Football season kicked off on a Thursday this year, with River Falls picking up a cruise control win and Ellsworth and EPC struggling to get the offense going in losses.

River Falls

River Falls picked up the lone win in a 1-4 week for the county teams. The Wildcats won 45-0 over Wisconsin Rapids, scoring with ease and staying rock-solid defensively all night long.

The Wildcats drove right down the field on the first drive and punched it in on a short run from senior Joseph Tarasewicz. Defensively, the Wildcats gave up no ground to keep Wisconsin Rapids pinned for multiple drives until Tino Massa found Mason Novak unguarded down the sideline for a 36-yard score.

“We’re playing a lot of seniors who have played a lot of football,” Head Coach Ryan Scherz said. “They’re ready to go, and they’ve done an outstanding job of preparing in the way that we’ve asked them to and embracing those things. It’s good to get a payoff there.”

On the ensuing drive, three Wildcats leveled the Wisconsin Rapids quarterback who was intercepted on a deep pass by Nolan Hoepfl on a nice leaping catch. On the second play of the second quarter, Massa again found Novak wide open in the end zone, this time for a 20-yard score.

“Mason’s a great player and Tino’s got a year under his belt,” Scherz said. “Those two guys are pretty close, so they kind of read each other’s minds on the field.”

Tarasewicz scored twice more to close the first half and sophomore Trevor Bartlett scored in the fourth to cap off the win. Scherz said River Falls stretched the perimeter of the field, making Wisconsin Rapids cover them from sideline to sideline.

The River Falls defense was tremendous, not only not giving up a score, but forcing turnovers and not giving up anything easy.

“On defense, just watching our guys pursue the football,” Scherz said. “It’s something we’ve emphasized and they’ve embraced that.”

“I think we’ve simplified things on defense that allows kids to play really fast,” Scherz said of the experienced front seven getting great pressure.

The Wildcats know nothing will come easy, especially in an always tough Big Rivers Conference. Next up is a Thursday matchup at D.C. Everest.

“Really, it’s just the first step in a long process,” Scherz said. “It does not get easier. In fact, most weeks it’s going to continue to get more challenging. I think enjoying a victory is what we need to do because they’ve worked hard to get that, but then not being satisfied with a single victory.”

Ellsworth

Ellsworth played phenomenal defense out of the gate against last year’s state semifinalist La Crosse Logan but could not jumpstart the offense in a 12-0 loss.

“The first game was definitely a week one game. We had some mistakes,” Head Coach Rob Heller said. “I was very happy with our defense; I thought our defense played great. When you hold a team to under 190 total yards, I feel like you should get a win there.”

Heller wants to see the offense cleaned up and the special teams improved upon over the week of practice.

“A lot of times week one is the team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to get out of there with the W,” Heller said. “I’m happy with the kids’ effort. It wasn’t an effort thing.”

For the second consecutive year, Ellsworth is playing La Crosse Logan and La Crosse Central in non-conference play. Heller enjoys being challenged early in the year, feeling it is a necessity ahead of conference play.

“It’s definitely going to prepare us for a tough Middle Border schedule, but at the same time, it’s frustrating knowing that we had an opportunity to beat a good team and get our season started off on a better note.”

Moving forward, Heller wants to see his players play a more unchained style, going out there and playing freely. With some size up front and good athletes this year, he said the mentality can make a big difference.

“We’ve got to start playing football and stop thinking football,” Heller said. “Just kind of going out there and have belief in what we’re doing.”

Ellsworth now hosts another strong squad in La Crosse Central. Although the school is about double Ellsworth’s size, they are ready to swiftly bounce back. Heller has enjoyed watching the young players step into contributing roles early in the year.

“That’s kind of a fun part of the beginning of the football season,” Heller said.

Elmwood/Plum City

Elmwood/Plum City could not find the answers against a Pepin/Alma team that finished 9-2 a year ago, losing 50-6 to start the year.

“We got dominated in just about every facet of the game,” Head Coach Mike Birtzer said. “They were more physical. They executed better. We struggled… There was a lot of effort, not a lot of execution.”

Birtzer said they have the heart and the physicality to compete this year. The difference between success and falling short will be on whether they can clean up the technique the rest of the way.

“A lot of it’s technique, and those are things that can be fixed,” Birtzer said. “They’ve always said that you improve the most from your first game to your second game.”

EPC takes on another tough team to close non-conference, hitting the road to play Blair-Taylor. Birtzer said the tough schedule could have its benefits down the line.

“I hope it does. It is a tough non-conference schedule,” Birtzer said. “Honestly, if we stay healthy, it should make us better.”