Home-field advantage
They needed to move 45 yards in just over two minutes to secure a winning season and a home playoff game.And a confident, senior-dominated Ely squad delivered.A 15-yard touchdown pass from Pat Lekatz to Andrew Olson with 30 seconds left gave the Timberwolves a 28-21 victory over East Central Wednesday night at Ely School Stadium"It was one of those wins where as a coach or a player you play to be in games like that," said Ely Head Coach Darren Visser. "We were sitting with two timeouts and we felt confident that we could get in the end zone."The win gave Ely a 5-3 regular season record, the number-four seed for the Section 7A playoffs and a rematch with the same East Central team - the fifth seed - in Tuesday's quarterfinal round (7 p .m.).The Wolves prevailed over the Eagles thanks to a second-half comeback fueled in large part by senior Andrew Olson - who had all three of the hosts' second-half touchdowns.Olson finished with 210 total yards, which included a 75-yard counter run for a touchdown and a season-high 10 receptions for 132 yards."He had an outstanding game," Visser said of Olson. "He's our big playmaker and he made a lot of them, and in that same aspect everybody else did their job so he could make those plays."One of the other key contributors was senior quarterback Pat Lekatz, who passed for two touchdowns and had his most efficient game of the year - going 10-for-16 through the air and adding a two-point conversion throw to fellow senior A.J. Pope.Lekatz also bounced back after throwing a fourth-quarter interception that led to an East Central touchdown.Ely led 20-14 after three quarters, but the pick gave East Central (3-5) the ball at the Ely 26 and led to an 11-yard scoring run by Travis Million.James Best's third extra-point of the night gave the Eagles a 21-20 lead with 9:23 to go.The Wolves moved into East Central territory on the ensuing drive, with Lekatz completing a long throw to Olson on a fake punt to keep the drive going. Ely eventually stalled, but the defense got the ball back by holding the Eagles on downs at the 45 with just over two minutes left.A 16-yard Lekatz-to-Olson completion got the Wolves inside the 20, and the same combination worked for the game-winning score moments later.It was a Lekatz-to-Olson pass of 17 yards that helped tie the game at 14 early in the third quarter, and the Wolves' defense - anchored by Nathan Leustek and Matt Hall in the middle - shut down the Eagles' running attack.After featuring Ryan Willis, who had a team-high 134 yards, for most of the game, Ely then got the ball to Olson on a counter play. The speedster broke free and gave the Wolves the lead.Willis had Ely's only first quarter score, a 77-yard jolt in the second quarter.East Central was largely limited to a rushing attack, with junior David Baxter running for 139 yards.The Wolves pressured quarterback Logan McAllister, sacking him four times. Linemen Jeremy Boedeker, Jacob Wognum, Bryan Cole, Rick Horvat and Hall all applied the rush.A loss in the regular season finale would have sent the Wolves on the road to play East Central.Instead, the team from the Sandstone-based school must return north for the second time in a week."It's a matter of we know we can win, but they believe they can win, so we have to go in and execute and go from there," said Visser. "We're happy to have a home playoff game and at this point of the season you take what you can get."The winner of Tuesday's quarterfinal advances to play the winner of the game between number-one seed Cook County (8-0) and eighth-seeded Nashwauk-Keewatin (2-6), in the Oct. 27 semifinals. The 7A title game is Nov. 1 (5:30 p.m.) at Duluth's Public School Stadium.
