Escanaba junior Nolan Bink (4) bolts down the sideline during a Big Borth Conference football game against Alpena on Oct. 18, 2024 at Escanaba Athletic Field.

ESCANABA — Coming off back-to-back road losses, Escanaba football needed a pick me up performance in the worst way possible.

The Eskymos managed to do just that, thrashing Alpena for a 47-0 Senior Night Big North Conference win on Friday.

“It was the last time out here for the seniors,” Esky coach Bailey Lamb said. “We talk about how meaningful this place is to the community and how much history is here. We talked about how this was the final brick they laid on this field. It’s emotional for sure.”

Red zone issues plagued the Eskymos (4-4, 3-3 Big North) in losses to Marquette and Gaylord. To combat that, junior quarterback Nolan Bink scored a 59-yard rushing touchdown on the second play of the game for a 7-0 lead 44 seconds into the contest.

Bink scored two more times on the ground and connected with junior Ashton Rymkos on a 58-yard passing score for a 27-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game.

Sophomore Brody Ison pushed the advantage to 33-0 with a 36-yard scamper, an advantage which stood entering intermission. Keagan Braun scored from 21-yards out late in the third quarter and Gavin Wagner put the icing on the cake with a 79-yard score in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats (0-8, 0-6), on the other hand, struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball. The Green and white finished with 57 yards of offense in the first half, six plays of negative yards, moved 45 yards thanks to Esky penalties and threw two interceptions.

The Eskymos added two more interceptions in the second half from Alex Stalboerger and Ben Sands, bottling the Wildcats to 34 yards in the second half.

In total, the Wildcats accumulated 91 yards of offense.

“We needed a palette cleanse,” Lamb said. “There were still a lot of things that we needed to clean up today too that I’m not happy about. But overall, pushing the last two weeks behind us and moving forward is always a good thing.”

Bink finished with 251 yards of total offense and four total touchdowns. Ison totaled 84 yards off six carries with a score. Wagner accumulated 113 rushing yards and a score off four carries. Graham Johnson earned 40 yards rushing off four carries.

Now the Eskymos turn their attention to their regular season finale against an all familiar foe. A team which has a three-game winning streak over them for the first time in this historic rivalry.

Gladstone.

“The kids are excited,” Lamb said. “Obviously it’s been a tough slide the last couple of years, but our boys are ready to go. We’re just excited to finish the year strong, go out there, fly around and have some fun.”

The Eskymos and Braves kick-off at 7 p.m. Friday at Marble Athletic Field.