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A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Esko's Graham Hartlieb runs through Hibbing's Carson Tardy for a touchdown during Friday's homecoming football game in Esko. The home team tallied 35-0 win after two straight losses.
A gang of five Esko defenders, led by Trevor Matteen, make the tackle on Hibbing fullback Elijah Palmer Friday.
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton soccer player Santiago "Santi" Anich hit five extra points Friday.
After suffering back-to-back losses on the road to Pequot Lakes and Two Harbors, the Esko football team bounced back last Friday night with a 35-0 homecoming win over Hibbing.
Esko wasted little time as Graham Hartlieb streaked to the end zone from 28 yards out in the first quarter. That touchdown was followed up by the extra point kick by Santiago Anich, making it 7-0 for Esko.
"Graham has probably gotten more carries this season than any other back we've had since I became coach," said Esko coach Scott Arntson. "He runs hard and we run out of a lot of single back sets compared to the past when we had a lot of other backs that all shared the load. Part of the reason for that is the fact that in all reality we are a junior-varsity-age team and we just don't have a lot of players with a lot of varsity playing time."
The second quarter saw Esko add two more scores. The first was a nine-yard run by Brody Lillo. Then Ben Schmitz scored for Esko on a blocked kick, making it 21-0.
"The kick was blocked by Dominic Androsky and Ben was able to use his speed to get the touchdown," Arntson said.
Hartlieb scored his second touchdown of the game in the third quarter on a 17-yard touchdown romp, pushing the lead to 28-0.
Esko's final score of the game came on an Easton Harker to Schmitz 21-yard touchdown pass and catch, making the final 35-0. Harker, who is a junior, was pushed into duty as the quarterback after Jacion Owens was injured against Pequot Lakes Sept. 20.
"If you look at the team you kind of get an idea of what most of the team will look like over the next few years," Arnston said. "We are mainly focused on getting the young kids better and better each game so next year and the following years, as they mature, we'll be right back where we were before."
Hartlieb led Esko in rushing with 12 carries, good for 90 yards.
Hartlieb also had six tackles to lead Esko on the defensive side of the ball while Logan Dahlman and Heath Sunnarborg both recording four tackles.
"We have a lot of kids in the sophomore and freshman classes who are all in the weight room and working hard to get better," Arntson said. "In a normal season this varsity team would be junior-varsity age, so they are getting a lot of experience. We just want to focus on improving this year and being as good as we can be."
The win improved the Esko record to 3-3 on the season.
