Wolves show progress, but fall to South Ridge

by Tom Coombe
The Ely Timberwolves dropped their third straight game, but the Sept. 13 meeting with South Ridge was truly a sign of progress.
The Wolves trailed 8-6 at the half before falling 32-6 to the Panthers on a rainy Friday night at Ely School Stadium.
South Ridge (2-1) had a few anxious moments before finally putting the Wolves away.
Ely’s fans had a lot to cheer about early on, when the Wolves scored their first touchdown of the year - on special teams.
Sawyer Klingsporn scored his first varsity touchdown when a South Ridge punt snap went into the end zone.
The Ely junior pounced on it and the Wolves had their first lead of the year.
Logan Young, who was part of a multifaceted South Ridge ground game, scored from 10 yards out in the second quarter and Matt Clark’s two-point conversion gave the Panthers a two-point lead at the half.
South Ridge was bigger and more experienced and those advantages took their toll in the third quarter, along with a pair of big plays.
Connor Bushbaum had a 70-yard catch and run off a throw from Riley Kinsley to make it 16-6, and Bushbaum broke free on a 65-yard gallop on third down to make it 24-6 after three quarters.
The Wolves continued to struggle moving the football and couldn’t eat away at the Panthers lead.
Ely had the ball in South Ridge territory in the third, getting as far as the 30-yard line but a fourth-down pass from quarterback Bryce Longwell was batted down in the end zone.
Clark closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter on a two-yard plunge, and South Ridge made it a perfect four-for-four on two-point conversions to extend its lead to 32-6.
Senior Dalton Schreffler paced Ely’s defense with 12 tackles and Josh Larson was in on eight stops.
On offense, Schreffler had 68 yards on 25 carries.
The Wolves took on 0-3 Cook County Friday night at Grand Marais, with the Fall Homecoming game with Silver Bay to follow on Friday, Sept. 27 in Ely, at 7 p.m.