After winning a state title, Escalon’s Peters is The Bee’s Football Player of the Year
Escalon senior fullback Ryker Peters always has been around football.
His older brother, Paul, played at Escalon, winning a state championship in 2010. Ever since then, he knew one day he wanted to hold that same trophy.
“I watched every single one of his games,” the Cougars’ leading rusher said. “After that, I was like, ‘All right, I want that, too.’”
That is exactly what Peters got, and then some.
He won back-to-back section championships as a junior and senior and captured that state title with his brother in the stands.
“He goes, ‘Great, now we got another state championship winner in the family.’” Peters said.
After finishing first in the Sac-Joaquin Section in rushing yards and touchdowns with 2,208 and 31, respectively, helping secure his second section title and winning his first state title, Peters is The Bee’s Football Player of the Year.
“My freshman year, I said my goal is to get over 2,000 yards rushing and win a state title my senior year, and I’m gonna prove it to everybody, especially to him,” Peters said. “And I really did.”
One of the TVL’s All-League running backs, Peters started the season strong.
He helped lead the Cougars to a 3-1 nonleague record with wins against Damonte Ranch of Reno, Nevada, Windsor and Kimball. Their lone loss came against Central Section powerhouse Buchanan in a 41-40 shootout.
Peters started the season with four straight 200-plus-yard rushing games and scored 16 rushing touchdowns while playing through a high ankle sprain he suffered in the second game of the season.
“Against Buchanan, he rolled his ankle … and we almost did not put him back in,” Escalon coach Andrew Beam said. “We were sitting at halftime going, ‘I don’t know if it’s worth it’ and he’s like, ‘No, put me in, tape me up’ and he played.”
His next two games were just as good as the first, until he injured the ankle again in the final nonleague contest against Kimball.
As the year went on, Peters began to feel the effects of the injury. He rushed for less than 60 yards in the first four TVL games, including two emotional losses to Hilmar and Hughson. Escalon started league play 0-2.
“Knowing that I wasn’t gonna be able to play at my best, knowing that you’re hurting and you can’t help your team to your full capability, was really tough on me.” he said.
After the two league losses, they won 10 straight games to end the season. Peters returned to his true form just in time for the postseason. He ended the season averaging 138 rushing yards a game. As the star fullback improved, so did the team.
“I kept telling myself I got something to prove now,” Peters said. “I just came off an injury people were expecting me to show out. I had to go out there and play my type of game.”
Peters wasn’t always the dominant, powerful rusher he turned into in his final high school season.
Last year, he played mostly defense, winning the TVL’s Outstanding Linebacker award as a junior. He didn’t make his mark on offense until his role expanded in last year’s playoffs when he moved into the backfield with then senior JP Lial.
“Last year, it took him a long time to become a fullback,” Beam said. “He was more of a defensive player and that’s where he made plays. … I’m happy for the kid because he’s worked extremely hard to get where he is.”
The hard work paid off in the biggest game of his life.
The Cougars were ahead 14-7 and got the ball on their own 15-yard line in the state championship against Northwood. They knew one touchdown would put the game out of reach. Beam called Peters’ number.
He carried the ball 16 times on the drive as Escalon made its way down the field, chewing up nearly all but three minutes, 30 seconds’ worth of clock in the fourth quarter. Peters capped the methodical drive with a six-yard touchdown run to seal the victory.
“We were just we were in the moment and you didn’t even realize it, we just kept going, ‘Hey, what’s working?’ and it’s the four to six yards off tackle power run game with our workhorse,” Beam said. “After the game when we got all the coaches around and you got some fans around and you’re just like, ‘Man, that that drive was special.’”
