Esko defeats tough Rails team

Dylan Vinje and Eli Blue hooked up twice for touchdown passes on Friday as the Esko Eskomos opened their season with an impressive 13-7 road win over the perennially tough Proctor Rails.

“They are always a tough team to play,” said Esko coach Scott Arntson. “You know they are going to come to play and play the game hard.”

The Eskomos opened the scoring in the second quarter when Vinje, who was a wide receiver last season, found the streaking Blue for a 23-yard touchdown pass to make it 6-0. Senior kicker Kristy DeMuth booted the extra-point kick making it 7-0 in favor of the Eskomos.

Proctor answered with a long touchdown run by senior quarterback Conner St. Germaine just prior to halftime. After the extra point, the teams entered the break deadlocked at 7-7.

“I thought our line held up pretty well and did the small things up front you need to do to be successful,” Arntson said. “Proctor is just a tough and stout football team.”

The teams played the third quarter to a draw.

Esko finished off the scoring when Vinje found Blue on a fade pattern in the fourth quarter, giving the Eskomos a huge opening day victory.

“That's a good start to the season against a section rival and in the long run is helpful toward seeding,” Arntson said. “I wasn't happy with the three turnovers we had in the game and we are always in search of the perfect game, but the kids played with effort and you have to be happy with that. We just need to clean up some mistakes and focus on getting better.”

Against a team like Proctor — a team that is big and likes to punish the other team with a hard-nosed running game — it is vital to stay away from mistakes, or at the very least, hope that those mistakes don't come back to haunt you.

“Because they are a tough team, and a team that makes it tough moving the football normally, you have to stay away from those mistakes,” Arntson said. “I was happy with our passing game where we went 9-of-12 for 118 yards and we also rushed for 187 yards.”

Defensively, the Eskomos got a solid game from junior middle linebacker Brock House, according to Arntson.

The Eskomos play at Virginia at 7 p.m. today, and at home next Friday, Sept. 13, against Two Harbors.