Miguel, Hilmar ready for second shot at Escalon. Rivals meet for sixth time in 3 years
Hilmar quarterback Seth Miguel has watched the video of the Yellowjackets’ first game against Escalon many times.
It’s a tough watch because Miguel admits he wasn’t on his “A game” during a 34-21 loss on Sept. 27.
“I’ve watched it tons of times,” Miguel said. “I go through all my mistakes, what I could have done better. What reads I should have made. What could have I done to be more efficient.”
Miguel and his teammates get a chance to fix those mistakes on Saturday when they get a second shot at Escalon in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI championship game in a matchup of two 12-1 teams at Lincoln High’s Spanos Stadium in Stockton.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Miguel wasn’t awful in the first matchup. The junior threw three touchdowns without any interceptions. However, his 103 yards passing was his second lowest total in a game this season. Miguel only had three pass attempts for 50 yards in a 49-7 blowout of Riverbank two weeks later.
“He’s a different quarterback than he was in Week 6,” said Hilmar coach Frank Marques, who is coaching in his ninth section championship game during his 17-year career. “He’s not hesitant. He’s really grown up. We run a pretty complex offense. It’s not an offense where you just turn around and hand the ball off to the running back.
“There’s checks and reads he has to make. It’s almost like being a veer quarterback. The more you do it, the better you get at it.”
Miguel is playing his best late in the season.
In the regular season finale he completed 11 of 11 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns. After a first-round bye in the playoffs, Miguel torched Bear River in the second round, completing 15 of 18 passes for 326 yards and four touchdowns.
He’s thrown 107 passes in the last seven games with 16 touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s thrown for 1,758 yards and 25 touchdowns with just three interceptions on the season. He also has 453 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
“I have so many weapons on this team,” Miguel said. “One of the challenges for me was understanding who should I throw the ball to on which play. What weapon should I choose for this play against this defense.”
Miguel says the game has slowed down for him late in the season.
“I’m way more confident now,” Miguel said. “Early on in the season I found I was rushing myself. Now I find myself having too much time to make a decision some times.”
For Miguel and his teammates, it just feels right that they get a second opportunity to face Escalon.
This is the sixth time the two teams have played each other in the last three years with Hilmar knocking the Cougars out of the playoffs the last two seasons.
“We’ve some great battles ,” Marques said. “Some of our biggest heartaches came in losses against Escalon and some of our biggest victories came against Escalon. Both towns are mirror communities. They are similar people who all support sports and football.”
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 6:53 PM.
