The scoreboard didn’t tell the entire story last Friday night at Ely School Stadium.
Powerful Mt. Iron-Buhl spoiled the Wolves’ Fall Homecoming celebration, cruising to a 54-8 high school football victory.
Yet while the host Timberwolves fell to 0-3 in what, at first glance, looked like a lopsided affair, the hosts had some shining moments in the opening half.
Ely was within 10 points until the final two minutes of the half and had not only a first-quarter touchdown that brought a big hometown crowd to its feet, but another possession that nearly ended in paydirt.
“I thought Mt. Iron was athletic and strong and well coached, but I thought also that we played to our ability and competed as well as we could have, even at 24-8,” said Ely Head Coach Louie Gerzin.
Late in the first quarter, the Wolves pulled ahead 8-6 on a nice throw from sophomore DJ Johnson to senior Sean Merriman, and an ensuing two-point conversion.
It was the first time the Wolves were ahead of MIB at anytime in the last decade, and served some notice to the unbeaten Rangers that they were here to compete.
The Rangers regained the lead on quarterback Izaiah Alto’s four-yard scoring run, the first of his three touchdown scampers.
The game turned, however, on special teams, as Ely had a punt blocked in the second quarter and Brayden Thiel returned it three yards for a score and an 18-8 lead.
Ely seemed to be on its way to keeping it close into halftime, but MIB’s defense stopped the Wolves and gave Alto and the offense another chance in the final two minutes.
The Rangers took full advantage and Alto hooked up with Jeff Tanksley on a beautiful 38-yard completion and a 24-8 Rangers lead.
The rout was then on as Alto completed a 20-yard pass to Cooper Maras for a touchdown, and added scoring runs of 18 and 10 yards.
The game was in running time in the fourth quarter, and backup quarterback Tebow Zubich ran it in from 12 yards out to close out the scoring.
MIB wreaked havoc defensively, picking off five Ely passes on the night and converting them into field position and points.
Maras had seven catches for 132 yards while Alto did damage both with his arm and his feet.
Ely’s Merriman had 40 yards receiving and 20 yards rushing, with Johnson passing for 70 yards on the night.
Brandreit had 30 yards receiving and hauled in the two-point conversion and senior Owen Marolt ran for 22 yards.
Marolt paced the defense with six tackles, while Merriman, Cyle Merhar, Kasen Dostert and Kooper Dostert all finished with five stops.
Leo McKrahl and Arturo Cameron both recorded three tackles for the Wolves, who were gearing up for their third straight home tilt - a Friday night matchup with winless Cherry.
“I think those three games were the toughest part of our schedule and our guys are really hungry for a win,” said Gerzin. “They are coming to practice very focused and want to pick up a win this week.”
After the Cherry matchup, Ely heads on the road for an Oct. 2 date at Deer River.
• Ely’s final regular season home game will be played in Babbitt, on Wednesday, Oct 14, against East Central. The game begins at 6 p.m. at Babbitt’s Joe Boffa Field and will be the first game there since the Wolves and Nighthawks joined forces in football in 2021.
• In junior varsity action, Ely picked up a 22-0 victory on Tuesday over Mesabi East.
