Escalon Union High School - El Escalon Yearbook (Escalon, CA)

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Frosh-Soph Shuts Out the League Under the coaching of Mr. Mike Backovich, assisted by Mr. Steve French and Jerry Fuller, the 1979 Frosh-Soph TVL champions held their opponents scoreless for four consecutive games and 17 straight shut-out quarters. Their only loss was to the tough Dixon team who were the Delta League champions with a perfect 9-0 record. The Frosh-Soph team concluded their season with eight wins, one loss and were 4-0 in the league. Mark George, the Most Improved Player, carried the ball for the Cougar offense for 415 yards, an average of six yards a carry. The talented back, Shane Strasser, made a total of 17 touchdowns and rushed for 1,092 yards. He was also voted Most Valuable Back. Barry LaBass, the only player returning from last year's 6-2-1 team, started middle line backer and slot back on offense. He earned the title of Most Valuable Player. Lance Morrow started both ways as tackle and was voted Most Valuable Lineman. Quarterbacking for the Frosh-Soph team was Randy Rose, who completed 60% of his passes. Dennis Bennett received the award of Most Inspirational Player. The Frosh-Soph had three Freshman starters, including Todd Casey as outside linebacker, Tony Chiappe as defensive tackle and Ray Stice as nose guard. The team proved to be the highest scoring in the California Interscholastic Federation section in nine games with a total of 213 points. The tough defense came in second in the CIF section. Coach Backovich said, They deserved to win the championship. They worked harder than any other TVL team-I'm glad they were champions. 4. Assistant Coach Mr. Steve French, Head Coach Mr. Mike Backovich and Assistant Coach Jerry Fuller. 5. Frosh-Soph Team Captains Randy Rose and Barry LaBass. 6. Coach Backovich and Barry LaBass practice a defensive drill.

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1. Shane Strasser carries the ball against Bret Harte. 2. Frosh- Soph Football Team. TOP ROW: Tye Prater, Ray Stice, Jeff Vest, Steve Longstreet, Randy Rose, Dennis Bennett, Barry LaBass, Greg Lane, Shane Strasser, John Baumbach. SECOND ROW: Tony Chiappe, Allen Cain, John Nunes, Todd Casey, David Chavez, Lance Morrow, Steve Wood, Mark McKay, Hardy Brown. BOTTOM ROW: Ben Rivera, Kevin McGuire, Manny Silveira, Frank Garcia, Mark George, Ray Ellis, Daryl Pope, Eric Swanson, Chris Johns. 3. Randy Rose fires a bomb. FROSH-SOPH FOOTBALL Escalon Opponent 25- 0 Jackson 19 - 0 Bret Harte 40 - 0 North Tahoe 33 - 0 Summerville 7 - 13 Dixon 22 - 6 Hughson 20 - 6 Riverbank 13 - 6 Livingston 34 - 15 Patterson 18 FR0SH-S0PH FOOTBALL

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Cubs Spark at End of Year Shutouts over Patterson and Hughson and over Riverbank at 28-0 were the highlights of a season which produced a 3-4 overall Freshman record. The running of Joe Correia and Chris Swanson, along with John Edwards' quarterbacking, aided the team in these shutouts. Assistant Coach Rusty Fachner stated, Offensively, we struggled throughout the year to get points on the scoreboard, but really began to jell at the end of the season ' Defensively, the Freshmen were very strong, giving up just over seven points per game. Supporting a strong line and defensive backfield, the linebacking corps of Ross Bava, Greg Largent, and Chris Swanson held most teams in check throughout the year. The year's Most Valuable Player was Ross Bava. Dan Hawkins was chosen Most Inspirational while Joe Correia was elected Most Valuable Back. Most Valuable Lineman and Most Improved was Bill Murphy. 2 1. Kevin New escapes from a Bret Harte tackle. 2. Freshman Coaches Ken Hunter, Pete Arellano, and Rusty Fachner. 3. David Foster kicks the ball out of Bret Harte's reach. FRESHMAN FOOTBALL 6 - 20 2- 8 20- 0 0- 6 26 - 0 28 - 0 6 - 27 Bret Harte East Union Patterson Ripon Hughson Riverbank Livingston 20 FRESHMAN FOOTBALL