The Barnum Bombers brought experience, size and were coming off an unbeaten regular season in 2024.
On the other side of the field, the Ely Timberwolves came in with a small roster heavy on freshmen and picked up just one victory last fall.
The difference was noticeable right from the opening kickoff during the Aug. 29 high school football seasonopener at Ely School Stadium.
The visiting Bombers scored within the first two minutes, piled up 34 firsthalf points and cruised to a 48-0 win on an otherwise beautiful late-summer evening for football.
The rebuilding Timberwolves picked up just a couple of first downs and had only 53 yards of net offense for the night.
Ely’s defense, meanwhile, was little match for the potent Bombers, who chewed up 293 yards on the ground and another 63 through the air.
“I thin k our youth showed,” said Ely Head Coach Louie Gerzin. “I think we had good effort but were just outmatched by age and athleticism.”
Barnum started its first possession inside Ely’s territory and marched about 45 yards in two-and-a-half minutes, with back Julian Beckstrand plowing in for his first touchdown of the night.
The extra point gave Barnum a 7-0 edge.
Ely picked up a first down on its opening drive with a 14-yard scamper by junior back Sean Merriman, but it proved to be the Wolves’ longest play from scrimmage for the night.
Ensuing possessions were stuffed by the Barnum defense and Ely was hampered at times by penalties.
The Bombers were never stopped in the opening half and an air attack led by quarterback Logan Charboneau, who had completions of 26, 17 and 10 yards in the first half, complemented the run game.
Beckstrand and back Jaxon Nordhook fueled a powerful one-two punch and both found the end zone, and the Wolves couldn’t respond.
Trailing 28-0, Ely went for it on fourth-and-long in their own territory late in the second quarter.
The gamble backfired and Barnum quickly added one more score before the half to extend the gap to 34.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Barnum reserves picked up a couple of scores in the final frame to extend the margin and make it 48-0.
Gerzin found some bright spots with the Ely defense, saying, “I thought we played defense pretty well at times and our linebackers stopped them on the outside and forced them in. I like that play from our linebackers.”
Senior Jesse Oelke and junior Leo McKrahl both had seven tackles for the Wolves, with McKrahl recovering a fumble as well.
Freshman Kooper Dostert also had seven tackles, with Merriman finishing with six including a pass deflection that stopped a sure Barnum touchdown.
Senior Jayden Zemke blocked a kick and had four tackles, and sophomore Arturo Cameron wound up with four tackles as well.
On offense, quarterback Max Brandriet ran for 22 yards while Merriman wound up with 18 and Oelke 17.
Ely faced another tall order Friday with a visit to International Falls, and the early-season gauntlet continues with road games at Mt. Iron-Buhl (Sept. 12) and Cherry (Sept. 19).
“We’re just looking for improvement,” said Gerzin. “For sure we have to cut down on penalties and we’re looking to have no turnovers, and to just perform our reps on offense better.”
