SPRING VALLEY — Spring Valley’s perfect record came to an end after No. 2 seed Boyceville came into their house and avenged a loss from a matchup earlier in the season with a 21-6 win Friday in the level three playoffs.

The loss brought the Pierce County football season to an end as the Cardinals were the last team alive.

“Tremendous season, a lot to be proud of,” Head Coach Ryan Kapping said. “Boyceville’s a tremendous team. They were better than us tonight.”

Boyceville started the game off by flying right down the field, but Spring Valley finally found the answer with their backs against the wall on the goal line to make a stand. Although the Cardinals now had possession, they did not have position on the field and a couple of false starts kept it that way. After the Cardinals punted, Boyceville got the ball past midfield.

The Bulldogs got right back to business, with quarterback Carson Roemhild switching sides of the field while scrambling and finding Owen Rydel in the corner for a 14-yard touchdown.

Spring Valley countered early in the second quarter, as Caleb Bartko leaped for a ball with two defenders draped on him and ripped the ball out of their hands to get it down to the one where Trevor Forster would punch it in to make it 7-6 in favor of Boyceville.

It was all Boyceville after that as the Spring Valley offense could not get anything else going.

“We made some mistakes early and it seemed like it just kept snowballing on us,” Kapping said. “Gave up more big plays than we had all year, and that obviously is going to come back to hurt you against a really good football team.”

Spring Valley beat Boyceville late in the regular season in Boyceville to secure the Dunn-St. Croix Conference championship in a 19-18 game. The game had it all, with composure ultimately being the deciding factor. This time around, it was clear Boyceville was going to throw everything they had on the line and they did exactly that.

A major piece to what gave Spring Valley troubles against Boyceville this year is Roemhild’s maneuverability in the backfield. Pressure from the defensive line had little effect when he continued to find windows to throw or run.

“They play fast. They play really aggressive, they play fast, they’re confident in themselves,” Kapping said. “When you put that all together, they’re a tough team.”

Boyceville’s defense was absolutely stifling, holding Spring Valley to just 136 yards on 39 plays, good for under 3.5 yards per play. In comparison, Boyceville finished with 306 yards on 55 plays for over 5.5 yards per play.

Boyceville was dominant in the run game with 246 yards including Zach Hellendrung with 95 yards and a pair of scores and Roemhild with 87 yards on 11 carries.

Spring Valley’s senior class consisted of Carter Koehler, Trevor Forster, Cade Stasiek, Caleb Bartko, Charlie Hollstadt, Austin Lewis, Connor Erickson, Masyn Wolf, Carter Anderson and Elijah Haug and they accomplished a lot.

“Special. Three conference championships and a runner-up,” Kapping said. “They’re going to be hard to replace. They’ll hold a special place in Spring Valley history.”