Esko Football Hitting Reset Button Heading into 2024 Campaign

Esko opens the year on August 29th at home against Duluth East.

ESKO, Minn.- The Esko football team has established themselves as a Section 7AAA powerhouse in recent years.

Three straight section titles and three straight state tournament appearances.

If they want to make it four, they’ll have to do so with plenty of new talent.

Esko graduated 18 seniors, including the number one prospect in the state of Minnesota, Koi Perich. This year they only have five four-year players.

Head Coach Scott Arntson says with a young team and some turnover on the coaching staff, it’s time to start over in terms of building a championship team.

“For us it’s all kind of about a new generation, kind of re-establishing what we like to do, our expectations and also what we expect in practice and how we run drills and things like that. For us that’s it, it’s kind of going back to square one and kind of hitting the reset button again,” said Arntson.

Jacion Owens returns to lead Esko at the quarterback position. He says there’s been a lot of talk on what they lose from last season but there’s plenty to look forward to this year with some new faces stepping in.

“Graham Hartlieb is the first name I’m going to say. I think Graham Hartlieb is going to be a real big player for us this year. A lot of that junior class is going to start and have big roles in our offense and defense. Brody Lillo, Trevor Matteen, Luke Tester, kids like that. Then the other seniors that will have out at wideout, Jack Bergstedt and Jack Graddy will be big parts of our offense. Like I said, it’s exciting this year,” added Owens.

Esko opens the year on August 29th at home against Duluth East.