Spring Valley and River Falls saw their football seasons come to a close Friday night, each dropping games in the second round of the postseason. Both teams rode strong senior classes into battle each week, which was a reason they got further than most.

Spring Valley

No. 3 Spring Valley hit the road to face No. 2 River Ridge, where the Cardinals could not get the offense sparked in a 21-7 loss. Senior quarterback Mason Winger punched in a run from the one yard-line with four minutes to play, but it was too late to spark a rally against one of the division’s best teams.

The Cardinals shared the Dunn-St. Croix Conference title this year and finished with an 8-3 record. It is no secret why, as the family mentality was shown to anyone in attendance.

“Just a very positive group. A very positive group that worked really hard. Not a large group in numbers, but they were major contributors on the field and developed a real family atmosphere,” Head Coach Ryan Kapping said. “Their ability to do that allowed a lot of the underclassmen to step into some roles and really improve throughout the year.”

Kapping said the senior class got where they were because of the hard work, and that is a torch the underclassmen will have to carry to continue the program’s success.

“The real big thing is trying to get these underclassmen to understand the opportunity that lies in front of them. Make sure that they’re getting going and doing the things that it’s going to take to be successful and take the next step,” Kapping said.

River Falls

No. 6 River Falls and No. 7 Brookfield Central battled on the Wildcats’ home field, coming in as two teams that were better than their 6-4 and 4-6 records due to difficult schedules. Brookfield Central took the first carry of the game for 75 yards and would eventually score. The first quarter was all Brookfield Central, leading 14-0.

River Falls struck back in the second, when sophomore quarterback Maxim Wahlquist found senior Ryker O'Keefe up the seam to cut the lead to 14-7. That would be the last of the first half damage for River Falls, going down 35-7 at the break after the Lancers blocked a field goal and took it all the way to the house with zero seconds on the clock.

The Wildcats did not call it quits with freshman Will Imrie and senior Nolan Hoepfl scoring on goal line runs for a final score of 42-20. Hoepfl has been a defensive cornerstone at linebacker for the Wildcats over the years, and he was rewarded with his first carry of the year for the touchdown. He finished second on the team with 72 total tackles and led the team with 61 solo tackles.

The team is losing plenty of senior contributors but will also retain some talented starters heading into 2027.