After a fourth straight section title, Escalon’s Beam is The Bee’s Football Coach of the Year
Traditionally, Escalon’s football team has challenged itself by playing larger, more successful schools in its non-league and postseason schedules.
Under legendary coach Mark Loureiro, the Cougars played teams from all over California including Madison and La Jolla of San Diego, Liberty from the Central Section and historic Sac-Joaquin Section schools like Central Catholic, Placer, Colfax, Pioneer and Summerville.
When he took over in 2018, Andrew Beam wanted to continue that tradition and there was a game when he realized he could take it to the next level.
In 2021, the Cougars drew a matchup against Marin Catholic in the Division 4-AA NorCal Bowl Game and though they lost 21-14, Beam says he felt a shift.
“We thought that we were going to be severely outmatched and I just saw our kids compete at another level in that game and even though we did lose, I just felt like it was a program changing moment,” Beam said. “That hey, we can play with some teams and some different levels of teams and we need to try to challenge ourselves.”
In the past two seasons Beam scheduled tougher games than before taking on Damonte Ranch of Nevada, Fresno-area power Buchanan and Bay Area heavyweights Windsor and California.
In 2023, Beam and the Cougars had yet another 10-plus win season that included regular season success and a deep postseason run.
After leading Escalon to a 12-2 record, a perfect Trans Valley League record and a Division IV section championship, Andrew Beam is The Bee’s Football Coach of the Year.
Over the past four full seasons, Escalon has won one section title in Division VI, two in D-V and one more in D-IV. The Cougars also took home state championships in 2019 and 2022.
As they have continued to move up among the section’s postseason ranks due to the Continued Success rule, the tougher non-league schedule has helped garner playoff success.
“We just want to try to compete week in and week out and continue to challenge ourselves,” Beam said. “This year with our preseason games, we played some really, really good football teams that I think helped prepare us for the section championship game and that type of atmosphere and the type of athletes that we did see.”
Beam is not afraid to take risks. In a game against Hughson with Escalon ahead 14-7 and facing a fourth down on its own 36-yard line, Beam elected to keep the offense on the field to attempt a passing play. The Cougars converted the try and went on to score a touchdown after an eight-minute drive to extend their lead to 21-7. They went on to win the matchup between 2022 state champions, 21-14.
“You’ve got to play to win, not to lose,” Beam said after the contest. “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.”
Beam was a great quarterback who went on to play at Delta College, Bowling Green and the University of Findlay in Ohio where he set school records. He had the chance to pursue a professional career in Bologna, Italy, but had aspirations of returning home to be a teacher.
Now, he is the head coach of the team he once played for while also serving as Escalon’s athletic director, teaching pre-period football weight lifting and a couple periods of psychology.
“I know it sounds cliche, but what we have here is very special and it’s not like this everywhere,” said Beam, a first-time recipient of the Coach of the Year award. “I wanted to be able to come home and coach. These coaches on our staff are the guys I grew up with. These are the guys that I played with and was friends with off the field. It’s truly a family dynamic.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
