Wolves fall to Lathrop in rematch of ‘18 Division II football semis

On a warm, windy and cloudless day at the Wolves’ Den, Eagle River head coach Brad Myers was still able to find a silver lining to his team’s 42-14 non conference football loss to Lathrop Saturday afternoon.

“We didn’t quit,” Myers said after his ERHS head coaching debut.

The Wolves fell behind 21-0 after the first half but scored two late touchdowns to earn some much-needed confidence heading into next week.

“We were starting to click in the second half,” he said.

The Wolves play Houston at 7 p.m. on Aug. 23 at Houston High. Houston defeated Valdez 47-0 on Saturday.

Jace Henry threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead the Malemutes, who avenged a loss to the Wolves in last year’s Division II state semifinals.

Henry found Tyriq Luke for a pair of short touchdown strikes and connected with John Rones on a 30-yarder. The senior was unbothered by the gusty wins, going 13-of-27 for 203 yards passing with no interceptions. Luke caught a game-high seven balls for 103 yards receiving.

Henry also ran for a team-high 67 yards for Lathrop, which outgained the Wolves by 202 yards of total offense.

Dario Ayala also scored two touchdowns for Lathrop (0-0 Railbelt Conference, 1-0 overall), which lost a 30-24 heartbreaker to the Wolves in their final game of 2018. Ayala scored on a 4-yard run in the third quarter, then recovered a Markeith Matthews blocked punt in the end zone just 74 seconds later.

LaDavien Simon and Andrew Hamilton had touchdown runs for Eagle River (0-0 Northern Lights Conference, 0-1 overall), which got a game-high 69 yards rushing on eight carries from Tim Pennington. Hamilton finished with 54 yards on 15 carries for Eagle River, which racked up 142 yards on the ground.

Simon cut the Lathrop lead to 35-7 with a 17-yard scramble on the final play of the third quarter, and Hamilton barreled in from two yards out early in the fourth.

Myers said he’s not particularly concerned with Saturday’s lopsided final score. Instead, he said he was encouraged by his team’s progression throughout the game — something he hopes to see week in and week out.

“We expect to get better each week,” he said.

Emal Star editor Matt Tunseth at [email protected] or call 257-4274.

MALEMUTES 42, WOLVES 14

Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019

Eagle River High School

Lathrop 14 7 14 7 — 42

Eagle River 0 0 7 7 — 14

1st Quarter

Lat - Jace Henry 6 run (Jaren Littell kick), 6:28

Lat - Jhon Rones 30 pass from Henry (Littell kick), 1:26

2nd Quarter

Lat - Tyriq Luke 6 pass from Henry (Littell kick), 3:39

3rd Quarter

Lat - Dario Ayala 4 run (kick blocked), 4:15

Lat - Dario Ayala recovered blocked punt in end zone (Josiah Opp pass from Henry), 3:01

ER - LaDavien Simon 17 run (Andrew Hamilton kick), :00

4th Quarter

ER - Hamilton 2 run (Hamilton kick), 10:13

Lat - Luke 13 pass from Henry (Littell kick), 6:17

Eagle River Lathrop

First downs 10 14

Rushes-yards 39-142 36-162

Passing yards 21 203

Comp-att-int 4-14-1 13-27-0

Fumbles-lost 4-1 3-1

Punts-avg. 3-33.3 2-40.0

Penalties-yards 7-49 7-70

Return yards 0 16

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — Eagle River: Tim Pennington 8-69, Hamilton 15-54, Cashiez Reaves 9-20, Simon 6-4, Noah Lower 1-(-5). Lathrop: Henry 17-67, Andre’ Williams 8-54, Tim Tuese 7-35, Rones 1-4, Ayala 2-4, Eddie Coleman 1-(-2).

Passing — Eagle River: Simon 4-14-1—21. Lathrop: Henry 13-27-0—203.

Receiving — Eagle River: Pennington 2-17, Reaves 1-3, Hamilton 1-1. Lathrop: Luke 7-103, Rones 3-45, Keegan Laughlin 2-55, Tuese 1-0.