ESCANABA---The Escanaba High School junior varsity football team fell behind 20-0 Thursday night and put on a big rally before losing to Iron Mountain, 20-18.
Freshman quarterback Nick Bink threw a long touchdown pass and ran in another score for the Eskymos, but a fourth quarter interception was costly....as was a missed extra point in the second quarter. The Eskymos fell to 5-3 on the JV season.
Trailing by three scores, the Eskymos woke up in the second quarter as Bink threw a bomb to Danny VanEffen, who landed just shy of the goal line. On the next play, Hunter Viau punched it in for a one-yard run, and the Eskymos were on the board.
But the usually-automatic Riley Stenfors bounced the extra point kick off of the right goalpost, so it stayed 20-6. And that would be a big play as the game went on.
On Iron Mountain's next possession, Jack Valentine came up with the big strip and Mohammed Hoque crawled on all-fours to get the fumble. Bink hooked up with Brandon Punzel for the long touchdown pass to cut the Iron Mountain lead to 20-12.
Because of the earlier missed PAT, the Eskymos had to go for the two-point conversion, and they missed. So, Escanaba trailed at halftime, 20-12.
Escanaba continued to gain momentum in the second half as Bink scrambled for a touchdown to bring his team to within two points. But the conversion pass was out of the reach of a diving Van Effen, so Iron Mountain stayed ahead, 20-18.
In the fourth quarter, the Eskymos drove deep into Mountaineer territory, and were ready to take the lead when Bink's pass was intercepted in the end zone.
Escanaba got the ball back one more time with six minutes left in the game, but the offense went three-and-out and punted.
The Mountaineers converted two third down conversions in the final three minutes of play, and they ran out the clock.
Escanaba (5-3) hosts Kingsford to close out the junior varsity football season next Thursday night. Kickoff is set for 6:30 (ET) at the Escanaba Athletic Field.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos from the game.
Freshman quarterback Nick Bink threw a long touchdown pass and ran in another score for the Eskymos, but a fourth quarter interception was costly....as was a missed extra point in the second quarter. The Eskymos fell to 5-3 on the JV season.
But the usually-automatic Riley Stenfors bounced the extra point kick off of the right goalpost, so it stayed 20-6. And that would be a big play as the game went on.
On Iron Mountain's next possession, Jack Valentine came up with the big strip and Mohammed Hoque crawled on all-fours to get the fumble. Bink hooked up with Brandon Punzel for the long touchdown pass to cut the Iron Mountain lead to 20-12.
Nick Bink to Danny Van Effen long pass.
Escanaba continued to gain momentum in the second half as Bink scrambled for a touchdown to bring his team to within two points. But the conversion pass was out of the reach of a diving Van Effen, so Iron Mountain stayed ahead, 20-18.
Escanaba got the ball back one more time with six minutes left in the game, but the offense went three-and-out and punted.
The Mountaineers converted two third down conversions in the final three minutes of play, and they ran out the clock.
Escanaba (5-3) hosts Kingsford to close out the junior varsity football season next Thursday night. Kickoff is set for 6:30 (ET) at the Escanaba Athletic Field.
Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos from the game.
