Several local high school football teams were in action under the lights on Friday night. Teams that earned victories include Ellsworth, Spring Valley, Elmwood/Plum City and Prescott, a clean sweep for Pierce County on the gridiron.

The first team on the list, and perhaps one of the most dominant teams in Wisconsin, is the Ellsworth Panthers. On Friday, Sept. 17, the Panthers hosted a visiting Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau team that went into the contest with a 13 record.

Ellsworth wasted no time getting out to an early lead. Less than 20 seconds into the game, Jack Janke picked off a pass and took it to the endzone for a defensive touchdown to put the Panthers up 8-0. Three minutes later Janke struck again, that time it was on the offensive side of the ball when he threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Ashten Quade to go up 16-0.

Ellsworth added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to expand the lead to 30-0 and then two more in the third quarter. By that time, the Panthers’ lead had ballooned to 46-0. Each team added another touchdown in the fourth quarter which led to Ellsworth’s final score victory of 53-8.

The blowout victory moves the Panthers’ record to 4-0 for the season, which is tied for first place in the Middle Border Conference with Osceola and Prescott, two teams that are also undefeated in conference action.

The tie, at least with Osceola, will be broken on Friday, Sept. 24. The Ellsworth Panthers will travel up to Osceola to play the Chieftains in what will be the most important game of Ellsworth’s season thus far. That game is slated to kickoff at 7 p.m.

Prescott defeats Amery 42-13

Ellsworth and Osceola will always have a significant buzz around their teams because of past success in the postseason. However, the Prescott Cardinals football team, under the direction of head coach Jordan Hansen, is 4-1 this season and is tied with Osceola and Ellsworth for first place in the Middle Border Conference standings.

That tie remained in place after Prescott’s 4213 victory on the road against the Amery Warriors. Prescott came out of the gate with a scoring barrage that is rarely seen. Hansen’s team put up 28 unanswered points in the first quarter, essentially ending the game in the first 12 minutes of play.

After Prescott got up 35-0, Amery finally got on the board with two touchdowns. Prescott added another score that resulted in the 42-13 win. Cardinal running back Aiden Russell was the star for the night for Prescott.

Russell tallied 137 rushing yards on 23 attempts. Four of those carries went for touchdowns. Russell averaged 6 yards per carry and was the driving factor in the Friday night road victory. While the offense was potent, the defense was also stout. The Cardinals have only given up 19 points through their first three conference games. The only team with a better defensive record in the Middle Border Conference is Ellsworth, which has allowed only 15 points.

The next game for the 4-1 Cardinals is on Friday, Sept. 24, at home against Baldwin-Woodville. That game is expected to get underway at 7 p.m.

Spring Valley takes solo first in Dunn-St. Croix Conference with 42-10 win over Glenwood City

Another local Cardinals team is also making a serious push for playoff contention. The Spring Valley Cardinals also noted their fourth win of the season on Friday night, as they hosted a visiting Glenwood City team.

The first points of the game came with 17 seconds left in the first quarter when Spring Valley quarterback Connor Ducklow threw a fouryard touchdown pass to Tyler Bowman. Glenwood City answered back with just over eight minutes left in the second quarter when Max Janson scampered for a five-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7.

After a couple more scores in the second quarter, Spring Valley had a 21-10 lead at the half. The third quarter was when Spring Valley separated itself from Glenwood City. The Cardinals scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter that consisted of a 30-yard Ducklow touchdown pass to Bowman, a 29-yard rushing touchdown by Brady Bednarek and a 60-yard touchdown run by Justin Rielly to take a 42-10 lead which was held until the end of the game.

Spring Valley tallied over 400 yards of offense compared to Glenwood City’s 242 total yards. The Cardinals improve to 4-1 for the season and are alone atop the Dunn-St. Croix Conference standings.

Spring Valley’s next game is on Friday, Sept. 24, on the road against Colfax, a team that is winless in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play. That game is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m.

Elmwood/Plum City survives close game against Clear Lake, 16-12

The closest game of the week for local teams came from Elmwood/Plum City, who traveled to Clear Lake to take on the Warriors in the Friday night matchup.

Elmwood/Plum City got on the board first with a four-yard touchdown run with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter. The rushing touchdown was one of Blake Allen’s nine carries for the game.

Six minutes of game time later, the Warriors responded with a one-yard touchdown but failed to convert the two-point conversion which would have tied the game. Instead, it was an 86 lead for Elmwood/Plum City.

After that, both teams went on a scoring drought until Elmwood/Plum City scored a twoyard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter to go up 16-6. Clear Lake responded with a rushing touchdown two minutes later, but it was too late, as Elmwood/Plum City held the 16-12 lead for the remainder of the game. Elmwood/Plum City’s 2-3 overall record, with a 2-1 conference record, has the team tied for second place in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference standings.

Elmwood/Plum City will have a chance to improve that record on Friday night when they host Cadott in a conference matchup at 7 p.m.

Ryan Matzek of the Ellsworth Panthers takes off toward the endzone while he is flanked by running back Max Grand. Matzek, Grand and the Panthers defeated Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 53-6 to remain undefeated for the season. Photo by Gaylen Bicking