The River Falls Wildcats shut out the Eau Claire North Huskies 35-0 in River Falls Friday night.

The Wildcats got on the board early, scoring a touchdown in the first quarter. They went on to add two scores in the second and two more in the third. The defense performed at a high level all night as well, holding the Huskies to 2-10 on third downs, no scores and just 57 yards of total offense.

On a rainy fall night, River Falls didn’t do a lot of passing. Instead, they leaned almost entirely on their formidable rushing attack which put up 334 yards and four scores on the ground. Running back Jonah Severson led the way carrying the ball for 221 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries. Charlie Loesch also put up 80 yards and a score on just seven carries.

On the season, Severson led the Big Rivers Conference in every meaningful rushing category including putting up conference bests of 1,612 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns with the next closest rushers posting just 826 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. With how prolific River Falls’ running back room is, it’s a little surprising then that quarterback Jacob Range was still fourth in the conference in passing yards and tied for third in passing touchdowns.

This win guaranteed the Wildcats a playoff berth where they will be the six seed and face the Menomonie Mustangs in the first round, a team they lost to 39-15 just two weeks ago. Head Coach Ryan Scherz recognizes the difficulty with this task, but he hopes to carry their momentum from this week’s game into the playoffs.

"Our defense played outstanding this week. Other than a slow start on offense, we played very well,” Scherz said. “We needed a game like this to build some confidence. We look forward to building on that this week in Menomonie. It will be a challenge, but I know our kids will play hard.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. this Friday in Menomonie.

EPC secures playoff spot with victory

The Elmwood-Plum City Wolves trounced the Glenwood City Hilltoppers Friday night in Glenwood City, 36-0.

The Wolves did it all on the ground in their final game of the season, putting up 365 yards rushing and five scores while not throwing a single pass. Running back Blake Allen alone put up 231 yards and four scores on just 21 carries, and quarterback Aaden Birtzer also crossed the century mark putting up 103 yards on 18 carries. Elmwood’s offensive scheme predominantly relies on the run game, but the weather obviously played a factor in the game script overall as it rained continuously across western Wisconsin Friday night.

With this performance, Allen finishes the season leading in every major rushing category except yards per attempt with 1,323 yards, 16 touchdowns and 15 two-point conversions while averaging 147 yards per game.

With this win, the 4-3 Wolves finished third in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference and secured their spot in the postseason, drawing the six seed. The Wolves will head to Regis to play the 6-1 Ramblers. Head Coach Mike Birtzer said his team performed well in all facets of the game to close out the season, but they’re going to be pushing themselves harder in the playoffs where competition is even stiffer.

“We played a pretty solid game. Took care of the ball and were able to run between the hashes. In our offense everyone needs to finish their blocks, and we did that well all night. Finishing tackles on defense was also huge in the conditions we were playing in,” Birtzer said. “We play a very good Regis team this week, so we are going to have to be even better on Friday.”

The playoffs get underway this Friday at 7 p.m..

Ellsworth loses final game, still playoff bound

The Ellsworth Panthers got beaten by the Saint Croix Central Panthers in Hammond on Friday night by a score of 52-0.

This was the Panthers worst loss of the season as the other team, which for some reason has the same name and is in the same conference (figure that out), put up 422 yards rushing and seven unanswered scores. With the rain coming down all night, and the game script working in their favor, Hammond didn’t throw a single pass. Meanwhile, Ellsworth only had four first downs all night and just 80 yards of total offense.

Even though they lost, the 4-3 Panthers sewed up a playoff appearance in their narrow victory over Prescott last week, getting the five seed. They will take on the 5-2 Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks in the first round, a team that they lost to 49-0 back in week 3 before the Panthers lost quarterback Griffin Blomberg for the season to an ACL tear and sophomore quarterback Jack Stoltenburg took over.

“Friday's game was not what we wanted. We’ve had too many games like that this season, and if we want to make a run in the playoffs, we need to find a way to compete and play with greater intensity. It is always a good feeling to make the post season, obviously we would like to be heading in on some different circumstances,” Heller said. “As far as the playoff bracket, we have a tough Middle Border section staring us in the face, but with that comes familiarity. We know the teams very well, and if we can find a way to play like we did against Osceola and Prescott, anything could happen. Our focus needs to be on playing the best football of the year from this point forward, we need to get off the bus better than we did the last time we faced Baldwin.”

Panthers’ playoff football begins this Friday at 7 p.m. in Baldwin.

Prescott falls short of playoffs, retains core

The Prescott Cardinals were defeated by the Rice Lake Warriors by a score of 52-14 in Prescott Friday night.

With a score that lopsided, you’d never know that the game was tied partway through the second quarter. It wasn’t until the Warriors scored three unanswered touchdowns going into halftime that things got out of hand for Prescott. Big plays really hurt the Cardinals as three of Rice Lake’s touchdowns went for over 30 yards, including ones of 65 and 77 yards.

It rained steadily all night, but quarterback Teddy Bernick still went 20/34 passing for 198 yards and a touchdown, albeit with three picks. The Cardinals also put up 116 yards rushing, led by running back Barrett Temmers who put up 40 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

On the season, Bernick, who was a junior, led the conference in completions, completion percentage, passing attempts, total yards and yards per game. It shouldn’t be surprising then that he also had three of the top four producing receivers in the conference to throw to in Nolan Thomley, Will Packard and Kobe Russell.

The Cardinals started out hot this season going 4-2, but they lost their final three games of the season, which eliminated them from playoff contention. Head Coach Jordan Hansen recognizes the disappointment of going home early but notes the optimism he has for the future of his team, which will return almost all its biggest playmakers next season.

“I thought our guys came out well. We had the lead in the first quarter, but we made some mistakes and Rice Lake capitalized on those. A few missed tackles lead to touchdowns, and a couple turnovers in our own end led to short touchdowns as well,” Hansen said. “From Friday’s game, we bring back both nine starters on offense and nine on defense. Wide receiver and linebacker Nolan Thomley and defensive end and offensive guard Mason Schommer are the two starters from the game that we will lose. We need a great offseason in the weight room so we can compete with the physicality of a Middle Border Conference schedule, but we are really excited for what’s to come next year.” 

So, the team and their fans can look forward to next year where they will build on the successes of their core group of playmakers and look to bring a Middle Border championship home to Prescott. The future is bright for Cardinals football.