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A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Trevor Spindler hauls in the touchdown pass to make it 28-14 Eskomos in the third quarter Saturday in Esko.
Kerry Rodd
At the end of the first quarter Saturday, things looked bleak for the Esko football team in their Section 7AAA semifinal game. The Eskomos trailed Proctor 14-0 and appeared to be on the verge of defeat to the Rails. It looked like they needed a mini-miracle to stage a come back. They got that miracle on a unique play in the second quarter that started a comeback and sparked Esko to an eventual 28-21 victory.
Trailing 14-0 in the second quarter, Esko's Brock House hit Rails quarterback Evan Checkalski as he was throwing near midfield. Trevor Spindler stepped in and grabbed the ball, taking it 49 yards for a touchdown. After an Avery Liljegren extra point kick, the Eskomos were within a touchdown.
"Coach (George) Perich dialed up the right call at the right time on that one," said Esko coach Scott Arntson. "The kids made the play for us."
Proctor followed with a drive that looked as if they would go back up by two scores, but again they ran into trouble - allowing the Eskomos a chance to tie the game. Playing in windy conditions, the Rails had elected to drive the ball on the ground but after eight straight runs they made the decision to put the ball in the air while going into the wind. Esko's Preston Lowe stepped in and intercepted the ball, giving Esko a chance to even things at halftime.
This was not the only interception for Lowe this season.
"Lowe has been an intercepting machine for us this year with eight of them," Arntson said. "He has a knack for making the plays when we need them."
Just a couple of plays after the interception by Lowe, the Eskomos scored on a Dylan Vinje 22-yard touchdown gallop that was set up by a 51-yard pass from Vinje to Eli Blue. Liljegren - a soccer player as well - booted the extra point and the game was even at 14-14.
Those two quick scores seemed to propel the Eskomos into a higher gear and coming out at halftime they added two more scores quickly in the third quarter after a fumble just a few plays into the second half. House smashed in from 2 yards out with Liljegren adding a PAT and making it 21-14. On the ensuing drive the Rails were forced to punt into a strong headwind and the kick traveled less than 10 yards. Esko quickly took advantage of the situation when Vinje hit Spindler in the back of the end zone on a 20-yard pass for a 28-14 lead after the extra-point kick.
"Dylan (Vinje) only completed three passes all game long, but two of them were big plays for us," Arntson said. "It's always a tough game with Proctor; they are well coached and they come into games with a good plan to stop what the offense does best."
The Rails managed a 72-yard drive with just a little over four and-a-half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when Connor St. Germain - who stepped in when starter Checkalski was injured earlier in the game - threw 23 yards to Cole Johnson for a score that cut the lead to 28-21.
The victory moved the Eskomos into the Section 7AAA championship game against Aitkin on Thursday night at UMD after this issue of the Pine Knot News went to press. Find more photos from Saturday with this story at pineknotnews.com.
