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Eskymos victorious over Wildcats on Veteran’s Night

By Adam Hinch 3 min read

ESCANABA -- It was Veteran's night at Escanaba Athletic Field as well as the 25th Anniversary of September 11th here Friday as the Escanaba Eskymos defeated the Alpena Wildcats 29-12.

The Escanaba Quarterback Club along with the Escanaba Fan Club paid honor to Bruce Craig who was named U.P. Veteran of the Year. Bruce inspired people on and off the field and his passion for the game never ended on the field. He played on offense and defense and embraced his teammates while playing the game he loved. He set an example for future players and teams. He joined the United States Marine Corp. in 1967 and was killed in action in Vietnam in 1968.

Once the game kicked off the Eskymos were first on the board as senior Alex Ison ran it in from 6 yards out with 9:09 to play in the first quarter to put the Eskymos up 7-0.

The Wildcats answered back as Andrew Szymoniak scored on a 64-yard TD run with 2:25 to play in the first quarter but failed on the extra point and Escanaba's lead was cut to 7-6 and that is as close as it would get.

The Eskymos found their way back to the end zone with 10:15 to play in the first half as junior Bryce Bichler lateraled the ball to Ison who took it 14 yards to the house and with the extra point extended the lead to 14-6.

"We have been working on that in practice," Ison said. "We had been running it smoothly and felt confident in it when the coach called it."

Ison scored again with 7:35 to play in the first half as he went 52 yards to the house to extend the Eskymos lead to 21-6.

"I saw Mikaiden had a nice block and I just cut off that," Ison said "It left me one on one with a safety and I feel confident in that matchup everytime."

The Wildcats were driving late in the second quarter but Escanaba junior Gunnar LaMarche ended the drive with an interception in the end zone.

"The boys really responded tonight after dropping the first two games," Eskymos coach Bailey Lamb said. "They did a really good job of bouncing back at home. We scored on the first drive early and then got a big defensive stop coming out of halftime."

Ison scored his fourth TD of the night with 5:28 to go in the third quarter to put the Eskymos up 29-6 after converting the two-point attempt.

"It came down to effort tonight," Wildcats coach DJ Szymoniak said. "Escanaba wanted it more than we did. We need to get together as a team and figure out what direction we want to go."

Andrew Szymoniak did find his way back to paydirt on an 11-yard TD run with 4:24 to play in the third quarter. He finished the game with 31 carries for 149 yards and two scores while Ison on the other side had 22 carries for 132 yards and four TDs.

The Eskymos return to action at home next week as they face the Petoskey Northmen. Alpena will square off against Gaylord at home.

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