Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Escanaba quarterback Ethan Silverstone tries to elude the tackle attempt of Swartz Creek’s James Robinson during Friday’s game at Swartz Creek.

SWARTZ CREEK – The Escanaba Eskymos knew they had to bounce back, and they did so by slaying the Dragons. The Eskymos jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and rolled to a 35-19 win over the Swartz Creek Dragons here Friday night to close the regular season 7-2.

A week after suffering a 62-7 defeat to Traverse City Central, the Eskymos came out focused and rejuvenated. Senior quarterback Ethan Silverstone was particularly on fire, firing three touchdown passes to three different receivers in the early going.

The first went to Tyler Lawson on a 15-yard swing pass on their first possession, the second came on a nine-yard toss to Josh Bruntjens, and the third came on a 36-yard strike over the middle to Anthony Seymour on 4th-and-9 to make it 21-0 with 1:13 left in the first quarter.

“It was very important (for us to bounce back),” Silverstone said. “We had a bad week last week, and we had to get it rolling for next week because we have the playoffs at home, hopefully, and that’s what we got to do.”

Esky head coach Dave Howes was pleased with the strong start.

“It was just a good confidence-builder,” Howes said. “We tried running the ball a little bit and they were packing the box, so (Silverstone) had some receivers open and we executed and did a good job in the first half.”

The Dragons (1-8) got on the board late in the half after James Robinson intercepted a Silverstone pass at his own 40 and returned it to the Escanaba 34, setting up a 28-yard field goal by Luke Johnson with 1:25 left to go into halftime trailing 21-3.

“All credit to our opponent,” Dragons’ coach Joe Spencer said. “Those guys played really hard. We definitely made some mistakes that put us in a hole, but we have to give credit to Escanaba. They got off a long bus ride and they were ready to go.”

After Silverstone got picked off for the second time on Esky’s first possession of the second half, he made up for it with a powerful 19-yard touchdown run around right end in which he broke multiple tackles and ran over a Dragon defender to make it 28-3 with 7:52 left in the third quarter.

The Dragons didn’t get on the board again until a bad snap went through Esky punter Brandon Frazer’s legs for a safety with just under seven minutes left in the game. The Dragons added two late scores on touchdown runs of 17 and 45 yards by Noah Kalakay, and Esky scored one more touchdown on a 12-yard run by Bruntjens.

Spencer was happy his team played until the final whistle.

“We have a lot of underclassmen, so in a lot of ways we’re playing for the future,” he said. “I was encouraged to see the way they kept playing all the way until the end no matter the situation. Obviously, we wish we could have eliminated mistakes, but the effort was there.”

The Eskymos now wait to see who they will face in the first round of the playoffs when the MHSAA announces the match-ups Sunday night. They fell just short of repeating as Great Northern Conference champions after getting news Marquette defeated Kingsford 31-7 to wrap up the title. Esky fell to the Redmen 17-14 at home Sept. 21.

“Expectations were one game at a time like they usually are, but they were to do well in the GNC and make the playoffs. We did well in the GNC, but congrats to Marquette,” Howes said. “7-2 is pretty darn good. Hats off to our kids and the coaches for putting the time in, and hopefully we can make another good run in the playoffs again.”

Silverstone finished 9-for-14 for 140 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also carried eight times for 40 yards and a score. Bruntjens ran 14 times for 45 yards and one TD, and he also had two catches for nine yards and a score. Lawson caught four passes for 47 yards and a score, while adding one carry for 10 yards. Seymour caught one pass for a 36-yard TD and Bryant Maki had a 33-yard reception. Kyle Krutina carried three times for 23 yards and had one catch for 15 yards.

Brennen Larion led the Dragons with 141 yards rushing on 23 carries. Kalakay carried 12 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns and he also caught one pass for eight yards. Quarterback Kaleb Hall finished 5-for-12 for 24 yards. Tristan Hinkley ran six times for 26 yards and Robinson caught three passes for 14 yards.