The WIAA football playoffs can be a buzzsaw, and it proved just that, knocking out three county teams in the opening round. The lone team to rise above the noise was the No. 1 seed River Falls Wildcats, beating Beaver Dam 48-21.

“The guys had a good week of practice. We played a single wing offense which presents some really unique challenges, and they’re a tough, physical team that came out early and threw some punches at us,” Head Coach Ryan Scherz said. “We responded really well and I really liked how we came out in the second half.”

River Falls has been an electric factory all year long, and the machine got going early. Senior quarterback Tino Massa has shown off the arm all season, and he did just that on the first drive when he hit senior Mason Novak down the right sideline for a 45-yard touchdown. Massa completed 15-of-23 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown and Novak caught nine of those for 139 yards and a score.

Beaver Dam was holding its own as the No. 8 seed underdog, scoring twice for a 13-7 lead. Then, the Wildcats brought out the not-so secret weapon, senior running back Joseph Tarasewicz. The next six River Falls touchdowns were as follows: a two-yarder from Tarasewicz, a six-yarder from Tarasewicz, a one-yarder from Tarasewicz, an eight-yarder from Tarasewicz, a one-yarder from Tarasewicz and a one-yarder from Tarasewicz. Hard to argue with that formula.

On the day, Tarasewicz took 34 carries for 169 yards and six touchdowns.

“He’s a physical runner, he runs real hard, he’s good at setting up his blocks, and obviously, our  offensive line does a really good job of getting him into the secondary from time to time,” Scherz said. “He’s a tough kid to tackle at that point.”

It was a single game school record for the senior. After the game on the River Falls Sports YouTube broadcast, though, he gave all the credit to the offensive line and the trainers. The offensive line is a talented one, but it more importantly has unmatched cohesion.

Tarasewicz is the perfect type of player for what River Falls has tried to do all year long. They wear down the opponents, and when they cannot play to the best of their abilities anymore, River Falls uses the opportunity to strike.

“It’s kind of our mantra across the board. We want to play more snaps on offense because we try to play at a tempo that they’re not used to,” Scherz said. “Those tackles get harder to make [as the game goes on].”

Looking ahead, 9-1 River Falls has a date with 7-3 La Crosse Central at home Friday. La Crosse Central brings some interesting and unpredictable looks to the table, as seen in a 38-20 playoff win over Menasha. Locally, the Riverhawks did play in Ellsworth all the way back in week two, losing 23-21 to the Panthers.

“They’re a really athletic group,” Scherz said. “They’re well-coached, so it will be another big challenge for us this week.”

Getting the first playoff win on the board was huge, as it can be a lot of pressure to defend the home turf in a do-or-die matchup.

“We don’t talk a lot about goals, we just talk about process,” Scherz said. “As the regular season’s over, we have to continue to do what we’ve been doing, but also understand that we want to play together as long as possible. The only way to do that is we need to play hard, have a great week of practice and prepare like we did the whole season.”

Other results

Spring Valley, Ellsworth and Prescott were all eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs after strong seasons from each, all in regular season rematches.

Spring Valley hosted Glenwood City two weeks after losing 27-7 to the Hilltoppers. The Cardinals were shut down offensively in a 21-2 loss Friday night. Junior running back Asher Turner did have a nice night, taking 21 carries for 107 yards.

Ellsworth came off a 31-20 win in Osceola heading into the playoffs and were matchup up against the same team at the same site. This time around, the Chieftains were victorious 33-6. Senior Coen Hinrichs ran for 99 yards and the lone Panther touchdown.

Prescott lost 67-20 to Northwestern in a rematch from the season’s opening week where Northwestern won 40-7. The Cardinals showed heart in the long road trip, but came up short. Northwestern running back Tysen Teal was the difference-maker with 211 rushing yards and five scores.