ESCALON – Sonora High’s old-school triple-option offense, about as subtle as a face-slap, doesn’t mind if it fools you, runs over you or races past you.
The Wildcats did all three to the Escalon Cougars, flipping a 14-7 halftime deficit into an impressive 35-14 victory Friday night.
Sonora (4-0, 1-0), making its Trans-Valley League debut against the defending champion, pounded for touchdowns on four straight possessions in the second half. Defensively, it limited Escalon to only a single first down after halftime.
That’s dominance, the kind Escalon (1-3, 0-1) dished out when it hung Sac-Joaquin Section banners on its gym wall the last four seasons.
“I told the kids, ‘Settle down, guys. Calm down. It’s OK,’” Sonora coach Kirk Clifton said to his team at the break. “We changed things up a little bit, and it worked out for us.”
Their change-up turned out to be Tommy Sutton, the only running back behind quarterback Eli Ingalls. Sutton weighs 210 pounds and used all of it to to punish Escalon for 179 yards on 21 carries and touchdown rips of 61 and 20 yards in the second half. Each one of his yards came between the tackles.
“I just knew that I was gaining, gaining and gaining,” Sutton said. “(It was like I could) Run forever.”
Clifton emphasized during the week that Sonora never had beaten Escalon at Engel Field. That box was checked emphatically.
Sonora outgained Escalon 328-142, a numbing 225-27 in the second half.
“That’s a really good team,” Escalon coach Andrew Beam praised, “Nothing but praise for that group. They beat us in all three phases.”
Three members of the Wildcats were in uniform for Escalon’s thrilling victory over Sonora in the in the 2022 section D-V final. One of them was Cash Byington, who's building a reputation as a game-breaker.
Byington answered Escalon’s early touchdown with a 91-yard kickoff return – his second TD return of the season – as he broke two tackles, angled to his left and won a race to the pylon. Late in the game, he padded Sonora’s lead with an 18-yard reception and dive over the goal line.
Escalon’s halftime lead was deceiving. Two Sonora turnovers, a fumble recovery and an interception in the end zone by Escalon’s promising freshman Dylan Ball, kept the Wildcats scoreless until Byington’s dash.
The Cougars also felt the early-game loss of quarterback Logan Huebner, its best offensive threat. His knee injury forced Escalon to send in Donovan Martinez, a slim junior who had yet to take a varsity snap.
Martinez, a lefty, injected life in the boys in purple. One play after a bizarre punt-block was recovered 30 yards downfield by Escalon for a first down, Martinez led receiver Chase Cummings in stride for a 44-yard scoring strike.
After Byington’s kick return, Escalon marched 68 yards – by far its best drive of the game – and regained the lead. Martinez rolled to his left, then threw across the field nine yards to Ball at the goal line. Sustaining the offense, however, proved too difficult.
“When you lose your quarterback, you’re in trouble,” Beam said. “For (Martinez) to come in and throw two touchdown passes in a pressure situation, he’s not the reason we lost.”
Beam was correct. Sonora won because it established a nasty first option in Sutton barreling downhill behind a a rugged offensive line featuring Samuel Alderman, Mikey Gentis, Lincoln Solus and Tanner Goldson.
Sonora’s go-ahead touchdown demonstrated how it reversed the momentum. Ingalls, deceptive with the ball, turned the corner to his left and then pitched to Brody Speer to cap the 13-yard TD.
On the opposite sideline, Huebner sat helplessly on the training table as senior captain Sam Jimenez threw an arm around him. Jimenez, one of the difference-makers in Escalon’s recent success, never made it to the opening kickoff. His major knee injury washed out his season before it started, a lethal blow for Escalon’s chances.
Regardless, Sonora said hello to the TVL by vanquishing the league’s resident heavyweight. In fact, all of its ball carriers this night were sophomores or juniors.
“We didn’t flinch when they got up,” Clifton praised. “That’s what I liked.”
Sonora 35, Escalon 14
Sonora 0-7-14-14—35
Escalon 0-14-0-0—14
2nd Quarter
E—Chase Cummings 44 pass from Donovan Martinez (Ricardo Felix Chavez kick)
S—Cash Byington 91 kickoff return (Emmanuel Garibay kick)
E—Dylan Ball 9 pass from Martinez (Chavez kick)
3rd Quarter
S—Tommy Sutton 61 run (Garibay kick)
S—Brady Speer 13 run (Garibay kick)
4th Quarter
S—Sutton 20 run (Garibay kick)
S—Byington 18 pass from Eli Ingalls (Garibay kick)
Records—Sonora 4-0, 1-0 TVL. Escalon 1-3, 0-1 TVL.
JV—Sonora 29-25
