By Reagan Hoverman

The Spring Valley High School football team will look dierent next season, as the Cardinals graduate elite quarterback and wide re –

ceiver talent that will signifi – cantly alter how the oense operates throughout the 2022 season.

For years Spring Valley High School sports have been dominated by outgo – ing seniors Connor Ducklow and Tyler Bowman. They have served as integral parts of multiple teams that made deep playo runs and now a new cast of Spring Valley youth will take over the reins of the Cardinals' football team.

The 2021 season was one of the best in years for Spring Valley. Led by the aforemen –

tioned senior duo of Duck –

low and Bowman, the Cardi – nals finished the season with a 9-3 overall record and a 6-1 record in Dunn-St. Croix Conference games, which secured a 2021 conference championship.

The Ducklow to Bowman connection made Spring Val- ley one of the most balanced oenses in the Division 7 playo bracket. Ducklow led the team with 1,113 passing yards while Bowman led all skill positions with 751 re – ceiving yards for the 2021 campaign. Spring Valley head coach Ryan Kapping spoke about having those two weapons on the roster.

"We're always going to run the football first, but it just so happened that we had a tremendous weapon on the outside (Bowman) that al – lowed us to throw it more," Kapping said. "We had a quarterback (Ducklow) who was pretty gifted too." While that era of Spring Valley football is over, Kap – ping and his coaching sta will begin to shift the oen –

sive focus away from a dy – namic air attack and instead will further commit to the rushing game.

Spring Valley had five players rush for over 300 yards last season, two of whom return for the 2022 campaign including senior Justin Rielly and junior Di – ego Schmitt. Rielly tallied 581 rushing yards on 58 car – ries and Schmitt produced 318 yards on 57 carries. Kap – ping spoke about committing to the ground game this sea – son.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see us with a little more ball control and running the foot – ball and trying to possess the ball and play really good de- fense," Kapping said. "Justin Rielly was a big part of what we did all season oensively, he's one of those key piec – es that are back. Fullback is always important for us and Diego Schmitt will take on a bigger responsibility within our oense this year." One of the most important aspects of generating a dy –

namic rushing attack is hav – ing an eective oensive line that wins at the line of scrim –

mage. All of the starting of – fensive line returns from last season and Kapping believes that will help jumpstart an otherwise young oense.

“We have really good line units back this year and that's where our experience is," Kapping said. "All of those guys played last year on both sides of the ball, so we've got some bodies there that we're excited about and we hope that they lead us early." Junior QB Wyatt Gove – ronski steps into the vacant position under center with more experience than many would expect based on the success that Ducklow had throughout his high school career. Throughout the 2021 season, Ducklow regularly battled injury which meant that then-backup Goveronski had to step in and take over the oense.

The most notable example of that was in the first game of the postseason against the Webster Tigers when Duck low went down with a low- er leg injury during the first oensive series. Goveronski buckled up the chin strap, stepped on the field and be –

gan orchestrating the Cardi – nals' oense.

Goveronski led Spring Valley to a 19-0 win over Webster and a 27-21 win over Pepin/Alma before fall –

ing to #1 Regis 28-13. Kap – ping spoke about Goveronski stepping up to the challenge and taking control of the team during the most import – ant time of the season.

"Wyatt Goveronski steps in at the quarterback posi – tion and he played during the playo run when Connor (Ducklow) was down with an injury and he played well during that," Kapping said. "He did great and got us two wins and had us right there against Regis. He's taken on the leadership role and is a vocal kid." In the three games that Goveronski played at QB, he compiled 417 passing yards, completed 54% of his throws and tallied six passing touch –

downs. Kapping has confi – dence that Goveronski will provide a smooth transition at the QB slot this season.

While the goal is always to win games, Kapping stated that he hasn't put pressure on himself or his kids of repeat –

ing as Dunn-St. Croix Con – ference champions. Instead, he just wants to ensure that his roster gets better every day and improves throughout the season.

“I never try to predict where we're going to be at the end of the year," Kapping said. "Our biggest thing is to try to play our best football at the end of the season and see what happens in the mean – time. We set standards for each day and week and try to give ourselves a chance to win on Friday night. Hope – fully, those wins will pile up by the end of the year." Spring Valley's first ov – cial game of the season is on Friday, Aug. 19, on the road against Durand. That game is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

A Spring Valley football player bounces a run outside during the Cardinals’ practice on Thursday, Aug. 11, at the high school practice field. Head coach Ryan Kapping stated that the 2022 iteration of the Cardinals will focus on the rushing attack. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

A Spring Valley corner and wide receiver leap for a pass during the Cardinals’ afternoon practice on Thursday, Aug. 11, at the high school. Multiple receivers will try to fill the void of outgoing senior Tyler Bowman who led the Cardinals in all major receiving categories. Photo by Reagan Hoverman