PETOSKEY — The Escanaba football team couldn’t topple the Petoskey Northmen Friday in Petoskey, falling 44-27 to go 1-1 on the season.

After a back-and-forth first half, the Eskymos entered the second half trailing 24-14 after the Northmen scored late in the second quarter.

Esky answered back in the third.

“We scored after halftime with a nice drive, and it was 24-21 in the third quarter,” Esky coach Dave Wilson said.

After that, the game started to go downhill for the Eskymos.

“(At one point), we had them third and long, and they got a big run on us,” Wilson said. “It led to them scoring.”

Esky notched 173 yards on the ground over 39 rushes, with Ben Johnson totaling 64 of those yards on three carries. Connor Smale added a rushing touchdown.

Wilson noted the loss highlighted two issues for the team.

“We had some turnovers,” he said. “It just got away from us in the second half. We need to improve on our execution and our tackling.”

The Eskymos finished 8-for-17 through the air with three TDs, three interceptions and 124 yards. Trent Lawson collected four receptions, 102 yards and two TDs. Scott Hiller and Connor Smale chipped in a TD apiece.

“We started off with a good start,” Wilson said. “We were holding them pretty good, and we had them in deep. They made a big play and scored, so they went up 7-0. We came right back down the field and scored.

“I’m happy with the kids. They played hard. We just have to work on limiting our mistakes and improve. We showed a lot of character at the end with another touchdown. Trent Lawson had a nice TD catch at the end.”

Escanaba hosts Marquette Friday.

“We’re looking forward to playing at home next week,” Wilson said. “We’re looking forward to finally playing a game at the athletic.”