Eskomos To Make 10th State Tournament Appearance

Oct 8, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

When the Esko Eskomos open state quarterfinals action on Saturday afternoon at Public School Stadium it will be their 10th overall appearance in the state football tournament, and their first since 2005. The Eskomos seven year absence was much to do with the state appearance run by the Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels.

Last season the high school league of Minnesota moved the Eskomos from Class AA to Class AAA and with the change in classes the Eskomos went through the Section 7AAA playoffs to knock of a tough Proctor team and enter the state quarterfinals for the first time in seven seasons.

Perham will be making their fourth appearance in the last six years in the state tournament, and their second consecutive state tournament appearance. Perham was the Class B state runners up in 1989. The Eskomos, as mentioned will play in their 10th overall state tournament and were Class C state champions back in 1975.

The Eskomos will be led offensively by Marc Peterson, who passed for over 1200 yards this season and 11 touchdowns. Peterson was 98-169 overall. Esko will feature three backs in the running game, led by Riley Mudek who has rushed for 993 yards this season. Wyatt Begay has 440 yards rushing while Garrett Iverson has 531 yards rushing.

Ryan Holte is Peterson’s top target in the passing game, he has 443 yards receiving and 32 receptions overall and 6 touchdowns for the Eskomos. Aaron Olson has 16 catches for 279 yards overall, while running back Riley Mudek has also caught 17 passes this season.

The Yellowjackets enter the matchup with Esko averaging 30 points per game while allowing only 16 overall. Esko averages 24 points per game and allows only 12 points against. The Yellowjackets are led by Jordan Hein who has over 1500 all-purpose yards. Hein, the Perham quarterback has rushed for over 1480 yards on the ground while passing for an additional 1050 this season.

Eric Brausch and Josh Nordick each have more the 20 receptions on the season, with Brausch with 326 yards receiving and Nordick also has almost 300 yards receiving. Following Hein in rushing is Payton Jordahl who has 587 yards rushing for the Yellowjackets.

The winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal will advance to the state semi-finals next Saturday at 4:30 pm at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The winner will face either Blue Earth Area or St. Croix Lutheran.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com