Duluth East shocks young Esko

Duluth East gained an early advantage in Thursday's game against Esko and held on for a 24-14 season opener for both teams in Esko.

It was the first regular season loss for Esko since 2020, and a dramatic reversal from past matchups with East. Esko dominated the Greyhounds the past three seasons, scoring an average of 57 points each game in outscoring them 172-6.

It was a whirlwind night for the Esko program, but its coach is hopeful for a return to the norm.

"For the most part, as inexperienced as we are, I was pretty pleased," said Esko coach Scott Arntson. "With as young as we are, we are not quite ready, so we are just focusing on improving and going through the process to get better."

The Greyhounds struck first in the opening quarter when quarterback Zach Vallie slashed his way to the end zone on an 18-yard touchdown run. East tacked on another score before halftime when Michael Lewis sprinted 61 yards in the second quarter to give the Greyhounds a 16-0 halftime lead.

"At halftime we challenged [our players] to have a better second half," Arntson said. "We came out and scored a couple touchdowns in the second half, and I was happy with the grit that the guys showed."

Esko was struggling to hang onto the ball as they fumbled the ball away four times in the first half.

"It's tough to overcome four turnovers in a game, let alone in the first half," Arnston said.

Trailing 16-0, Graham Hartlieb ran for an impressive 23-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to cut the lead to 16-6.

"Graham is a good back who just got lost in the shuffle with all the great backs we've had over the last few years," Arntson said. "He's a different type of back who hits the gap so quick. That is going to be key for us, because we don't have the overpowering line we've had in the past, so we'll need to rely on timing."

East answered when Connor Gustafson scored on a 1-yard run to go up 24-6. Esko kept at it, scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 24-14 after a two-point conversion.

"Both our scores were on plays we just installed a day or two before the game," Arnston said.

The coach said his staff is not pushing the panic button, and is looking forward to developing a large crew of youngsters.

"We want to focus on the end of the season and be patient," Arntson said. "We have about half our offense and defense in. Before we add more to both sides of the ball, we want to do the things well that we've already put in."

Hartlieb led the Esko offense with 23 carries and 207 yards rushing; he also added 11 tackles on defense.

"I was impressed with our sophomores," Arntson said. "There were some who I didn't think would contribute much early, but they really came through for us. I thought Kaden High at defensive tackle held his own playing against much-larger guys. Connor Dallmann stepped in at defensive end and held his own while making a bunch of tackles and flying all over the place."

Next up for Esko is a road trip to Proctor Friday night.