Esko Wins Thriller of a Section 7AAA Finals Game

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Nov 1, 2012

Kerry Rodd-NSO

A little resiliency and a whole lot of Marc Peterson was a formula for success for the Esko football team on Thursday night as they culminated their march to the Section 7AAA title with a 28-26 come-from-behind win over the Proctor Rails.

For most of the first half of the game it looked like the Eskomos would run away with the game. After Proctor scored on an Alex Greene touchdown run to make it 6-0, the Eskomos bounced back with three unanswered scores of their own. The first was a Marc Peterson 28-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Holte late in the first quarter. The second was another Peterson to Holte pass, this time it covered five yards as Esko took a 12-0 halftime lead.

The Eskomos added a Peterson to Holte 53-yard touchdown pass and run for a score with 10:03 remaining in the third quarter that pushed the lead to 20-6 after the Riley Mudek two point conversion run. However, at that point the Rails offense came alive and in a big way.

Proctor’s Brody Nordquist picked up a five-yard touchdown run with 4:28 remaining in the third quarter to cut the Esko lead to 20-12 and then Alex Greene slashed in for a six-yard touchdown run to pull the Rails to within 20-18 with 48 seconds remaining in the third quarter. However, the Rails struggled with their conversion points and that would prove costly as the game wore on.

The Rails finally took the lead when Greene got loose on a 65-yard touchdown gallop with 10:56 remaining in the game. Greene then added the extra point giving the Rails a 26-20 lead, and putting Esko on the ropes.

Peterson came out and led the Eskomos on a nine play 58-yard drive that ended with a quarterback keeper from the six inch line by Peterson with 6:52 left in the fourth quarter that tied the score. Peterson then hooked up with Brock Carlson for the two-point conversion giving Esko a 28-26 lead.

Proctor had a chance to take the win if they could get in field goal range, but Esko came up with a huge sack and a strip of the quarterback and the Eskomos recovered the fumble with 8.2 seconds remaining to end the game and the Rails threat.

Peterson had an incredible game with a 15-for-15 passing effort good for 180 yards and three touchdowns all of which went in the direction of standout receiver Ryan Holte.

“He is a tremendous talent and athlete and has a great football family background. He is a real laid back kid but he sure comes alive at game time.” Esko Head Coach Bill Hudspeth told Northland Sports Online following the game. “I told him who to throw to all night and he kept throwing to the other guy…the guy who was wide open! That’s the kind of football sense that you just can’t teach.”

“The receivers did a good job of finding the open slots in the field and the line did an incredible job of blocking,” said Peterson after the game. “This is the best feeling in the world right now. We are really happy for the seniors and to get this win for them is great.”

For Esko it is their first trip back to the state tournament since 2005.

“The thing this group has is resiliency,” said Coach Hudspith. “We have had some ups and downs throughout the season, some tight games, and we’ve been challenged, and the guys just keep an even keel and fight through it.”

As good as Peterson and Holte were offensively the Rails had a diamond in Greene who rushed for 159 yards on 23 carries and he scored three touchdowns.

Esko will now move on to the State Quarterfinals where they will play the Section 8AAA winner between Perham and Park Rapids on Saturday at 3pm in Duluth at Public Schools Stadium.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at Kerry@northlandsportsonline.com