A Spring Valley win that came down to a two-point conversion, a perfectly executed River Falls drive and Elmwood/Plum City sending off its senior class summed up a dynamite playoff Friday night.

Spring Valley

The Dunn-St. Croix co-conference champions were on the ropes as the No. 3 seed at home against No. 6 Whitehall. Whitehall is a team Spring Valley is familiar with, with the Cardinals knocking them out of the playoffs two years ago.

This time around was not as easy, despite Spring Valley leading by multiple scores at the half. Whitehall struck first on the game’s opening drive with a 38-yard run up the middle, 7-0. Spring Valley wasted no time getting revenge, with a long end-around run from senior Sam Schmitt and an off-tackle run from senior Asher Turner setting Spring Valley up in the red zone on just two offensive plays. It was Schmitt that punched the ball into the endzone on a run up the gut, 7-7.

Spring Valley secured a quick stop, and Schmitt made a couple of nice runs, including a fourth down conversion, to put the Cardinals just shy of the opposing 20 yard-line. Turner was the one who finished the job this time around, going untouched at the goal line for a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter. Whitehall was immediately held to a third down with 18 yards to go, dropping back to pass and being met with a big hit from junior Max Vodnik on the edge. The pass was misdirected high into the air, where sophomore Landon Forster would snatch it over the middle of the field and take it to the house, 20-7.

Spring Valley had a chance to tack on one more score before the half with a first and goal scenario, but the pressure got to senior quarterback Mason Winger, who was intercepted near the line of scrimmage while being wrapped up by the pass rush.

Electric speed got Whitehall back into the game midway through the third quarter, taking the edge on a hand-off and not turning back, 20-14 Spring Valley. Winger got his redemption early in the fourth, hitting Turner in the flat who got great blocks from the receivers out wide and scored an 18-yarder, 28-14.

On the ensuing kick, Whitehall showed life, as senior Bo Killian scooped up a ball that his return man teammate had fumbled, running it all the way to the house. With under two minutes to play Whitehall had third and 13 in their own territory, a quarterback scramble picked up the first down after traversing about a mile to avoid being tackled in the backfield. They then converted a deep pass with under one minute remaining to find their way into the red zone. Whitehall scored with 14 seconds left, opting to go for a two-point conversion. They went with a quarterback keeper rolling right, but a group of Cardinals were there to snuff it out.

“Everybody is high energy. It’s really stressful, but we all want a stop. We’re all really passionate to do our goal as a team and as a family,” Schmitt said.

Whitehall’s onside kick took a wild bounce, winning the 22-man 100-meter dash to recover it. With 12 seconds left, Whitehall had two Hail Mary attempts, both broken up by the Cardinal secondary to secure an emotional win.

“It was good to hang on and get the win. Didn’t end the way we want to, obviously. We had chances to sort of put it away and just let them hang around and make some plays. Proud of the kids for sticking in there,” Spring Valley Head Coach Ryan Kapping said. “Try to stay calm, let the kids be calm. If we get agitated, the kids are going to get agitated and nervous.”

Next up for the Cardinals is No. 2 River Ridge on the road, meaning a long road trip for the team Friday. Schmitt said the team is going to have to be ready to go from the opening snap.

“It’s nice to get it out of the way and onto the next week,” Schmitt said. “It’s obviously nice to win on our home field. Love to have our crowd out here. Love to come back next week for a long drive.”

Kapping said a challenge the team faces is going from preparation for a run-heavy team in Whitehall to a team with more of a passing focus in River Ridge.

“A lot of attention to detail. I think River Ridge is going to give us a very different type of challenge,” Kapping said. “It’s a different week of preparation than what we had this week.”

River Falls

No. 6 River Falls hit the road against No. 3 Holmen expecting a game of grit, and the Wildcats got one.

“They’re getting better every week. We felt like we had played tough teams that have prepared us for this situation, and the defense did a phenomenal job,” Head Coach Ryan Scherz said.

On Holmen’s second play of the game, disaster struck. The Vikings ran a fake hand-off into an errant lateral which senior Nolan Hoepfl dove on to give the Wildcat offense the ball on Holmen’s 30. Holmen stood tall this time, as a fourth down play action roll out throw was over the head of tight end Caden Johnston for a turnover.

Holmen capitalized on its chance with great field position that was sparked by a fumble on a hand-off when backed up near the end zone. The Vikings connected on a passing touchdown with a little over a minute remaining in the first quarter.

The second quarter was the quarter of the cat. On fourth down at the two-yard-line, sophomore quarterback Maxim Wahlquist snuck it up the middle to tie the game 7-7. With 57 seconds remaining in the half, Wahlquist threw a strike over the middle to senior Luke Anderson, who made a nice, contested catch for a 14-7 lead.

After quickly stopping the Wildcats to open the second half, Holmen returned the punt to tie the game. The return man caught the ball in stride, and that head of steam took him 55 yards. The final touchdown of the game for either team came in style. Wahlquist completed a pass deep to the left side to Anderson to pick up about 35 yards, and a single play later, he went deep to the right side to senior Charlie Burke for 33 yards to the one-yard-line. Max Helminiak scored the touchdown on a quick pitch.

“It was a good response after giving up a punt return touchdown. We really needed an answer there, and a couple seniors stepped up and made some big plays. Sophomore quarterback put it on them,” Scherz said.

For the rest of the game, the Wildcat defense really did not even bend, let alone break.

“They’re battle-tested, so there’s not too much that should phase them at this point,” Scherz said of this year’s Wildcat team. “It was important to them that they tried to find a way to get another week, and they got another week and they got another home game.”

River Falls will be hosting Friday’s second round matchup because No. 7 Brookfield Central upset No. 2 Beaver Dam in a 42-41 shootout. Scherz said Brookfield Central has had a similar season as his Wildcats.

“It’s another week against a good team. They’re not a typical No. 7 seed. They play very good competition in their conference. They’re kind of similar to us, they’ve played good teams and they might be seeded a little bit lower than maybe what you would expect.”

Elmwood/Plum City

EPC took a three-and-a-half-hour road trip to face No. 2 River Ridge as the No. 7 seed themselves. The Wolves found the endzone once on an eight-yard pass from Logan Auth to Gabe Karshbaum but came up short 43-8.

It was the team’s first playoff appearance since 2023, and a big part of that was the leadership of the upperclassmen. EPC’s senior class featured 10 student-athletes: Landen McDonough, Kramer Anderson, Teigen Bauer, Brewer Link, Robbie Duffy, Logan Auth, Caleb Keith, Joseph Gonzalez, Brock Kober and Jackson Drexler.

“Our seniors were the backbone of our team. Every one of them started both ways at one point during the season. Due to our lack of numbers some of them had to play out of position and it was a sacrifice that did not go unnoticed. Very proud of them,” EPC Head Coach Mike Birtzer said. “Our senior side of the line-Kober, Drexler, and Gonzalez was the side that we went to when we had to get a first down and they were almost always on the money. McDonough, Bauer, Link, Auth, Duffy, Anderson all had different games where they stepped up and made big plays during the season in some way or another which is something that all of them will be able to remember as they move on.”