After sluggish first half, Escalon rallies to defeat Hughson in TVL opener
With his team trailing by 13 points at halftime Friday night, Escalon High football coach Andrew Beam had a challenge for his players — prove me wrong.
After an awful first half, Beam was afraid his young Cougars were too immature and not ready for primetime in their Trans-Valley League opener at Hughson.
Escalon did indeed prove their coach wrong, and he was pretty happy about it. The Cougars rallied for 21 unanswered points in the second half to beat Hughson 21-13 in a battle of TVL contenders.
“I wanted them to prove me wrong when I said we’re a young and immature team, that we didn’t know how to handle adversity, that we didn’t know how to win,” Beam said. “(It was) a reminder that those state champions are all gone.
“And they’ve got to find their own way and their own path.”
The Cougars’ road to victory Friday night was an unusual one for the traditional TVL powerhouse.
Escalon was uncharacteristically out-hustled, out-muscled and out-played by Hughson in the first two quarters. The Cougars also were penalized six times for 60 yards.
But after halftime, it was all Escalon (4-1).
Escalon quarterback, running back spark comeback
Sophomore quarterback Donovan Rosevink threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end EJ Lewis, and senior running back JP Lial ran for two short touchdowns to spark the comeback.
Meanwhile, Escalon’s defense — which had been bowled over in the first half — came up big in the second. On Hughson’s four second-half possessions, the Cougars forced a punt and stopped the Huskies on three fourth-down attempts.
“I’m really proud of our second-half performance,” Beam said. “We had to slow things down. We were so amped up and so excited (in the first half), we self-destructed.”
The loss was the first of the season for the Huskies (4-1), who were the much better team in the first two quarters.
Senior back Will Nutcher, running behind a physical offensive line, hammered Escalon for 84 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in the first half. He had just 19 yards on seven carries in the second.
Nutcher’s 11-yard TD run opened the scoring before Hughson quarterback Seth Harcrow connected with Larkin Meyer for an 18-yard TD pass and the 13-0 lead.
But Beam’s rather loud message at halftime got through to the Cougars and the Huskies were unable to respond.
“We have to learn how to win,” Hughson coach Shaun King said. “To beat Escalon it’s going take more than 13 points.”
King is confident his team will respond to the defeat and knows that in the TVL — the state’s toughest small-school league — nothing is given. Especially after one game.
“We do plan on seeing Escalon again ... in the playoffs,” King said. “That’s what happens. When you go to the section championship it’s two TVL teams. We still have goals and we’re planning on seeing them again.”
Hughson visits Livingston (0-1) next Friday. Escalon has a week off before facing Hilmar (1-0) at home Oct. 1.
This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 11:09 PM.
