Local News

Escanaba edges Wildcats, 28-25

ALPENA – Two teams, both winless in the Big North Conference, faced each other Friday night.

The Alpena Wildcats (1-7, 0-6 Big North Conference) took on the Escanaba Eskimos (2-6, 1-5 BNC) and were defeated by a final score of 28-25.

Last-minute turnovers lost all momentum for Alpena, leaving Escanaba plenty of time to run the clock out.

"I hate saying football games come down to one play, but turning it over at the one-yard line hurts," Alpena coach Eric Mitchell said. "Our offense played very well all game, and we drove them down the field several times, but we have to capitalize and score on those drives."

Although the difference in the game was just a separation of three points, the Eskimos jumped out to an early lead, initially leaving Alpena with no stop to its offense.

After a Wildcat punt, Escanaba completed a 20-yard pass down the sideline and capped the drive off with a 16-yard rushing touchdown from Noah Gagne. The point-after was up and good, resulting in an early 7-0 Eskimo lead.

Alpena's next drive ended in a turnover, and the Eskimos were not slowing down.

Escanaba continued to rush down the field, and the Wildcats struggled to tackle Gagne, who again worked his way down to the red zone, finishing the drive by scoring another touchdown. The Eskimos also achieved the two-point conversion, then up 15-0.

The third drive is where the Wildcats found some offensive success.

Escanaba committed two costly penalties, granting Alpena additional yardage and a massive advantage.

Those penalties led to a rushing touchdown in favor of the Wildcats, scored by Kaleb Donajkowski, cutting Escanaba's lead to 15-7.

With 9:30 remaining in the first half, Alpena retrieved possession of the ball and was determined to tie up the game.

A 45-yard pass was completed from Jake Zann to John Kurowski, followed by another rushing touchdown for Donajkowski. That touchdown was a three-yard rush, and the two-point try run in by Donajkowski was also good, tying the game at 15-15.

The first-half scoring was still unfinished when Gagne broke off a spectacular 66-yard rush inside the 10-yard line.

With 2:29 remaining, Ben Johnson, Escanaba's quarterback, rushed in the option play, regaining the lead. The Eskimos two-point play was incomplete, leaving Alpena down 15-21.

Right before the half, the Wildcats completed two big plays down the field, setting up the perfect field goal position. Gabe Glawe drilled it, putting the Wildcats into the half down 18-21.

The second half didn't feature nearly as much scoring, but, at the 10-minute mark, Carter Stark brought in an interception, which Alpena would soon take advantage of.

A 25-yard pass was completed to Jonny Rensberry, positioning Alpena perfectly to run a quarterback sneak. Zann snuck the ball into the endzone, and the Wildcats secured its first lead at 25-21.

Just three minutes later, Escanaba found themselves in the endzone, where it was once again Gagne. That was his third touchdown of the night, which would be the game’s final score.

Alpena had two final chances to win the game, but the ball was fumbled on the one-yard line and Zann threw an interception. Those two turnovers cost Alpena the game.

"It's a tough one to swallow," Mitchell said. "We know we could've and should've won that game. We're looking immediately at next week’s matchup to try and get some revenge."

Alpena plays St. Johns next Friday.

Jake Zann completed 13 passes of 26 attempts, accumulating 233 yards. Receiving those passes were Rensberry and Easton Srebnik. Rensberry finished with four catches for 70 yards. Srebnik had four for 53 yards. The Wildcats' top rushers were Donajkowski, who had 23 attempts for 94 yards, while Eli Chism had eight carries for 34.