MASON CITY — The Marshalltown football team suffered its worst loss to Mason City since 2001 with Friday’s season-opening 32-3 defeat at the hands of the host Riverhawks.

Mason City scored on five of its last six possessions while keeping the Bobcats (0-1) out of the end zone for the first time since MHS fell 42-0 to Dowling Catholic in 2020.

A 27-yard field goal by Luis Monge Jr. was Marshalltown’s lone scoring play in a game that was close early but kept creeping away from the Bobcats.

“We had to play a lot of young guys who just don’t have the varsity experience yet, and Mason City does at those positions,” MHS head coach Adam Goodvin said of the linemen. “I think first and foremost the effort was there, but everything else has gotta get cleaned up. Has to.”

The Bobcats gained 196 yards of total offense, according to KFJB’s unofficial statistics. Senior running back Tate Riang led the Marshalltown ground game with 41 yards on eight carries, while junior quarterback Xayvion Anderson added 28 yards on 16 attempts. Treshaun Brooks added 25 yards on three carries and was the Bobcats’ leading receiver with two grabs for 34 yards. Caleb Kusserow added two catches for 24 yards, but Marshalltown was unable to punch any of its offensive possessions into the end zone.

Anderson finished 6-for-14 passing for 62 yards with no interceptions in his first varsity start.

“Xayvion had a tough job tonight,” Goodvin said, “it’s going to be tough every single Friday night playing both sides of the football. That’s tough at this level. We have confidence in the kid, he’ll be alright. We took care of the football, but all-around we’ve gotta make plays and as a coaching staff we’ve got to get a little creative and put our guys in better positions to do that.”

Mason City (1-0) gained 282 yards of total offense, with quarterback Brayden Miller going 7-for-11 for 171 yards and one touchdown. He connected with Drew Hobart on third-and-34 from the Riverhawks’ own 15-yard-line, and Hobart outran the Bobcat defense for an 85-yard touchdown catch and run.

It was the icebreaking score that also knocked the Bobcats on their backs after the MHS defense appeared to have Mason City pinned deep in its own territory.

Brody Lee’s 32-yard field goal gave the Riverhawks an 11-0 lead with 1:43 left in the first quarter, but Monge’s field goal got the Bobcats back to within one score. Mason City found the end zone again as Justyn Rivera scored from seven yards out to make it 18-3 with 3:22 left in the first half.

The Riverhawks scored 21 unanswered points in the second half as Rivera reached the end zone again. He finished with 11 carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns, while Logan Eide carried 10 times for 37 yards and a score.

The Bobcats are back on the gridiron Thursday with a road game against Cedar Rapids Jefferson that will be played inside Kingston Stadium.

“We have to change things up a little bit in our schedule (to get ready for a Thursday game), but the good thing about that is we get to get back out there and fix things,” Goodvin said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys playing, that’s no secret, there’s a lot of potential there. But it comes down to what we do with that potential.

“We’ve just gotta keep plugging away and good things are going to happen. We’ve got a bunch of good kids on our team that work hard and there’s no doubt in my mind things are going to come together.”