D stands for dominant
Their shutout was almost an afterthought.That's how dominant Ely's defense was in a 40-0 rout at Onamia Sept. 21.The defensive unit set two program records - holding the winless Panthers to minus-12 yards of total offense and minus-55 net rushing yards.Seniors A.J. Pope and Pat Lekatz both returned interceptions for scores and Ely (2-2) came up with six picks in all - two by Andrew Olson.The Panthers never threatened to score and had only three first downs in the game.More often than not, Ely tacklers were wreaking havoc in the backfield. Running back Hakim Benton was thrown for a loss on 13 of 15 rushing attempts.Contributions came from up and down the defensive lineup."It was balanced all the way across the board and that showed we just played great team defense," said Ely Head Coach Darren Visser.Benton had an 11-yard carry on Onamia's first play from scrimmage but the Ely defense tightened almost immediately.Nathan Leustek and Matt Hall had bone-jarring hits early on while Jacob Wognum threw Benton for a loss as Onamia stalled early on.The Ely offense took some time to warm up, turning the ball over on downs in Panther territory and losing yards by way of penalty.But the Wolves broke through later in the opening quarter. After pitching left to Olson on two occasions, Ely got the ball to Ryan Willis on a counter pitch. The junior raced into the end zone from nine yards out and Mike Heiman added the extra-point kick for a 7-0 Wolves lead.Back-to-back defensive scores - a minute apart early in the second quarter - put the game away.First, Pope stepped in front of a pass thrown by Onamia quarterback Jake Sullivan, returning it 35 yards for a touchdown.Lekatz followed suit on Onamia's second play from scrimmage following the touchdown, picking off a pass at the 40 and taking it in for a 20-0 Ely lead.Lekatz guided the Wolves to an offensive score before the half came to an end.A 35-yard pass to Olson put Ely deep in Panther territory, and the senior combination hooked up again, this time on a 14-yard play that put Ely up 26-0 by halftime.The Ely special teams got in on the act early in the third quarter, netting a two-point safety after a high snap in an end zone punt attempt.Lekatz added his second touchdown pass on a completion to Jon Henning, while Mike Heiman ran one in from 36 yards out to close out the scoring.The big lead allowed the Wolves to play their reserves for part of the second half."I was hoping for a result like that, but you figure we had a four-hour bus ride and they were hungry and looking for a win," said Visser. "You try not to get over optimistic but we were hoping for that kind of result. It was good for us because we were able to rest some of our guys who have been banged up."Senior Jeremy Boedeker injured his back the week before at Barnum and sat out the Onamia game, joining teammates Ben Povhe and Mike Skelton on the sidelines.Several other Wolves were playing through injuries at Onamia, and Ely's lineup took another hit with the loss of junior lineman Tom Beaty, who suffered a broken right leg and will miss the rest of the season."That was a really big blow not just to him but the team as well," said Visser. "Tom has really been playing well for us."Ely, after playing three of its first four contests on the road, met Nashwauk-Keewatin last night at Ely School Stadium. Its final regular season road game is this Friday at Chisholm.The Fall Homecoming game is Oct. 12 against Mesabi East.
