Eskymos to face downstate team

Filling a nine-game football schedule at the high school level can be difficult. Just ask the Escanaba football team about that.

The Eskymos didn’t have a week five opponent on their schedule this season, until head coach Jim Hansen contacted Detroit Country Day about a possible game between the two schools.

The Yellowjackets agreed to come to Escanaba this year and the Eskymos will return the favor next season. Detroit Country Day is 1-3, but their record is a bit deceiving. The Yellowjackets have lost two of their three games by a combined seven points.

Detroit Country Day is loaded with top end talent. Yellowjackets wide receiver Maurice Ways has verbally committed to play football next year at Michigan. Quarterback Tyler Wiegers has a scholarship to play football next season at Rutgers.

The Eskymos know that they must play a solid sixty minutes of football tomorrow against the Yellowjackets to get the win.

“They use multiple formations and unbalanced lines, so we have to be sharp with our adjustments and our alignments,” said Hansen. “They use multiple defensive fronts based on down and distance, so we have to communicate offensively on who we’re blocking and where we’re going.”

“We feel like we’re coming into our own a little bit and we’re ready for the challenge on Saturday,” Hansen added.

“We’ve been watching a lot of film on them and we’ve incorporated that into our practices. We just have to minimize our mistakes, penalties, and just go out there and have fun,” said Escanaba defensive end Steve Wood.

“Anything can happen in a high school football game. It doesn’t matter how many prospects they have, how good they are, what their win-loss record is, anything can happen. We plan on coming out on top,” said Eskymos strong safety Jake Walker. ”

Kickoff between the Eskymos and the Yellowjackets is set for Saturday at 2 p.m.