MINNEAPOLIS – Trailing 21-7 at the half, Ely staged a dramatic comeback in the second half of the State Nine-Man semifinal game against Underwood at the Metrodome on Thursday. But the Rockets’ firepower proved to be too much for the Timberwolves, who were defeated 34-20 — Ely’s first and only loss of the football season.

Underwood got within Ely’s red zone on its opening drive, but a delay of game penalty and tenacious Ely defense kept the Rockets out of the end zone. The Wolves, however, hit pay dirt on their opening drive, with two key passes that led to Mark Heiman’s 27-yard run for a touchdown. Quarterback Sean Jordan hooked up with Michael Lah for 21 yards on the first play. Louis Gerzin picked up another seven yards on back-to-back rushes and Jordan bought another series of downs for Wolves with a 14-yard pass to Mark Heiman. That set up Heiman’s scoring rush. The kick for the extra point by Akira Inomata was good and the Wolves took a 7-0 lead.

Underwood answered with a touchdown of its own in the second quarter. Quarterback Adam Creek put the Rockets in prime position with a 33-yard run that put the team on Ely’s 21-yard line. Noah Thompson picked up the remaining yards, culminating in a six-yard run for the TD.

The game remained tied with under two minutes left in the half. But that changed after Creek gained good field position on a 50-yard kick return that brought the ball to Ely’s 4-yard line. Creek’s return set up Matt Biegler’s burst into the end zone to score the go-ahead touchdown.

Underwood padded its lead after Ely fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Rockets’ Dylan Kalenze recovered the ball at Ely’s 17-yard line. Three plays later, Noah Thompson ran 13 yards for the TD, sending the Rockets to the locker room with a 21-7 lead.

Ely came back strong in the second half, cutting the lead to a single touchdown after Louis Gerzin sprinted down the sidelines 75 yards for a touchdown.

The Wolves had an opportunity to tie the game after Justin Poderzay recovered a fumble by the Rockets at Underwood’s 41-yard line. The Wolves moved the ball to the 23-yard line on a series of rushes, but a pass by Gerzin to Heiman was just out of the receiver’s reach and the drive ended shy of the goal line.

The Rockets increased their lead to 27-14 after a 25-yard TD run by Thompson, but the Wolves again slashed the lead when quarterback Jordan threw a 15-yard strike to Lah in the end zone. The kick for the extra point, however, was blocked, leaving the score at 27-20.

An interception by Mark Heiman gave Ely another chance to tie the score with just under five minutes left, but the ensuing drive stalled.

Underwood added a rushing TD by Kalenze and Ely’s final drive ended as time ran out, resulting in the final score of 34-20.

Ely’s Gerzin finished the game with 158 yards on 25 carries while Jordan had 99 yards passing. Lah caught two passes, including one for a touchdown, and tallied 54 yards on receptions while Mark Heiman, who rushed for 51 yards on seven carries, caught five passes for a total of 26 yards.

Thompson led the Rockets’ running game, amassing 183 net yards and three TDs on 31 carries. Quarterback Creek tallied 117 yards on 15 carries while Biegler picked up 40 yards on 13 carries.

The game was Ely’s first appearance in the state semifinals in more than two decades. Ely ends its 2013 football season with a 12-1 record.