Escanaba senior Javon Stevenson (2) goes through a linebacker drill during midnight practice on Aug. 12, 2024 at Escanaba Athletic Field. (“The Big Dog” Mitch Vosburg Daily Press)

ESCANABA — It’s a cool August evening in Escanaba.

A trip south down U.S. Route 2  reveals a town deep in slumber on a Sunday night. A Taco Bell, a McDonald’s and two gas stations stay awake, serving as makeshift security guards while the town rests for the next day.

All is quiet in Escanaba. The moonlight serves as one’s guide driving through town.

But as one drives further south down the road and out of town there’s a random patch of bright lights. These lights happen to be located on 18th Avenue south. It’s the lights belonging to Escanaba Athletic Field, commonly lit n Friday nights.

This evening, described earlier to set the scene, happens to be on a Sunday, Aug. 11th at 11:45 p.m. and 15 minutes from August 12th, to be exact. To some the date seems insignificant. But to the Escanaba varsity football team, August 12th happens to be the official first day of the 2024 high school fall sports season. And for the third-straight season, the Eskymos opt to waste no time to get things started.

While most athletes across the state of Michigan are most likely asleep with thoughts and aspirations of greatness running through their heads, the orange and black start their season immediately.

At 11:59 p.m. one can hear the Eskymos get rowdy with Five Finger Death Punch blaring at a near deafening volume. As the clock struck midnight head coach Bailey Lamb knocked five times on the door to the locker room. The team bursts out of the locker room and onto the field eager to start the 2024 season.

The third annual midnight practice was officially underway.

“It’s a really good way to start the year,” said Bailey Lamb, who’s entering his third season as Escanaba’s head coach. “We break up that first day of practice. It’s two hours (Monday) and we’ll go a light two hours (Tuesday) and make sure we still get some time in.”

But as this iteration of Escanaba football takes the field for its first practice, a particular Five Finger Death Punch howls in the background: Wash It All Away. A track that’s fitting for a program rich in tradition which dates back over 100 years that’s gone 6-25 the last four seasons.

The Eskymos aren’t wasting here asking if anyone can wash it all away. They’re here to reset the standard.

“They’re a very close group,” Lamb said of the 2024 team. “They play a lot of sports together. They have a lot of fun. The seniors that are stepping up as leaders are more vocal than we’ve had in years past.”

Practice goes as smoothly as the first day can go, especially with a group of teenagers trying to focus in the wee hours of a new day.

“The kids had a blast,” Lamb said. “We’re really excited about what’s to come.”

This year’s group features 32 players on the first day (or night) of practice. It’s a new group which possesses a high level of team chemistry.

It features new faces in the linebacker corps and at running back. It features plenty of returning pieces, including quarterback, left tackle and wide receiver, just to name a few.

The energy for the Eskymos first practice stayed high. Mistakes were made, positive came out of day one. Nothing out of the ordinary for a first practice for any team.

But this practice has one more extra twist. This practice has to conclude by 2 a.m., or else the Eskymos will have a fight on their hands.

A fight with a foe which has a familiar home on the field. A foe which remains undefeated.

The sprinkler system.

But as conditioning wrapped up, Lamb took the team on a brief field trip under the bleachers and into a walkway where fans walk on gameday to their seats. This features the Quarterback Club Wall of Fame.

Enshrined are members of the Eskymos rich tradition and history. This wall includes Division 1 college football players, a World Series champion and several of Escanaba’s greatest teams. It also features the fathers and grandfathers of several members of the current team. The wall also immortalizes four members of its current coaching staff.

It served as a reminder that there’s a standard with wearing the orange and black colors on Friday nights. A standard which needs to come back in 2024.

“These groups have had a lot of success over the last five years in their junior varsity, freshmen and middle school years. That’s something we haven’t had in a long time,” Lamb said. “They know what it takes to win and what the game is supposed to look like.”