ELY – A challenging Ely football season didn’t get any brighter last Friday, when the Timberwolves filled an open date on their schedule with an invitation to Hill City/Northland. The Storm blew into town with a vengeance, sweeping the Wolves away 32-0 in cold, drizzly conditions at Memorial Stadium.
Hill City, now 6-1, took the lead halfway through the first quarter on a short run into the end zone. They missed the two-point conversion, to leave the score 6-0.
Just 20 seconds later, the Storm picked off Ely quarterback Mason Davis and took it in to go up 12-0. “It was a broken play from the start,” said Ely Coach Louis Gerzin. “We tried a screen play, but there was some miscommunication between the quarterback and the running backs.”
As has been the case much of the season, the Wolves’ offense never seemed to gel, and that left Hill City in charge throughout. They added six more points on a long drive early in the second quarter and struck again on a long pass just ahead of the break to take a 24-0 lead into the locker room.
The Storm scored on their first possession in the third quarter and added a two-point conversion to take a 32-0 lead.
“I thought we played with them for most of the game except for six plays,” Gerzin said. “We had some blown coverages and some broken plays, but a handful of plays swung the game in their favor.”
Jason Kerntz was Ely’s top producer offensively, racking up 84 yards rushing, while Drake Hanninen and Eddie Prijatel added 20 yards apiece. Davis totaled 39 yards passing, including two strikes for a total of 23 yards to Erron Anderson.
Prijatel led the defense with 13 tackles, while Deegan Richards added eight tackles. Anderson and Chase Sandberg each had six tackles, and Hanninen added five.
Senior halfback Harry Simons missed the game with a high ankle sprain injury and was set to remain on the sideline on Wednesday night (after the Timberjay’s weekly presstime) when Ely traveled to Kelliher/Northome/Littlefork-Big Falls for their final regular season game. The Timberwolves will be on the road for a Section 7 playoff game on Tuesday, Oct. 26. Their opponent is to be announced this weekend.