Eskymos Shake Off Slow Start; Beat Wildcats 21-7

ESCANABA---The Escanaba Eskymos opened the 2015 football season the right way Thursday night, turning back the Alpena Wildcats, 21-7, at the Escanaba Athletic Field.

The Eskymos turned in a sluggish performance on offense at times, but the defense was strong, and Escanaba eventually pulled away in the second half.

Quarterback Logan Lamb scored all three Escanaba touchdowns on short runs, and placekicker Paul Carne made up for a missed field goal with three extra point kicks.

The game got off to a rough start when Alpena's Alex Arch returned the opening kickoff 68 yards deep into Eskymo territory.

The Escanaba defense stiffened, however.

The game stayed scoreless until the second quarter, when Lamb hooked up with Dalton Deneau for a pass to the one yard-line. Lamb scored on the next play.

It was 7-0 at the half, but the Eskymos doubled their lead in the third quarter.

Chris LeMire catches deflected pass near goal line.

On a third down play, a Lamb pass was deflected into the hands of receiver Chris LeMire at the one yard-line. Lamb scored on the next play to give the Eskymos a two-touchdown lead.

Alpena, which had done very little on offense for more than two quarters, put together a nice drive in the second half.

The Wildcats completed several screen passes and dump-off throws, and then Arch scored on a sweep to the right side to cut the lead to 14-7.

The Eskymos had an answer, however, and it was the same formula that resulted in the first two touchdowns: one pass near the goal line, and then a short touchdown run.

This time, the pass went to Brandon Punzel, who went up and got in inside the five yard line, and held on as he fell to the ground.

Lamb scored his third touchdown on a short run.

Esky's Justin Popelka intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Besides his three PAT kicks, Carne had a fumble recovery on defense.

The win marked a successful debut for new Eskymo varsity Head Coach Dave Howes, who took over this summer for former coach Jim Hansen. Hansen was fired from the job in June after three years in charge.

As is tradition, the Eskymos and Wildcats honored local veterans during the pre-game ceremonies. Both teams shook hands with several dozen veterans on the field.

Sweet catch by Eskymo Brandon Punzel.

It was a clean sweep for the Eskymo football teams over Alpena on Thursday. The freshmen Eskymos won, 28-14, and the junior varsity Eskymos also won, 35-0.

Escanaba will face two tough downstate teams in each of the next two weeks, and both games will be below the Bridge. The Eskymos will travel to Petoskey next Friday, and then will journey to Gaylord the following week. Both were playoff teams in 2014.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos taken during Thursday night's varsity football game.