AURORA – The Timberwolves improved to 2-1 here last Friday, but not without a fight from the so-far winless Nighthawks, who kept pace with Ely until the final minutes. School officials moved the game, which had been scheduled to be played in Ely, to Aurora due to a snow-covered field.
In the end, it was Ely’s defense that made the difference. The two teams were knotted at 14 with just over five minutes remaining, when Ely cornerback Mason Davis intercepted an Oskar Koivisto pass and returned it 70 yards for what ended up being the game-winning score.
The game began with a plethora of miscues as both teams were penalized five times apiece in the first quarter. The Wolves committed four of them in a row on their first possession. “In our first series, they stuffed us and they went to more of a spread offense, but we piled up consecutive penalties and before we knew it we were at a first and 25,” said Ely Head Coach Cory Lassi.
The Nighthawks put points on the board about eight minutes into the second quarter. Facing a fourth down and nine on the Ely 13-yard line, Koivisto tossed a short lateral to Bralyn Lislegard who scampered 10 yards for a first down at the four-yard line. “Lislegard is a great athlete,” Lassi said. “He has the patience to look for a hole to run through.”
Two plays later, Ryan Milton crossed the goal line from one yard out for the score. The two- point conversion failed.
Ely turned to their successful “Heavy Jumbo” set to get on the scoreboard. Senior Lane Anderson, a 250-pound tackle, has been used sparingly as a ground-pounder, but took the ball seven times in their next series, including an eight-yard rumble into the end zone, for Ely’s first score of the day. He also bulled into the end zone for the two-point conversion to give Ely an 8-6 lead at halftime.
Anderson scored twice in the game and gained 87 yards on 17 carries. He also ran for a one-yard score with four minutes left in the third quarter to give Ely a 14-6 advantage.
“The Nighthawks didn’t adjust to stop him so we kept feeding Lane the ball,” Lassi said. “It was nice to put the ball in his hands. He literally carried the team. Seventeen carries won’t happen every week, but he kept at it and he wore them down.”
Following a short kick-off to start the third quarter, Lislegard ran 60 yards on the Nighthawks’ first play from scrimmage for a touchdown. Koivisto’s two-point conversion pass tied the score at 14-14.
The Timberwolves’ defense pressured the Nighthawks for the rest of the game. The teams traded possessions until Davis’s 70-yard pick and runback gave Ely the lead. Their defense held the Nighthawks from gaining a first down on a desperation fourth and 11 pass. Ely then ran the clock out for the victory.
Ely’s Jason Kerntz added 28 yards to the Timberwolf offense on 12 carries. Davis rushed three times for 11 yards, and completed three of six passes or 22 yards. Eddie Prijatel rushed three times for four yards and Harry Simmons had one carry for five yards.
Lislegard had a big day for the Nighthawks, racking up 152 yards rushing and a touchdown on 18 carries.
The Wolves were set to take on Cherry on Friday, Nov. 6, but the Tigers were forced to cancel due to COVID-19. Instead, Ely will host McGregor at 6 p.m. on Friday in their Homecoming game.