The metamorphosis for the Glenville-Emmons football team this season has been a powerful as the Wolverines have become a dynamic offensive force after years of struggling to move the ball.

The Glenville-Emmons football team took its licks for the past three seasons, going winless in two seasons the last two years and having just one win the season before.

The Wolverines biggest game of the season might be this Friday’s contest against defending state champion Houston (3-1, 3-1 SEC) at Houston. It will be the proving ground for Glenville-Emmons, a barometer of how far the team has come this season. It’s also a game well within their reach according to head coach Derek Nelson.

“There’s no reason why we can’t beat Houston this week,” Nelson said. “We’ve seen them on film and I’ve seen what they can do and we’re explosive at times, we just need to be more consistent.”

Hard to imagine a game against a team that handed the Wolverines a 54-10 drubbing last season could be within reach for Glenville-Emmons, but this year’s version of the Wolverines are more mature and are hardened combatants on the gridiron.

“Ever since we were younger we’ve always had to play at the varsity level,” said senior Michael Adams, who is one of several three-year starters. “We’re always playing the seniors and finally we’re the seniors.”

Now as seniors they are the ones handing out the licks.

The maturation of the six seniors is one of the biggest reasons why Glenville-Emmons has more wins this season than the past three combined. That and the dedication of the team since the beginning of last season.

“At the end of last season, like during the offseason, we all kind of got together and we knew that we could do it,” said senior Derek Sanderson. “It was just a matter if we were determined enough.”

The offense has certainly been a determined unit for the Wolverines. Glenville-Emmons has had two games with more than 400 yards of total offense and is averaging 369 yards a game.

Nelson credits the emergence of a running attack to increased production.

“Here’s what I think the difference is: we’re able to run the ball and that’s opened up our passing game a lot better,” Nelson said. “Whereas the last couple of years all we could really do is pass.”

Michael Thofson, who has 642 yards rushing and seven touchdowns this season, has simply been superb in his first year in the backfield. His success has even caught him by surprise, especially the first game of the season where he ran for 261 yards and four touchdowns against Lyle/Pacelli.

“A lot of people came up to me and were shocked,” Thofson said. “People from the other team were shocked as well.”

Thofson’s running has complimented the passing game as well. Junior quarterback Zack Williamson has found open targets throughout the season, passing for 599 yards and seven touchdowns.

The two losses Glenville-Emmons have come against ranked opponents Mabel-Canton and Lanesboro (the Burros were unranked last week, but came in at No. 10 this week), but the offense still put points on the board, something that wasn’t seen in previous years.

“There’s two things that can happen after this game,” Nelson said. “I don’t think this will happen, but the possibility of people rolling over or if we win who knows what we can do the rest of the season. The sky’s the limit if we beat Houston.”

Winning can seem to cure everything, even practice.

“Winning just makes practices better,” Sanderson said.