Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Escanaba’s Tyler Lawson pulls in a reception in front of Cadillac’s Julian LaMonde during Saturday’s district opener at Escanaba.

ESCANABA — The Escanaba Eskymos knew they might be in for a long day after the very first play from scrimmage.

Cadillac quarterback Aden Gurden dropped back and threw a backwards swing pass to Tipp Baker, who launched a perfectly thrown ball down the field to a wide open Logan Wilde for a 69-yard touchdown.

“(That play) was based off a strength — they get to the football really well,” Vikings’ coach Cody Mallory said. “We knew that our tendencies show we toss the ball a lot, and we were expecting their corners to come up. I have to credit one of my assistant coaches for coming up with the idea to do it. A lot of times you draw that stuff up and it doesn’t work out, so it was really nice to see it happen.”

That was a sign of things to come, as the Vikings went on the road and knocked off the Eskymos 35-12 in a Division 4 district opener Saturday to end Esky’s season.

The Vikings advance to the district championship game next Saturday, where they will visit Sault Ste. Marie. The Blue Devils topped Ludington 46-6 Saturday.

The Eskymos finished the year 7-3, falling in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since head coach Dave Howes’ first season in 2015.

“Our kids fought and fought and never gave up, but we just didn’t make the plays,” Howes said. “We had some plays that were wide open, we just didn’t make them today. It was just one of those days.”

After going up 7-0, the Vikings forced a punt and scored again on their next possession on a 45-yard play-action pass from Gurden to Baker to go up 14-0.

The Eskymos got a much-needed score on their next drive on a one-yard plunge by Josh Bruntjens, but the extra point was blocked to leave the score at 14-6.

Cadillac ran the ball down Esky’s throat again on the next drive, which was capped by a two-yard TD run by Carter Harsh to make it 21-6.

After the Eskymos turned the ball over just past midfield on their next possession, Gurden plunged up the middle from two yards out to give the Vikings a 28-6 lead not even a minute into the second quarter.

“We worked all week defensively on wanting to stop their dive and the veer option, and they came out with a trick play right off the bat. Give them credit for executing that play. Then after that, they started going with the option and we had to make some adjustments. I thought we made a good adjustment defensively but it was already 28-6,” Howes said. “Give our kids credit, they played hard. But that’s a very good Cadillac team.”

After each team forced a punt, the Eskymos got another much-needed score just before halftime on an 11-yard dart over the middle from quarterback Ethan Silverstone to Tyler Lawson with just four ticks left in the half. After Lawson was stopped short on the two-point try, Cadillac went into the break leading 28-12.

Esky got the ball to begin the second half, but Dayton Miron fumbled on the first play to give the Vikings the ball at Esky’s 35-yard line.

“We still tried running the ball,” Howes said when asked about the game plan after falling behind. “Getting that score before halftime got it back to a two-score game, so I felt pretty good going into the third quarter, and then all of a sudden we fumble the first play in the second half. Things just didn’t work out for us. We had some penalties, we had some turnovers. But give Cadillac credit — that’s a really good team.”

After each defense forced a turnover-on-downs, Cadillac fumbled at Esky’s 10, but the Vikings got the ball right back on the 35 on an interception by Dan Gray with 1:30 left in the third quarter. The Vikings took advantage of the short field, extending their lead to 35-12 on a nine-yard TD run by Collin Johnston on the first play of the fourth quarter for the lone score by either team in the second half.

“Their coaching staff did a really good job making adjustments, getting into that front that they had, and we had to figure some stuff out,” Mallory said. “Our offense carried us in the first half, but our defense really came to work in the second half and allowed our offense to kind of figure it out and make some adjustments for what they were doing. They did a good job changing up stuff to address what we were doing to them.”

The Vikings, who rushed for 369 yards, outgained Esky 511-233 in total yards. Each team committed four penalties, with the Vikings being penalized for 45 yards and the Eskymos for 30. Esky committed five turnovers and the Vikings turned it over twice.

Baker led a balanced Vikings’ attack, rushing nine times for 146 yards. He also caught two passes for 51 yards and a score and threw a 69-yard TD pass. Johnston carried seven times for 87 yards and a score; Harsh ran five times for 44 and a TD; and Noah Cochrane had 39 yards on 10 carries. Gurden finished 3-for-5 through the air for 73 yards and one TD, while carrying 12 times for 53. Wilde had a 69-yard TD reception and Alec Barczewski had one catch for 22 yards and an interception.

Silverstone completed 16-of-22 passes, but was limited to just 103 yards and one TD. He also carried eight times for 21 yards. Bruntjens carried 16 times for 63 yards and a score, while Lawson caught four passes for 38 and a TD and also carried three times for 37. Bryant Maki caught four balls for 29 yards, Brandon Frazer caught three for 11, and Miron caught one for 11. Miron also carried three times for nine yards.

Howes remained positive when reflecting on the season. The Eskymos had to replace a stout group of seniors from last season, which was led by the Offensive Player of the Year in the U.P. — quarterback Craig Kamin.

“The credit goes to the kids,” Howes said. “They worked really hard in the summer. We had to find a few players to step up, and we found some players. They made the season … they worked really hard. 7-2 is not too shabby.

“It’s all about the (16) seniors. I feel terrible for them right now, but it’s one of those things where things are coming to an end. I’m very proud of their four years and putting their time into Escanaba football, and I can’t say enough about them.”