Bear River hands Escalon rare homecoming loss

The Escalon High Cougars have built a dynasty on power football, a no-nonsense attack that controls the clock, minimizes its mistakes and eventually gains control.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, the roles were reversed Friday night.

Bear River, the reigning Sac-Joaquin Section Division V champion, validated its two-hour bus trip from Grass Valley by beating Escalon 28-14. Most of the measurables belonged to the Bruins, including a nearly 100-yard advantage in total yards and a 3-1 turnover margin.

Coach Mark Loureiro couldn’t remember the last time the Cougars (3-2) lost on homecoming night. That said, they didn’t exactly schedule a cupcake. Bear River (4-0) bettered Escalon 14-7 a year ago in a similar attrition fight.

“That was a good football team we played. When you play good people like that, you have to play perfect,” Loureiro said. “We’ve been doing that to people for years.”

Escalon wasn’t outclassed, but three first-half turnovers – two lost fumbles and an interception – kept the Cougars behind most of the night.

The Cougars clawed on close terms until the fourth quarter, when Bear River aligned in a Cox box-like double-wing and ran toss-power plays for touchdowns of 7 and 59 yards by David O’Brien (nine carries, 90 yards).

Escalon answered the first TD and closed to 28-21 on Dylan Azevedo’s 15-yard pass to Sam Lattig with 6:16 left. But on the next series, O’Brien took the pitch from Jason Voter on third and 2 and darted past the Escalon bench for the clinching score.

“Anytime you beat coach Loureiro and Escalon, you have to feel pretty good. It’s a storied program,” said Scott Savoie, one of Bear River’s co-head coaches along with Terry Logue. “Our kids are pretty tough, too. That was a heck of a matchup.”

Both teams’ schedules were affected by the Butte fire, but Bear River enjoyed a bye last week. Escalon teed it up for the third time in 12 days.

“It wears on you, plus they’ve been off for two weeks and they’re a quality team, and we turned it over three times,” Loureiro said.

Not surprisingly, Savoie politely disagreed.

“I felt it was a disadvantage for us,” he said. “They were battling last week while we were yawning. I thought that was an advantage for them.”

Bear River earned the advantage on game night with a balanced offense that minimized its errors. Voter passed for two touchdowns during the first half while Escalon sputtered.

The Cougars will pose problems in the Trans-Valley League with fullback Tim Costa (13 carries, 64 yards) and Hunter Calton (13 carries, 87 yards). Calton sped 37 yards on a belly-sweep as Escalon answered Bear River’s early TD for a 7-7 tie.

Calton, who rushed for 279 yards and three touchdowns last week against Liberty Ranch, admitted the Cougars may have felt some fourth-quarter fatigue.

“I felt it big-time,” he said. “It made me tired for the whole week of practice, but when the game started, the adrenaline kicked in.”

It’s Escalon’s turn for a week off before it opens the TVL against Hughson. For Loureiro and the Cougars, it’s a good time to rest and prepare.

“Our league will be tough as heck,” Loureiro said. “I’ve never seen our league so even. You can throw four or five teams in a hat and roll the dice.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2015 at 12:35 AM with the headline "Bear River hands Escalon rare homecoming loss."