Escalon narrowly escapes Hughson with win in battle of defending state champions
“Play to win.”
It sounds obvious when said aloud. Yes, the goal is always to win. But when broken down, it often means taking chances when it traditionally doesn’t seem to make sense.
It is a mantra many in sports recognize, but few follow.
Escalon coach Andrew Beam is not one of those few anymore. And multiple times during the Cougars 21-14 win in their Trans-Valley League opener against Hughson, he proved it.
Beam coached his team to a fourth-down goal line stand in the first quarter, engineered an eight minute fourth-quarter drive to put the game away and called a passing play in the fourth quarter, on fourth down with his team backed up on its own 36 yard line.
“You’ve got to play to win, not to lose,” Beam said. “And I’ve learned that over my career the hard way sometimes. We wanted to be able to control this game and keep it in our own hands.”
With the Cougars (5-1, 1-0 TVL) ahead 14-7 early in the fourth quarter, a holding penalty backed them up to the 24-yard line. On second-and 16, they gained eight yards and on third-and-eight they gained four, setting up a fourth-and-four. Without hesitation, Beam sent his quarterback Donovan Rozevink and the offense back on the field. The senior quarterback found junior Ryan Lewis along the Escalon sideline for a 19-yard completion to give the Cougars a first down.
“We just installed that play this week,” Lewis said. “Jamin Miller goes up the field and they don’t expect me to run a route, so right behind him, I just ran the out route and it was there. Great play by coach Beam.
“Coach Beam has always done that. He’s a risky guy and it was a smart call. We got the first (down).”
That play was part of a patented Escalon football drive that essentially sealed the win. More than eight minutes, stretching from the end of the third quarter to the 4 minute, 8 second mark in the fourth quarter.
Escalon ran 18 plays, mixing the run and pass to methodically move the ball 81 yards. When they needed to, they made plays to extend the drive.
Talan Reider, Josh Graham and Jamin Miller hit holes on power runs and Rozevink found ways to extend drives on third and fourth down, connecting with his receivers. Rozevink connected with Lewis on second and goal for the drive-ending, five-yard touchdown.
“Our plan coming into the game was to waste time, run it down their throats,” said Rozevink, who threw a touchdown pass and rushed for a score. “Just keep running the ball and pass every once in a while. We had a couple big plays on that drive on third-and-long.”
While key plays through the air kept possessions alive, the contest was still an old-fashioned, ground-and-pound TVL battle.
Josh Graham rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries for the Cougars and David Burns had a breakout game at fullback for Hughson with 110 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Alex Villarreal added a rushing touchdown.
“I find it ironic that the way we won this game was the way we probably won games in the ’90s against this team,” Beam said. “Three yards at a time, four yards at a time and just playing power football.”
Hughson’s goal remains the same
The Escalon-Hughson rivalry was must-see football in the 1990s, but while the Cougars maintained their dominance through the decades, Hughson struggled, winning just its second game since 2002 last season. But after both teams won section, NorCal and state titles last season, anticipation heading into this year’s matchup was at an all-time high.
“All I’ve heard since I have been hired here was how great the games were in the ’90s, and how we haven’t been relevant since 2002,” Hughson coach Shaun King said. “Now, we’re back in it. One of my buddies told me, when Hughson is good, the TVL is very good.”
While the chance at a perfect TVL record and wins over Escalon in back-to-back years for the first time since 1997 and 1998 are gone, the message from Hughson (4-2, 0-1 TVL) coach Shaun King to his team was simple.
“The goals haven’t changed,” he said. “We were in this situation last year when we lost the big game against Hilmar for the TVL title, and we still came away with a state championship. We still plan on practicing on Thanksgiving Day and playing the (Sac-Joaquin Section championship) game after Thanksgiving so nothing changes. … We’ll be back on Monday, getting ready for Livingston.”
Trailing 21-7 in the fourth quarter, the Huskies refused to go away. Backed up on their own two yard line after a short kick return and a penalty with 4:08 left in the game, Hughson went on a 98-yard drive.
Alex Villarreal broke open a 50-yard run from the 10-yard line across midfield, Robert McDaniel put the team in the red zone later in the drive after a 20-yard scamper. Villarreal punctuated the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run with 2:17 left in the game.
Escalon recovered an onside kick attempt and ran out the clock.
When asked his thoughts on the team’s late touchdown to make it a one score game, King, once again, kept it simple.
“I wish we had more time on the clock.” he said.
This story was originally published September 30, 2023 at 7:58 AM.
