The Marshalltown football team got socked in the nose, and head coach Adam Goodvin didn’t like the way his team responded to its first real dose of adversity.

Mason City amassed 415 yards of total offense and the Riverhawks rocked the Bobcats 42-17 on Homecoming night Friday at Leonard Cole Field, dealing Marshalltown (2-1) its first loss.

Mason City (1-2) got its first win in the process, averaging 10.4 yards per play while containing Marshalltown’s rampant rushing attack for the most part.

The Bobcats, who lead Class 5A in rushing yards, will keep that torch for at least another week, but it didn’t amount to a win in Friday’s Week 3 showdown.

“There were multiple times where we needed to get the ball into the end zone and we didn’t,” said Goodvin. “That opening drive of the second half was what we needed more of. We just didn’t have the football a whole lot in the first half and we put our defense in tough positions.

“We just didn’t put it all together.”

Mason City scored fast and furiously, turning the opening drive into a four-minute march that yielded a 15-yard touchdown pass from Jameer Falls to Ty Sanchez-Evans on third-and-7. The Riverhawks’ eight-play, 72-yard drive consumed 4:03 off the clock, but the Bobcats answered immediately.

Aiden Smitherman faked the reverse handoff on the ensuing kickoff return and took the ball back 85 yards for a touchdown just 14 seconds later.

That was the last time Marshalltown toggled the scoreboard until Aaron Ordaz Zambrano split the uprights on a 23-yard field goal following the Bobcats’ opening possession of the second half.

That field goal brought the Bobcats to within 14-10, but Mason City scored the next four touchdowns to take control for good.

“Our lack of physicality — I thought all night long we took punches and didn’t punch back,” said Goodvin. “I think that goes back to the mental stuff — we weren’t where we were supposed to be mentally and physically both, and if you don’t have those two things in the game of football you’re not going to be in a good position.”

Three plays after Smitherman’s kickoff return touchdown, Mason City got into the end zone again. Dane Hanson hit the hole for a 16-yard touchdown run to give the Riverhawks a 14-7 lead, and neither team scored again until Ordaz Zambrano capped Marshalltown’s 16-play, 65-yard drive with his field goal.

The Bobcats’ flexbone offense did part of its job by getting points and keeping the opposing offense off the field, but it wasn’t the touchdown that Marshalltown needed.

Hanson hit paydirt for the second time just three plays later as Mason City capitalized on a short field for a 21-10 lead.

Marshalltown turned the ball over with a fumble on the first play of its ensuing possession, and the Riverhawks needed just two plays to cover 16 yards for a 28-10 lead. Drew Hobart took the jet sweep toss 10 yards to the corner of the end zone.

The Bobcats went three-and-out on their next drive, and Drayden Witt returned Innocent Ishangulungu’s punt 68 yards for a touchdown to open the fourth quarter.

Marshalltown punted four plays later, and Mason City made it hurt even more. Falls scrambled into the end zone from 10 yards out to cap a seven-play, 83-yard drive that included two of the Bobcats’ 10 penalties on the night.

“We didn’t change anything in preparation for this week, so I don’t know if it was Homecoming,” Goodvin said. “I’m not going to make excuses for that, but it’s tough with 16-17-18-year-olds. We’ve got to figure out and go out next Friday and be better mentally, physically and execution-wise.”

Marshalltown was again led by junior running back Tyler Englund, who rushed 17 times for 114 yards. Niehouse finished with 11 carries for 60 yards and the Bobcats’ only touchdown from scrimmage.

Niehouse capped the Bobcats’ final drive with an 11-yard sprint across the goal line.

MHS finished with 39 carries for 248 yards on the ground, but the passing game came through with only one completion for seven yards.

Hanson finished with 11 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns to lead Mason City. Falls was 13-for-14 for 163 yards — although six completions were forward laterals on the jet sweep to Hobart. Hobart finished with eight receptions for 133 yards.

Marshalltown will play its third Homecoming game in as many weeks when the Bobcats visit Williams Stadium on Sept. 19 for a contest against Des Moines East.

Mason City 42, Marshalltown 17

Score by Quarters

MC 14 0 14 14 — 42

MHS 7 0 3 7 — 17

Scoring Summary

First Period

MC — Ty Sanchez-Evans 15 pass from Jameer Falls (Carter Long kick), 7:49.

MHS — Aiden Smitherman 85 kickoff return (Aaron Ordaz Zambrano kick), 7:35.

MC — Dane Hanson 16 run (Long kick), 6:42.

Second Quarter

No scoring.

Third Quarter

MHS — FG 23 Ordaz Zambrano, 3:05.

MC — Hanson 5 run (Long kick), 2:08.

MC — Drew Hobart 10 pass from Falls (Long kick), 1:11.

Fourth Quarter

MC — Drayden Witt 68 punt return (Long kick), 11:01.

MC — Falls 10 run (Long kick), 4:04.

MHS — Jamison Niehouse 11 run (Ordaz Zambrano kick), 1:15.

TEAM STATISTICS

MC MHS

Rushes-yards 26-252 39-248

Passing yards 163 7

Comp-Att-Int 13-14-0 1-6-0

Total Offense 40-415 46-255

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1

Penalties-yards 9-80 10-60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — MC: Hanson 11-116, Falls 6-55, Chase Lacour 3-29, Sanchez-Evans 1-23, Allister Palmares 3-16, Witt 1-14, TEAM 1-(minus-1); MHS: Tyler Englund 17-114, Niehouse 11-60, Declan Greene 1-47, Gaston Feras 3-18, Innocent Ishangulungu 1-4, Mochamad Pramana 1-1, Smitherman 1-1, Zak Wilder 1-(minus-5).

PASSING — MC: Falls 13-14-163-0; MHS: Niehouse 1-6-7-0.

RECEIVING — MC: Hobart 8-133, Sanchez-Evans 3-30, Hanson 1-2, Witt 1-(minus-2); MHS: Jacob Hayes 1-7.