Escalon football season ends shy of CIF State Finals

LAFAYETTE, CA – “We’re going to be fine.”

Those words echoed in every player’s, coach’s and fan’s brains on the Escalon football sidelines as the season started slipping away. The Cougars lost 49-14.

Escalon traveled over an hour to take on Acalanes for the CIF State Division 3-AA Regionals and in a matter of minutes they found themselves down 14-0. They had made a miraculous comeback last week but the tale wouldn’t end the same this go round.

Acalanes dominated Escalon to end the Cougars season just a game short of a back-to-back state championship appearance.

Escalon’s Nate Krieger, left, comforts teammate Carson Medina after the team lost the 2023 CIF Div. 3-AA State Football Championship semifinal game at Acalanes High School in Lafayette in Dec. 1, 2023. Acalanes won 49-14,

“We knew it was gonna come to an end,” said Donovan Rozevink, Escalon’s senior quarterback. “We didn’t know how it was going to end, I mean we lost this game my sophomore year and it hurt, but it just hurts more cause this will be the last game we play together.”

Backs against the wall

With both the Cougars and Dons having explosive offenses, the pressure was on for each team’s defense. The Dons answered the call. Senior two-way player Trevor Rogers busted the game open with a 50-yard pick six putting Acalanes up 7-0.

Acalanes caught Rozevink slipping once more as linebacker Deonte Littlejohn snagged an interception and took it straight to the endzone. Along with pick-sixes, Escalon had red zone woes whether it be from penalties or turnovers on downs in scoring position.

“Those mistakes on those first couple drives of ours came back to haunt us and every mistake is, it is magnified in the playoffs,” said Andrew Beam, Escalon football’s head coach. “We went from second and short to fourth and long multiple times and we…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-reason-hang-heads-escalon-084014654.html

Author : The Stockton Record

Publish date : 2023-12-02 08:40:14

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