RIVER FALLS — D.C. Everest was too much for the River Falls defense to handle, as the Evergreens coasted to a 51-26 win Friday afternoon.

“It’s a good team, and it’s not like we didn’t know that,” River Falls Head Coach Ryan Scherz said. “They’re a bigger school, they have really good players and they played really well.”

The game started off fast, with each team scoring on their first two drives, but River Falls picked up the first stop of the game and scored to take a 20-15 lead. After another third down stop, a punt went just over the head of the River Falls returner who tried to catch it facing away from the action, eventually dropping the ball and missing a chance to recover it.

Everest not only took advantage of that opportunity but scored two more touchdowns on top of it for a 36-20 lead.

River Falls had one more chance to find the scoreboard in the first half, but on the final play a deep pass to the right side of the end zone looked to be a touchdown but was eventually called out of bounds.

The second half was all Everest, picking up the win largely through rushing prowess. The Evergreens posted 391 rushing yards on the game, barreling their way down the field consistently.

River Falls dropped to 1-1 on the season after taking down Wisconsin Rapids 44-21 on the road to open the season. While the loss was not what the Wildcats had hoped for in the home opener, Scherz said the game revealed a lot about the team and gives them an opportunity to make tweaks before it is too late.

“I do think that early season losses like this can cause you to evaluate where you’re at and make the necessary changes,” Scherz said. “The answer has to be in this huddle right here.”

For River Falls, Joseph Tarasewicz took 18 carries for 124 yards and two touchdowns, Eli Johnson caught eight passes for 95 yards and Mason Novak caught six passes for 84 yards to lead the way.

The three turnovers, holes in the run defense and short fields combined into the storm that Scherz felt was the difference in the game.

“You’re not going to win games turning it over three times, you’re not going to win giving teams short fields, you’re not going to win games if they’re running the ball like that,” Scherz said. “All of the above, so it’s really kind of gut check time.”

While the game did not go to plan for River Falls, Scherz was happy with how the team kept fighting to the final whistle, battling through the deficit.

“The kids didn’t give up,” Scherz said. “They were still playing hard, even if they weren’t making plays or were making mistakes, they were still playing hard. And I guess I wouldn’t expect anything less from them on that, and I appreciate that about them.”

The Wildcats will head to Superior on Friday to right the ship heading into conference play.