Ilsa Minor | Daily Press Escanaba Quarterback Zack Wirhanowicz does his best to avoid the Braves' defense during Friday's game in Gladstone.

GLADSTONE — A rivalry match-up went Gladstone’s way here Friday night in a 47-13 football rout of Escanaba.

The victory enabled the Braves to clinch their first Great Northern Conference championship since 1998 when shared the title with Kingsford.

Gladstone previously won the ABC Conference in 1985 and was Mid-Peninsula Conference champ five years ago.

“It’s a great feeling to win the conference and an even better feeling for our seniors,” said Braves’ coach Craig Ness. “We have a great locker room atmosphere and it carries over onto the field.”

Senior running back Cole Potier provided the Braves with a huge performance, rushing 27 times for 238 yards on Senior Night and running his season total to 1,141.

The Braves finished with 445 yards in total offense.

“Our line was amazing,” said Potier. “The guys helped me a lot with my running game. Taking the GNC title is awesome. I’m proud of our team. Our guys played awesome.”

By winning the Braves (7-2) secured homefield advantage through the first three rounds of the Division 6 playoffs, provided they keep winning. They will likely face Elk Rapids (6-3) in their district opener this weekend.

The Braves scored a safety nearly five minutes into the contest, then gained a 10-0 lead on a 24-yard run through the middle by Potier midway through the opening frame.

Junior Nate Young added another score on a quarterback sneak for an 18-0 cushion with four minutes, 47 seconds left in the first quarter.

Gladstone’s cushion grew to 26-0 on a nine-yard pass to Tyler Darmogray early in the second.

Esky (2-7) got on the board midway through the second on senior QB Casey Bray’s nine-yard pass Ben Johnson.

Early in the third, however, the Braves extended their lead to 34-7 when senior Andrew Sargent intercepted a pass and returned it 84 yards for a TD.

“Their safety set the tone and everything kind of snowballed,” said Esky coach Bailey Lamb. “Although, I’m proud of the boys. They fought hard. We can’t take anything away from Gladstone. They were well prepared. Our receivers ran some nice routes and our communication was good on the scoring drive.”

Junior Austin Solis gave the Braves a 41-7 advantage on a 45-yard dash early in the third and Potier added a five-yard TD run off right tackle with 8:33 left in the contest.

The Eskymos scored their last touchdown for the season on Bray’s 10-yard aerial to Trent Lawson with 2:38 remaining.

“We played with a lot of energy after the safety,” said Ness. “They found a little chink in our defense, then we made some adjustments at hafltime and were able to take that away. We played all our guys, which was nice because they earned their playing time in practice.”

Esky finished with 221 yards in total offense. Bray hit 25-of-42 passes for 235 yards, two TDs and three interceptions.

Johnson, who ran for 205 yards in a 46-21 triumph at Alpena Oct. 14, was limited to 11 yards on 13 carries this time.

Young completed 6-of-10 aerials for 65 yards, a TD and an interception and Solis ran four times for 89.

For Gladstone, it’s on to the post-season, potentially at home through the regionals.

“For now we’re at home until they tell us not to show up anymore,” said Ness. “None of these teams are push-overs by any means. We’ll have to play our best football.”

Potier says he’s also looking forward to playing at home.

“We’re going to work our hardest in practice,” he added. “We’ll watch some film on the other team and see what we need to do.”