River Falls’ dream season ended with a bit of a thud Friday at D.C. Everest High School, and the legs of Kingston Allen were a major reason why.
The Notre Dame Academy junior — who already sports collegiate offers from the likes of Wisconsin and Northwestern — ran 27 times for 146 yards and four scores in the Division-2 state semifinal … in the first half.
He finished with 33 carries for 246 yards and six touchdowns as Notre Dame (13-0) downed the Wildcats 42-6. Notre Dame — which won the Division 3 state title last season — advances to next week’s state title game at Camp Randall on the University of Wisconsin campus.
Allen now has 3,213 yards and 55 rushing touchdowns — a Wisconsin state record — on the season. So, it wasn’t a surprise River Falls had a difficult time containing him Friday.
But the Wildcats’ offensive struggles were unexpected. River Falls (11-2) had scored 40-plus points in each of its last seven games, all against stiff competition.
Quarterback Tino Massa entered the night with 2,583 yards passing on the season to go with Joseph Tarasewicz’s 1,915 rushing yards.
But River Falls hurt itself with first-half errors. A field-goal attempt hit off the upright. Massa had a fumble and an interception, both of which came in Notre Dame territory when he was hit in the backfield.
The Wildcats trailed 28-0 at the half.
Allen kept coming in the third. He scored on a 53-yard touchdown run two minutes into the second half. The Wildcats then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Allen scored again a few plays later from 15 yards out on his final carry of the evening to put the game into running time at a score of 42-0.
River Falls finally got on the board on a 2-yard, end-around touchdown run by Mason Novak late in the third frame.
It was a historic season for River Falls, who won 11 games and a section title for the first time in program history. The names of Massa, Tarasewicz, Sam Simpson and many other seniors will be remembered in the town for decades to come.
Senior safety Anthony McPherson properly summed up the feelings of the team’s accomplishments earlier this week.
“(This is) usually something that you hear about, and then you wanna live up to that,” he said. “So, being a part of that team and being kind in the moment is just — it’s surreal.”
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