Team expectation remains competing for conference championships

By Reagan Hoverman

The River Falls High School football team started practice on Tuesday, Aug. 2, and has had three days of a quarterback position bat- tle that could last into the first week of the season, according to head coach Ryan Scherz.

The Wildcats have two players vying for the starting QB job in junior Jacob Range and senior Dylan Brathol. Both Range and Brathol played under the 2021 then-senior starter Vito Massa and now look to replace his production, which earned him Mississippi Val- ley onference Ouensive Player of the Year honors last season.

While it will be challenging to replace Massa's ouensive production and leader – ship in the QB room and on the field, coach Scherz stated that both Range and Brathol are up to the challenge and are more than capable of being high-quality starters for the Wildcats this season.

Through the first three days of practice, neither Range nor Brathol has emerged as a favorite in the position battle. According to Scherz, weeks of practice, scrimmages and potentially live game repetitions will be the best way to decide which player is going to win the starting position.

“They both sat and backed up Vito (Massa) last year,” Scherz said at the Thursday evening practice. “They didn’t play much varsity, but they learned a lot and are both incredibly hard workers.” Both Range and Brathol will have large

shoes to fill as Massa's 2021 campaign was one of the most productive in River Falls history. Massa led the Wildcats to an 8-4 overall record, an undefeated 7-0 record in Mississippi Valley Conference play, a conference championship and a second-round playou game against the eventual state championship Waunakee Warriors.

Scherz had nothing but high praise for Massa throughout the season as he detailed his excellence both on and ou of the field. Massa's final stats for the season included 1,803 passing yards and 26 passing touchdowns on 94 completions.

In a situation where two upperclassmen are competing for the most prestigious job on a football team, it would be easy to imagine that tempers could get out of control and the position battle could turn into a negative environment for the team. According to Scherz, quite the opposite has happened for his Wildcats.

“I know how much they both want the job,” Scherz said. “The great thing is that they’re both here supporting each other and they’re such great teammates. Vito (Massa) certainly left a good mark there. (Brathol and Range) treat each other incredibly well and support each other.”

Range and Brathol will continue to share reps at practice while Scherz and the rest of the coaching stau observe the overall talent and development of both players. The Wildcats have one more week of practice before they travel to Osceola for the first scrimmage of the year.

Teams that will be at the Osceola scrimmage include River Falls, New Richmond, Osceola, Prescott and Saint Croix Falls. Scherz confirmed that both Range and Bra thol will split reps at QB throughout that Friday morning scrimmage.

“They will for sure share time in that scrimmage,” Scherz said. “I want to see what it looks like with semi-live repetitions. Even a week one game under the lights is diuerent from a scrimmage at Osceola.”

See RFHS QB, Page B-3

River Falls senior quarterback Dylan Brathol (red) throws a ball during practice on Thursday, Aug. 4. Brathol is one of two players on the roster vying for the starting QB job for the 2022 season. Photo by Reagan Hoverman RFHS QB

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While the QB position battle remains ongoing, River Falls as a whole is ahead of schedule compared to last year because of the additional season of experience in Scherz’s system. River Falls also participated in the University of Minnesota Duluth team camp, something the Wildcats didn’t do last year. Scherz spoke about being ahead of schedule for the 2022 season.

“We’re way ahead of where we were last year, we did some things a little bit diuerently last year," Scherz said. “We did UMD team camp for three days in June where we got to scrimmage and practice – we didn’t do that last year. And just having another year of experience.”

The standards remain high in River Falls, as Scherz and the coaching stau are expect ing to be in contention for a Big Rivers Conference title for the 2022 season, the Wild- cats' first full season back in the BRC since 2019. In the last three complete seasons – except for the 2020 COVID year – River Falls has won three conference championships.

“The kids wouldn’t have it any other way, they want to compete for a conference championship,” Scherz said. “It’s not going to be easy, the Big Rivers is filled with real ly good teams, but we’d like to be at the end of the year, at the least, possibly having a chance to win a conference title. That’s their expectation.”

If River Falls is going to have any chance at competing for a Big Rivers Conference title in the 2022 season, solid QB play will be at the heart of that potential success. Whether it be Range or Brathol, Scherz is confident in whoev er steps in as the next starter for the Wildcats.

“I’ve seen enough to know that both of them can do the job well,” Scherz said. “It’s not a position that I’m particularly worried about.”