Escalon beats Sonora with extra point to three-peat as section champions
When Talan Reider saw the ball rolling toward midfield on No. 2 Sonora’s fourth-quarter extra-point attempt, he had a feeling the game would come down to him.
Of course it would.
The Escalon High football team lost two games on extra points earlier in the season and he was determined to make sure there wasn’t a third.
“Oh, I was so excited,” the junior said. “Before, I kind of blew the game, so then I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, we still have a chance to win.’ I just felt so excited, it was crazy.”
With the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division V Championship at St. Mary’s High School tied at 34 apiece, Reider took the field for an extra point for the fifth-seeded Cougars.
Just like his four previous attempts in the game, Reider knocked it in, putting the Cougars (11-3) ahead 35-34 with under a minute left.
“I just kind of canceled everything out and just acted like it didn’t matter, to be honest.” he said.
The one-point lead held the final 28 seconds as a last defensive stand helped the Cougars secure their third straight section championship. They would learn their opponent in the CIF Northern California Regional Playoffs on Sunday afternoon.
A 64-yard connection from quarterback Donovan Rozevink to running back Jamin Miller gave Escalon a 7-0 lead, which the Wildcats (10-3) answered with two first-quarter touchdowns. Three rushing scores in the game from Sonora running back Audie Peeples helped Sonora maintain a one-touchdown lead heading into the fourth.
Trailing 28-21 in the final frame, a stop on defense gave the Cougars life. Logan Anderson intercepted an Adam Curnow pass at the Sonora 35-yard line and, with no green jerseys in front of him, made his way for the end zone. He reversed field, following his blockers into the end zone. A Reider extra point tied the game at 28. The celebration was short-lived, however, as Bryce Nicolson exploded for an 86-yard touchdown run. The botched extra point left the door open for Escalon.
“I saw the ball coming to me and I was like, ‘Please don’t drop this,’” Anderson said. “I started to run one way then … I decided to run the other way and Jamin (Miller) was pointing me that way like a traffic director and they led me to the end zone.
“It brought our crowd into it. They were so loud, our team was so loud … the energy after the fact changed so much. Their big play kind of changed it back, but we knew we had it.”
Trailing 34-38 with 2:38 left in the game, the Cougars needed to go 80 yards.
Rozevink completed four of five passes on the final drive, and 6-foot-4 receiver Owen Nash was on the receiving end of two: a long ball to that put the Cougars at Sonora’s 42-yard line and an 18-yard jump ball in the end zone. The receiver high-pointed the ball and tapped both feet in bounds before falling through the back of the end zone, tying the game to set up Reider’s game-winning field goal.
“There’s nothing I can compare to (making that catch),” said Nash, who caught six passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns. “It was insane. These are the types of things you dream about and you think about when you’re working out. Everything paid off.
“I think we needed (the passing attack) today more than ever and I’m glad it worked.”
Said Escalon coach Andrew Beam: “It comes full circle. We lose two games this year because of PATs and then to come back and win this thing because of a PAT, man, what a story.”
Rozevink connected with two receivers for three touchdowns: the first-quarter pass to Miller, a 55-yarder to Nash and the 18-yard game winner. He also completed nine of 13 passes on the game for 245 yards. Ryker Peters left his mark with a first half touchdown and 147 yards on 16 carries.
After a season that included taking one of the state’s best in Buchanan of Fresno down to the wire and losing to Hilmar and Hughson on homecoming, the Cougars are back where they’ve become most comfortable over the past three seasons: the top of their division.
“They’re all different,” Beam said of each section title. “But this one feels sort of extra special. This one was hard because of the peaks and valleys of this season. Credit to our kids, they battled it out.”
This story was originally published November 27, 2022 at 10:07 AM.
