Spring Valley remains perfect 5-0 in conference play

Winning a potentially season-defining game against a good football team on the road in a hostile crowd environment can say a lot about a team. Spring Valley did exactly that against Turtle Lake on Friday, Sept. 30.

It was a high-stakes contest between the two Dunn-St. Croix Conference schools. Spring Valley entered the game 4-0 in league play while Turtle Lake had a 3-1 record. A Turtle Lake victory would have made it a four-way tie at the top of the standings between Spring Valley, Turtle Lake, Cadott and Elmwood/Plum City.

Instead, Spring Valley secured a 34-18 victory, improved to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play and took control of the conference championship race with only two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Spring Valley received the opening kick and went straight into its patented rushing attack that featured junior Diego Schmitt. He took the first several carries of the game and began moving the chains for the Cardinals.

Spring Valley didn’t throw a single pass on the opening drive, which the aforemen- tioned Schmitt capped ou with a 14-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The Cardinals’ defense also showed up to play. Spring Valley stuued Turtle Lake on a  third-and-short on its first possession of the  game and forced a punt to the Cardinals’ 20yard line.

It was again Schmitt that handled most of the carries, with a couple of option/QB keeper plays by sophomore quarterback Cade Stasiek, who is still under center in place of junior Wyatt Goveronski. On the second play of the second quarter, Schmitt scampered into the endzone for a two-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 for the Cardinals.

Another stop by the Spring Valley defense got the ball back to the ouense in prime scor ing position. That’s when the aforementioned Stasiek broke loose on a 40-yard quarterback keeper. He shed multiple tackles en route to the touchdown that gave Spring Valley an astonishing  20-0  lead  late  in  the  first  half  against Turtle Lake.

However,  Turtle  Lake  executed  its  final  possession of the first half and the first pos session of the third quarter to perfection. The Lakers scored with less than 30 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 20-6, got the ball to start the third quarter and put together a four-minute, 70-yard touchdown drive to make it a 20-12 ballgame.

While Spring Valley had dominated nearly the entire game and built a 20-0 lead, it was a one-score contest in two possessions and suddenly Turtle Lake had life. The Cardinals responded with a four-minute, 65-yard touchdown drive that culminated in a 13-yard Schmitt touchdown carry and a successful two-point conversion to make it 28-12, Cardinals. Spring Valley head coach Ryan Kapping spoke about how important that drive was.

"I  think  our  guys  are  growing  up  a  lot,"  Kapping said. “I always tell them that we just need to play to our standard and their standard needs to be the best that they can put out there. To have a drive like that is big. Those are things we can take forward into next week and build on." Turtle Lake refused to roll over, as junior quarterback Walker Korish connected with senior wide receiver Drew Torgerson on a 43-yard pitch and catch that got the Lakers down inside the Spring Valley 10-yard line. Two plays later, the Lakers found the endzone on a two-yard rushing touchdown to make it 28-18, Spring Valley.

The Cardinals responded with another methodical drive down the field that chewed  four minutes ou the clock and ended with a  20-yard touchdown run by Stasiek. The score gave Spring Valley a 34-18 lead with just under nine minutes remaining in the game, a score that it held until the final horn sounded.

Although Spring Valley had a couple of defensive breakdowns, the Cardinals had success taking away some of Turtle Lake’s explosive passing plays. The Lakers are one of the few teams in the Dunn-St. Croix Con- ference  that  has  a  truly  balanced  ouensive  scheme.

The aforementioned Goveronski, who plays quarterback and defensive back for Spring Valley, returned to action for the first  time in two weeks on Friday night. He only played defensive snaps because he hasn’t fully healed from his injury and the risk of re-injury is much higher at quarterback than defensive back.

For Kapping and the Spring Valley defense, getting Goveronski back in the secondary was important, especially in defend- ing Turtle Lake's balanced ouense. Kapping  spoke about Goveronski being a game-time decision.

“We weren’t sure if he was going to play, really until tonight," Kapping said. "The last  couple of days we prioritized (getting him back) on defense, just because we knew we were really thin in the secondary. We just figured he could protect his ankle better on  defense than at quarterback." Spring Valley’s secondary has been banged up this year and is struggling to get healthy. Getting Goveronski back, at least on defense, is a step in the right direction. However, Kapping told his players that playing well on offense will help the defense tremendously.

“I told the guys early in the week that our ouense  can  be  our  best  defense,"  Kapping  said. “Coach (Patrick) Houlton did a tremen- dous  job  with  the  ouensive  game  plan  and  Diego (Schmitt), Cade (Stasiek) and Trevor (Forster) all took care of the football. We played a clean game and it was a good, phys- ical win." Spring Valley remains in sole possession of first place in the Dunn-St. Croix Confer ence standings with two weeks left in the reg- ular season. However, those final two games  are against Cadott and Elmwood/Plum City, two programs that are 4-1 in league play this year.

The first of those two contests is on Friday,  Oct. 7, at home against Cadott. That game is slated to begin at 7 p.m.

Spring Valley senior defensive lineman Cole Steinmeyer lays a big hit on Turtle Lake junior quarterback Walker Korish. The hit forced a wobbly ball that eventually landed incomplete.Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Spring Valley junior Diego Schmitt (#25) and senior Makaden Parsons (#53) combine for a tackle of Turtle Lake’s Walker Korish.Photo by Reagan Hoverman