The Spring Valley Cardinals football team advanced to the Division 7 sectional semi-final which will be played on Friday, Nov. 5, at #1 seed Regis. The Cardinals advanced after defeating #3 Pepin/Alma 27-21 at home on Friday, Oct. 29.

Spring Valley has quietly put together one of the best seasons of any team in Pierce County this fall. Including the win on Friday night against Pepin/Alma, the Cardinals have a 9-2 record and are one of only two local football teams remaining in the playoffs, Ellsworth being the other.

The Friday night victory was another defining win for head coach Ryan Kapping and his Cardinals roster. Pepin/Alma got on the board first with a six-yard touchdown run by Afton Sterry less than three minutes into the game. It was the lone score of the first quarter. The second score of the half came with 44 seconds left when Riley Stiehl of Pepin/Alma scored on a two-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead.

However, with nine seconds left in the first half, Wyatt Goveronski completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Bowman to make the Eagles’ lead 14-7. The second half was when the Spring Valley offense truly got into a rhythm.

With five minutes to go in the third quarter, Goveronski scored again, this time with his legs on a three-yard touchdown run. A missed PAT meant that the Cardinals still trailed Pepin/Alma 14-13. The Eagles added another touchdown with 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter to take a 21-13 lead.

After that, it was Spring Valley dominance the rest of the way. Goveronski again connected with Bowman, this time it was an 11-yard touchdown toss which was followed by a successful two-point conversion to tie the game 21-21 with seven minutes to play in the game. The game-winning score for Spring Valley came with two minutes left in regulation when Goveronski threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Bowman to give the Cardinals a 27-21 advantage that they held the rest of the game.

The Goveronski to Bowman connection was dominant throughout the game against Pepin/Alma and was the driving force in the Cardinals’ sectional quarter-final victory. Kapping’s squad advances to play on the road against the #1 seed Regis.

That game will be played on Friday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. The winner of that game will play either #1 Hurley or #2 Coleman from the other side of the bracket with the winner advancing to state.