Esko Football Facing Fellow Unbeaten Team at State

Kickoff at 1 p.m. in Brainerd

ESKO, Minn.- On Saturday, the Esko football team will be in Brainerd to kick off Minnesota’s AAA State Quarterfinals. It’s the same field where Esko lost in last year’s quarters after leading by seven points at halftime.

Esko enters Saturday 10-0, which includes last week’s 34-14 win over Pequot Lakes in the Section 7AAA Championship. Their opponents will be Annandale, who also went 10-0 enroute to the state tournament.

“They’ve got a (great) QB, fast, throws the rock and can run,” Senior running back and safety Koi Perich said in regard to Annandale. “They’ve got a big lineman, but we’ve got a lot of speed, so we’re going to use that to our advantage.”

“We’ve looked forward to it for a long time, and we don’t want to stop playing, so we want these last three games, we want all three of them.” Added junior quarterback and cornerback Jacion Owens.

Meanwhile, Perich has been getting some national attention. The highly-sought-after prospect is currently committed to the Minnesota Gophers, but he’s since received offers to play for USC, Florida State, and Ohio State. So how does he stay away from the noise while preparing for state? “It’s pretty easy, I mean, you just zone it out. Obviously, there’s only one important thing on my mind right now, and that’s Esko football.”

Owens, a first-year starting quarterback, is fortunate to have Perich in the backfield with him. “Koi’s good at football…I don’t like to tell him that, but he’s good at football.” Owen smiled. “Whenever the ball is in his hands, we trust him with it.”

Esko will take on Annandale at 1 p.m. on Saturday. If Esko advances, they’ll face either Minneapolis North or Dassel0-Cokato on Saturday, November 18 at U.S. Bank Stadium.