Panther fall to Timberwolves

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The South Ridge Panthers met up with the Ely Timberwolves on Friday night in Culver in a contest of two unbeaten Big North Conference teams, and two defending section champions and state tournament appearance teams from a season ago.

In what was anticipated to be a offensive shootout turned more into a defensive battle Friday when only 12 first half points were scored and those twelve were score by the Timberwolves all coming in the second quarter which gave the Timberwolves a 12-0 lead at halftime.

The Panthers scored their first touchdown of the game in the third quarter when Drew Janke caught a touchdown pass from Kody Karppinen to cut the lead to 18-6. The Timberwolves had scored on the opening kickoff of the second half which gave them a 18-0 lead at that point.

Ely took a 24-6 lead in the fourth quarter and the Panthers added one touchdown with four minutes to play as Karppinen and Janke connected again for the touchdown but it was to little to late. Karppinen was 22-42 passing for 216 yards and two touchdowns, but he threw three interceptions in the loss.

Drew Janke had a huge night as he caught 12 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Bill Redding finished with 5 receptions on the night for 38 yards while Zach Johnson and Dominic Janke had 3 and 2 catches respectively. The Panthers found problems rushing against the Ely defense as they only could muster 26 yards rushing on 23 carries.

The Panthers will look to rebound next week when they travel to Babbitt to face the Nighthawks of Northeast Range. The Timberwolves will look to go 5-0 next week when they will face the Silver Bay Mariners at home.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com