CHERRY — The last two times the Ely Timberwolves and Cherry Tigers met on the gridiron, they were both playing nine-man football, and the Tigers won those contests by a combined score of 126-0. The Tigers have been a menace to all comers in recent years save for Mt. Iron-Buhl, which has routinely knocked them out of the playoffs and spoiled their dreams of state.
Moving up to 11-man ball gave the Wolves a respite of sorts from the Tigers, but Cherry moved up this year and Ely saw them listed as the fourth in a murderer’s row of stout opponents to start the season.
Given that the Wolves forfeited the previous week’s game against Mt. Iron-Buhl due to a roster depleted by injuries, the outcome of their road loss to Cherry last week, 42-6, might be seen by some score watchers as just another drubbing by a superior team.
But the Ely fans who made the trek saw something more from their Wolves in this one. They saw a team that didn’t care about records, past or present.
They saw defensive linemen pushing past a tough line into the Cherry backfield to harass quarterback Isaiah Asuma.
They saw linebackers and defensive backs gang tackling Cherry runners on key downs.
However, what they didn’t see was the consistency necessary to stop the powerful Cherry offence, particularly on big plays. The defense would get big stops, and then suddenly Asuma would shake loose and throw long balls for touchdowns or long gains, or a Cherry runner would find a seam and bolt for a touchdown.
But the defense never let up. If they were going to go down, it would be fighting as hard as they could against insurmountable odds.
In the end, what the Wolves had was the heart to compete – they just lacked the ability and personnel to consistently stop the Tigers, who led 28-0 at the half and 34-0 after three quarters.
The Wolves brought that same fire to the offense, and while they didn’t produce any points until Jesse Oelke took a pass from quarterback D.J. Johnson and went 45 yards for a touchdown, at times they had success moving the ball.
After Cherry scored to go up 14-0 in the first quarter, Sean Merriman returned the ensuing kick to the Ely 46.
With the line firing, and Merriman and Oelke literally running over would-be tacklers, the Wolves engineered an impressive 13-play drive that came up just short of paydirt on fourth-and-goal at the Cherry five-yard line. The Wolves wouldn’t get that close to the goal line again until Oelke’s fourth-quarter touchdown.
The Wolves were scheduled to be back at home on Friday for the first time in a month, with another tough draw in 3-1 Deer River.
Both teams have losses to Barnum this season, although the Warriors played the Bombers close, losing 18-16.