H.S. football preview: Escanaba

To prepare for another tough year of football in the Great Northern Conference, Jim Hansen, the head coach of the Escanaba football team, has scheduled his team to play one of the premier programs in the state.

The Eskymos will take on Detroit Country Day at home in late September. The Yellowjackets have made the playoffs in division four or five every year since 2006.

Coach Hansen is back for his second year in charge of the Eskymos football program. Hansen has an experienced group of players to work with this season, to go along with the same group of coaches and the same playbook from a year ago.

Hansen knows how tough of a season his team has in front of them, but he knows his players are ready and fit for the challenge.

“We’re excited for the season. We have a tough schedule, the kids are looking forward to it. We have high expectations for this season. We’re here to win championships,” said Hanson.

“The team has progressed very well. They’re smart, they have football intelligence, they’ve been picking up the schemes and techniques pretty well. We run a pretty fast paced practice, so they’ve done a good job of catching up and I’ve been happy with how we’ve been progressing since the start of the season,” Hanson added.

“I think we are looking pretty good at the start here,” said Eskymos senior Bailey Lamb. “We are a really tough team. Everyone knows the plays now. We’re all together and in-sync now, so it (the season) should be good,” said Lamb.

“For most of us seniors, we know what we are going for. The young guys are catching up really quick. They know what’s going on. Everything is real quick, snap, and crisp- we’re doing good,” said Eskymos senior defensive back Trevan Wendrick.

Escanaba opens up the season at home against Alpena on Thursday, Aug. 29.