Esko Ready to Overcome Recent State Losses

Undefeated in last two regular seasons

ESKO, Minn.- Over the last two years, Esko’s football team has had a spotless record in the regular season, but a pair of heartbreaking defeats in the postseason has kept the section 7AAA powerhouse outside of state title contention.

In November of 2020, Esko lost in the state quarterfinals to
Dylworth-Glyndon-Felton 21-17. Head Coach Scott Arntson is entering the year with an experienced group of players, but before they can start thinking about the playoffs, Coach Arntson wants to focus on the fundamentals ahead of their opener.

“A lot of the beginning of the year is trying to figure out where all of the pieces fit and what we are as a team, and then once we get that, we’ve got to try to, just get better at doing what we do.” says Coach Arntson. “We have a lot of experience, so as far as when we’re teaching things, they get it, they get what we’re trying to do, they’ve been in the program for a while, so they get the big picture of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

When it comes to overcoming their 2021 and 2022 playoff losses, Coach Arntson was quick to offer a solution. “I think we’ve got to get better at our details…We’ve got to be more disciplined.”

Meanwhile, seniors like University of Minnesota-commit Koi Perich are excited to get back on the field and put last year’s playoff loss behind them.

“The last few years, we’ve been pretty dominant, so we just have to be able to just get that opportunity to get that out of our head, and it’s a new season.” says Perich. “This is not just this year’s team, we’ve got last year’s team, and the year before team, and just all that has been building towards this year, so hopefully we can bring it home.”

Esko’s road to securing a state championship begins August 31 against the Duluth East Greyhounds.