Panther grids play hard but River Falls too much in second half

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River Falls Wildcats

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RIVER FALLS - Sam Lenzen ran for two touchdowns and Ryan Kusilek passed for one touchdown and kicked two field goals as the Wildcat football team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 34-21 victory over Ellsworth Friday night at Ramer Field.

Ellsworth opened the scoring with a 28-yard touchdown run by Dennis Schutz with 1:41 remaining in the first quarter.

River Falls tied the score when Lenzen barreled over from 5-yards out early in the second quarter.

The Wildcats took a 14-7 lead on their next drive on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Kusilek to Aaron Rodewald. Ellsworth answered on its ensuing drive when quarterback Jake Murphy hit Alex Campbell for a 29-yard touchdown.

Kusilek put the Wildcats up for good with a 35-yard field goal with 23.9 seconds remaining in the half to make the score 17-14.

Lenzen scored his second touchdown of the game, from two-yards out, to cap the Wildcats first possession of the second half and extend River Falls’ lead to 24-14.

A 34-yard field goal by Kusilek early in the fourth quarter made it a 27-14 game. Sophomore defensive back Luke Murphy then picked off an Ellsworth pass and returned it 27 yards for a score to give the Cats a 34-14 lead.

Ellsworth got a one-yard touchdown from Jacob Betthauser with 50 seconds remaining to make the final 34-21.

Tags: prep football, river falls, sports, ellsworth, prep