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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Ely improves to 1-1 in dominating victory

Keith Vandervort
Posted 10/21/20

ELY – Defense was key under cold and rainy conditions last Wednesday, as the host Timberwolves held Cook County scoreless in their home opener, winning 20-0 to even their season’s record …

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Ely improves to 1-1 in dominating victory

Posted

ELY – Defense was key under cold and rainy conditions last Wednesday, as the host Timberwolves held Cook County scoreless in their home opener, winning 20-0 to even their season’s record at 1-1.
Following a frustrating 48-6 loss last week at South Ridge, a motivated Ely team controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, allowing the Vikings just 176 total yards while racking up more than 300 yards of offense of their own. “We clicked on all three levels, offense, defense, and special teams, which we didn’t do last week,” said Coach Cory Lassi. “I was very pleased with how the team was motivated to play well.”
Playing before just 150 fans due to COVID-19 public health guideliness, the Timberwolves’ five seniors, Lane Anderson, Riley Bishop, Gabe Ebert, Brock LaTourell, and Adam Williamson, along with their parents, were honored prior to the game under the glow of the new scoreboard at Memorial Field.
Following that brief ceremony, Ely took the opening kickoff and scored as 250-pound Lane Anderson, who normally serves as a defensive lineman, plowed six yards through defenders for the first score of the night. Anderson finished the night with 33 yards rushing on six carries. He also tallied a two-point conversion.
Coach Cory Lassi said using Anderson in that role was carried over from last year. “We call it our Heavy Jumbo set,” he said. “We use our bigger lineman up front, and put Lane in the back field who is a big strong kid and hard to bring down. The intensity really gets going when we line up with that.”
Ely’s defense was led by linebacker Eddie Prijatel, with 14 tackles. The sophomore standout also added to Ely’s offensive totals with 58 yards rushing on nine carries. Brock LaTourell and Harry Simons each added nine tackles, while Simons added an interception. Jakson Hegman had seven tackles while three other players added five tackles each. Alec Cook and Lane Anderson each sacked the Cook County quarterback.
The Timberwolves had 302 yards of total offense, led by Jason Kerntz who rushed for rushed for 132 yards on 23 carries. He also sprinted 70 yards through the Cook County defense on a screen pass from Mason Davis for a touchdown in the second quarter. That proved to be Davis’ only completion for the night on five attempts in the rainy conditions. Kerntz added another score, his second touchdown of the night, on a 28-yard run, in the final quarter.
“Mason executed that screen play perfectly,” Lassi said. “They blitzed like we thought they would, and he dropped back far enough to avoid the rush, and 70 yards later Jason was in for the score.”
The Timberwolves’ Thursday night contest with Silver Bay was canceled due to COVID-19. Ely is currently scheduled to face Northeast Range at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30.