The Cheboygan football team made some strides in their homecoming game on Friday. The problem was their opponent was really, really good.
CHEBOYGAN – Sometimes, you simply run into a red-hot opponent.
For the Cheboygan Chiefs, that’s what they were up against with Escanaba on Friday night.
While there were some positive moments for the Chiefs, they still struggled to keep up with the high-powered Eskymos, who took control in the second quarter and rolled to a 42-13 at Western Avenue Field on homecoming night in Cheboygan.
Here’s some key takeaways from Friday’s game.
Promising start
Despite surrendering a 58-yard touchdown run to Escanaba senior quarterback Nolan Bink on the opening play from scrimmage, the Cheboygan defense responded by holding the Eskymos on their next offensive drive, which resulted in a missed field goal.
From there, the Chiefs (2-3) methodically marched down the field and finished off an impressive 75-yard drive when junior quarterback Nolan Schley made his way into the end zone for a 9-yard TD. Following a successful extra point, the game was deadlocked at 7-7 near the end of the first quarter.
“That was huge,” Cheboygan coach Bill Nesbitt said. “The way we handled adversity early on – they scored on the first play, they get great field position, and we got a huge stop – and then we go down and score to make it 7-apiece, so I was really impressed with our resiliency and fight.”
Bink, Esky offense too much
While the Cheboygan crowd was roaring after the Chiefs tied the game, Escanaba maintained its composure and responded with a TD drive capped off by a 14-yard pass from Bink to Graham Johnson, which helped push Esky’s advantage to 13-7.
The Chiefs struggled all night to slow down dynamic Bink, who helped push Esky’s advantage to 20-7 when he connected with Brody Ison on a 10-yard TD toss, then finished off the half with a 3-yard TD run for the Eskymos, who led 26-7 at the break.
“Our goal is to spread the ball out as much as we can and make sure teams can’t take anything away,” Esky coach Bailey Lamb said. “The kids are really unselfish on offense, which is so fun because we get to do so many things. I can’t say enough about (Bink). He’s so good in the coach's room, he’s like a coach on the field, and he’s done so much preparation work over the years to get where he’s at, and he’s got so much faith in those other guys out there.”
Bink delivered a 38-yard TD pass to Johnson later in the game, while a 58-yard TD run from Alex Ison was also a part of an electric offensive performance for Esky, which is off to its best start since 2016 when they also opened the season at 5-0.
“It’s nice to get back to what we did a few years ago,” Lamb said. “It’s just a testament to these kids for sticking to the process. I had these guys up a couple years ago, we were only 2-7, but we told them it’s going to pay off in the long run.”
Continuing to fight
It might’ve looked lopsided on the scoreboard late, but Cheboygan’s continued to battle all night long against the Eskymos, who came into the game as a Division 4 honorable mention in the most recent Michigan Sports Writers state football rankings.
The Chiefs had offensive success midway through the fourth quarter, when Nolan Schley hooked up with senior DJ Wichlacz for an 18-yard touchdown.
Even though the Chiefs fell short, Nesbitt was encouraged by his team’s performance against perhaps the toughest opponent Cheboygan will face this fall.
“I was impressed with our offensive line at times,” Nesbitt said. “We were able to churn yards out, eat some clock and move the ball, so I was really happy with that. I thought our kids fought the whole time. There’s always positives and negatives in a game whether you win or lose, the good and the bad, but I thought we competed. Our kids still thought they were going to come back, and I think for our offense that was the biggest jump they’ve had this year. For me, I think that was the best team we’ve played, and I think we started to make some progress with our execution.”
Cheboygan returns to Northern Michigan Football League Legends Division play when it travels to Grayling next week, while Escanaba takes on Marquette in Big North Conference action.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan football drops homecoming clash with unbeaten Escanaba
Category: General Sports
