Football: D.C. Everest starts season with non-conference loss at Chippewa Falls.

The D. C. Everest football team has won the last two Wisconsin Valley Conference championships but non-conference games have been some trouble for the Evergreens. Last season, Everest was a perfect 6-0 in WVC action but lost all three regular season non-conference match-ups, including one to Chippewa Falls. The Evergreens trouble outside of conference continued on Thursday night with a 50-22 loss to Chi-Hi at Dorais Field.

Chippewa Falls took charge early with a pair of 1st quarter touchdowns to lead 14-0 and then extended their advantage to 25-0 before Everest got the offense going. The Evergreens drove it 80 yards late in the 2nd quarter to get on the board. Everest recovered a Chippewa Falls fumble at midfield with 3:19 left in the half and were able to take advantage. Everest converted a 4th and 2 from the 42 with a 7 yard completion to Oshay Johnson to keep the drive alive. Ty Rohde then hit Will Hopper for 14 yards to the 21 and Johnson again for 21 yards and the touchdown with 1:05 left in the half to make it 25-8 after a two-point conversion.

In the 3rd quarter, after Chippewa Falls hit a field goal to make it 28-8, the Evergreens used a fake punt to gain some momentum. From their own 19, Wes Polley ran 26 yards to get the first down. That was followed by a 20 yard pass reception by Andrew Bangtson and 14 yards to Johnson to push the ball to the Chi-Hi 21. 4 plays later, on 4th and 7 from the 18, Rohde hit Vander Truax to the 2 for the conversion. On the next play, Rohde was take it in for the touchdown and Everest moved to within 28-15.

However, the DCE momentum was short-lived as Chippewa Falls would score touchdowns on their next two possessions to lead 43-15. Everest would then drive 74 yards for a final touchdown. Rohde was have a 20 yard run to get the Evergreens to the Chi-Hi 31 and hit Bangtson on a screen for 26 yards to the 5 on back-to-back plays before Judiah McCrary plunged in from a yard out to make it 43-22 with 3:02 left in the game. Chippewa Falls would add one more touchdown on a 31 yard scoring run by Jacoby Olson to finish the Cardinals' 50-22 win.

Rohde finished 20 of 32 passing for 272 yards, 1 TD and 1 interception. Johnson had 6 catches for 60 yards and the 1 TD while Bangtson had 4 catches for 49 yards. Everest struggled on the ground with 96 yards on 31 attempts as a team. The Evergreens will have their home opener on Thursday night vs. Menomonie at Stiehm Stadium.