin York for a 13-yard touchdown to make it 9-6 with 9 minutes, 4 seconds left in the second quarter.
The rest of the game was all Cougars.
Senior running back Colton Panero scored on a 22-yard run with 2:52 remaining in the half and Escalon led 13-9 at halftime.
Beam said it took the offense a little while to find its groove.
The Cougars have been a second-half team during the playoffs, allowing only 14 points in four games.
“Our linebacker coach Nick Largent says, ‘If they don’t score, they can’t win,’” Christensen said.
The Cougars scored on their first drive of the third quarter, going nearly 80 yards in seven minutes. Junior running back Luke Anderson converted two fourth-down runs and Panero scored on a 7-yard run.
Escalon quarterback Ty Harris started the night 0-for-3 but completed his next eight attempts, including a 26-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Kaidence Trejo with 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter as Escalon increased its lead to 27-9. Trejo made a remarkable reception, grabbing the ball in the air out of a defender’s hands.
“They were playing a single-high safety and I just threw it up,” Harris said.
With a big lead and plenty of fan support, the Cougars carried the momentum into the fourth as Harris connected with Christensen for a 9-yard touchdown and Anderson added a 1-yard run for a score.
“The crowd was going crazy and it gave us no pressure,” Harris said.
With Escalon’s win and Ripon’s 31-14 victory over Sutter on Friday, the two Trans-Valley League schools combined to outscore their opponents 72-31 this weekend.
Toward the end of the game, Escalon cheerleaders started singing “Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey.
The journey for Escalon — and Ripon — will continue one more week.
This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 10:16 PM.
