Big run by Rentfro lifts Hilmar past Escalon

With his team backed up against its own goalline and the game tied with less than three minutes left, all Frank Marques wanted was a little room for his offense.

“I was just trying to run a simple dive play to get the ball out of our end zone,” the Hilmar coach said.

Instead, Marques got a 97-yard touchdown run from talented running back Cody Rentfro and a much-needed 48-41 Trans-Valley League victory over Escalon on Friday night.

“The win is huge because whoever lost would be in a big hole for the playoffs,” he said. “We thought this was a must-win game. We were just trying to scratch out a win.”

The victory improved the Yellowjackets’ record to 4-3 overall, 1-1 in the TVL. Hilmar has three games left against Hughson (6-1), dangerous Modesto Christian (3-4) and Mountain House.

With a victory over winless Mountain House relatively assured, Hilmar would likely have to beat either Hughson next week or MC on Oct. 30 to assure itself a spot in the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

Modesto Christian beat Hughson in overtime on Friday night.

A defeat to Escalon would have all but ended Hilmar’s postseason hopes. But thanks to a defense that hardened when it had to, the Yellowjackets remained alive.

With the game tied 41-41, Escalon moved the ball late in the game down to Hilmar’s 3-yard line. The Cougars (3-4, 0-2) decided to go for it on fourth down, but came up empty.

That’s when Rentro, with just under three minutes left, took a handoff and bolted up the right sideline to the end zone, capping a night in which he ran for 238 yards on 12 carries.

Escalon got the ball back with a little more than 2 minutes left.

The Cougars, who have lost three straight, had led the game for most of the night and took a 41-34 fourth-quarter lead on Tim Costa’s 1-yard run – his third touchdown of the game.

On second down, though, Hilmar’s Bryan Walley came up with a sack, and the Yellowjackets’ eventually retained possession of the ball and ran out the clock.

Hilmar quarterback Daniel Texeira rushed for 124 yards and threw for 133 more to go with his three touchdown passes.

Escalon’s C.J. Gumbs rushed for three touchdowns on runs of 69, 35 and 21 yards.

“We’ve been in battles with them before,” Marques said, referring to Escalon. “It was just one of those things where we were both throwing punches, and we were the last ones standing.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 12:58 AM with the headline "Big run by Rentfro lifts Hilmar past Escalon."