Rails top Eskomos

Kerry Rodd-NSO

 Thursday night Section 7AAA football championship game featured the bullish running attack of the Proctor Rails and the high-flying aerial attack of the Esko Eskomos.  While both teams managed to put up gaudy statistics on offense, it was the Rails who secured the championship with a 37-21 win behind an incredible performance from running back Joe Carter.

  Carter, a senior running back, rushed for 282 yards on 28 carries and four touchdowns in leading his Rails to the state tournament. 

  On the other side of the ledger the Eskomos got an equally stunning performance from senior quarterback Marc Peterson who went 30-of-45 in the passing department for 331 yards and three touchdowns in a losing cause.

  Proctor opened the scoring on a Cody Lewis 27-yard field goal in the first quarter, but Esko gained the lead 6-3 on a pass from Peterson to Nick Emanuel that covered six yards and that’s how the first quarter ended.

  The Rails broke loose in the second quarter for three touchdowns, all by Carter, on runs of 21, 34 and nine yards respectively.  All three touchdowns were followed by the extra point kick by Lewis which pushed the halftime lead for Proctor to 24-6.

  Esko narrowed the gap in the third quarter on back-to-back touchdown passes from Peterson to Aaron Olson which covered 15 and eight yards respectively and Olson added a two-point conversion catch on the first score, while John Carr booted the extra point kick on the second score cutting the Rails lead to 24-21 after three quarters of play.

  Proctor bounced back with a pair of fourth quarter scores on a Brodie Nordquist one-yard run and the other on Carter 46-yard touchdown gallop.  Lewis tacked on the extra point kick on the second score making the final 37-21.

  The Rails will now move on to play against either St. Cloud Cathedral or Pierz in the AAA State Quarterfinals at 7pm on Monday at Malosky Stadium in Duluth on the University of Minnesota-Duluth campus.