By Reagan Hoverman

This River Falls defense has a chance to be special.

The River Falls Wildcats are 2-0 through the first two weeks of the 2022 season, which includes a 26-7 victory against Wisconsin Rapids in week one and a 26-0 win in the home opener against the Holmen Vikings on Thursday, Aug. 25.

Through the first two weeks, the Wildcats’ defense has allowed seven total points and has suffocated both opposing offenses with the beef on the defensive line and the speed at linebacker and in the secondary.

After a quiet first quarter by both sides, River Falls got on the board early in the second frame when senior running back Gavin Kohel broke loose for a 27-yard touchdown run. A successful PAT by senior Aleck Ross made it 7-0 in favor of the Wildcats.

River Falls’ defense got back to work and forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Holmen possession. River Falls junior quarter- back Jacob Range began the ats’ possession with a couple of designed QB runs that got the offense into Holmen territory. That’s when Range launched a pass down the sideline that senior wide receiver Jordan Karras hauled in for a 38-yard gain down in side the 10-yard line. Three plays later, junior running back Jonah Severson barreled into the endzone to make it 13-0 for River Falls going into the halftime break.

The two touchdowns in that first half, scored by running backs Severson and Kohel, illustrated a River Falls philosophical decision to commit to the rushing attack. Ryan Scherz spoke about the talent in his backfield.

“As much as we run the ball in our pro- gram you’ve got to have multiple backs,” Scherz said. “Gavin (Kohel) is a great back, but he’s such a great linebacker that we try to limit his carries. It’s nice to have a one-two punch like that (with Jonah Severson).” The River Falls defense forced a fumble and secured the recovery on Holmen’s first possession of the second half. After a short

River Falls drive and a punt, the Wildcats’ defense forced a three-and-out to once again get the ball back to the offense.

On the first play of the fourth quarter in a critical fourth and four situation, Range went play action and looked for an open target. As the pocket began to break down, he scrambled, saw green grass and found the endzone for a 14-yard touchdown run to make it 19-0 River Falls.

The Wildcats added another touchdown with five minutes remaining in the game when Severson bounced a run to the outside and scored on a 10-yard run to make it 26-0 Wildcats. Scherz spoke about his defense pitching a shutout and what they’re capable of.

“(The defense) is super well prepared, they take pride in what they do and there are a lot of good players on that side of the ball,” Scherz said. “I knew we had a lot of good players coming back. I think we have a chance to be a great defense if we keep getting better.”

Two of the anchors of the River Falls defense are senior Wyatt Bell in the secondary and the aforementioned Kohel leading the linebacker unit.

“I love those guys. I’ve been with them for three years and they’re two of the better players we have in our program,” Scherz said. “They’re outstanding leaders and if you build your defense around guys like that, you’re going to be pretty good.”

River Falls continues to have an active quarterback position battle that is starting to look less and less like a battle. Senior Dylan Brathol and the aforementioned Range continue to split snaps and play when their unique skill set is required.

Range got a majority of the snaps on Thursday night against Holmen, as his ability to scramble and run quarterback option was a strength against that Vikings defense. Last week it was Brathol who received a majority of the snaps as the offensive coaching stau wanted a pocket passer to stand tall and deliver strikes down the field. Scherz spoke about Range’s 68 passing yards, 79 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown on Thursday.

“Based on what Holmen does, we knew that Jacob (Range) would be a tough matchup for them,” Scherz said after the win. “Jacob is a really good player and he’s a junior, so this is good for him to figure it out by playing. Dylan did a good job too, so I feel like we’ve got two really good quarterbacks.”

While River Falls has dominated on both sides of the ball to start the season, Thursday night’s home opener featured several costly situational penalties including false starts on third down, encroachment on an important fourth and two, and a taunting call that cost the Wildcats 15 yards.

“Those are things that you usually see in the first game and we saw them in the second game,” Scherz said. “I’m a little disappointed with that. At the same time, we’re still growing, still learning, and we’ve got to get better week by week. The margin for error will be small next week, we’ve got to clean it up.”

Next week River Falls opens Big Rivers Conference play with a Friday night contest at home against the New Richmond Tigers, which has also begun the season 2-0. New Richmond runs a spread offense with stacked talent at the skill positions.

“They’re a spread offense with some very good receivers and a veteran quarterback and one of the better running backs in the state,” Scherz said. “That will look totally different compared to what we’ve seen the last couple of weeks. We’ll have a great plan. I know our defensive staff is outstanding.” That game on Friday, Sept. 2, is in River Falls and is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

River Falls junior running back Jonah Severson takes a handoff out of the shotgun from junior quarterback Jacob Range. Severson finished the game with 120 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries in the home opener against the Holmen Vikings. Photo by Reagan Hoverman RF FB