Dennis Grall | Daily Press Jared Nash of Escanaba pulls in a Craig Kamin pass for a third quarter touchdown Friday at Gladstone. Defending is Quinn Downey (10) of Gladstone, with Cole Hanson (2) in the background.

GLADSTONE — Junior Josh Bruntjens rushed for a career-high 163 yards here Friday to lead Escanaba past Gladstone 28-15 in a Great Northern Conference football game.

The Eskymos put the game away on a 28-yard touchdown run by Isaac Cooper to make it 28-15 with 6:10 remaining in the game.

Gladstone got the scoring started on a one-yard touchdown run by Brody Sanville on the opening possession of the first quarter. The score was set-up by a 70-yard completion from Jared Crow to Cooper Cavadeas.

Escanaba responded with a 76-yard touchdown run by Bruntjens and a 25-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter from Craig Kamin to Jared Nash on fourth-and-two to open a 14-6 lead.

The Braves (3-4) came back with a 52-yard touchdown pass from Crow to Vince Hughes to cut the deficit to 14-12 at the half.

“Our goal tonight was to limit the number of big plays we gave up,” Esky coach Dave Howes said. “We made our share of big plays but we gave up a few there in the first half.”

Esky (5-2) struck first in the second half on another 25-yard connection from Kamin to Nash, a possession after their opening of the quarter was halted at the three-yard line.

Braves’ kicker CJ Charlebois kicked a 23-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to make it 21-15 but that’s as close as Gladstone would get.

“We wanted to focus in on establishing the ground game so we could have more balance on offense,” Howes said. “After halftime we made some adjustments, and on that last touchdown run (by Cooper) we got a really nice block to seal the edge.”

Bruntjens led the Eskymos with 163 yards rushing and a touchdown on 16 carries. Cooper ran nine times for 65 yards and a score. As a team, Escanaba rushed 34 times for 213 yards.

Kamin finished 9-18 passing for 177 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Nash caught three passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns, while Christer Carne had three receptions for 50 yards.

Big plays were the story of the game, and the Eskymos found a way to make a few more of them.

“I thought our effort was great tonight,” Braves’ coach Jeff Hansen said. “Football is a game of inches, and tonight Escanaba just found them more often than we did.

“Big plays hurt us in the second half, but I thought we responded well. We jumped out to a good start and tried to keep momentum throughout but we knew they weren’t just going to lay down. We played hard all four quarters tonight though, I’m really proud of the boys’ effort.”

Crow had a big night passing for the Braves, going 16-of-34 for 278 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Hughes and Cavadeas each had six receptions for 117 yards, and Hughes added a touchdown.

Sanville led the Braves with 63 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

Escanaba now leads the all-time series 73-14-7.

Both teams resume action on the road Friday, with Esky at Traverse City Central while Gladstone is at Marquette.

The Braves have also added a game, at Lake Linden-Hubbell Oct. 20.