Toppers clipped by Cardinals second-half surge
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GLENWOOD CITY senior defensive lineman Nick Hierlmeier tackled Spring Valley runner back Diego Schmidt during a home contest September 9. Despite an earlier 12-0 advantage, the Hilltoppers lost the D-SC football contest 27-12. —photo by Jacob Maes Photography
GLENWOOD CITY — The Hilltoppers got off to a promising start last Friday when they hosted the Spring Valley Cardinals in a Dunn-St. Croix football clash.
A pair of Max Janson touchdowns gave Glenwood City a 12-0 advantage with under five minutes to play in the first half. But, 22 seconds after Janson’s second score, Spring Valley ripped of a long touchdown run to finally get on the scoreboard. The Hilltoppers still took a 12-7 to halftime.
But the entire complexion of the game changed in the second half. Glenwood City began having issues moving the ball consistently and with turnovers. Spring Valley, the defending conference champions, took advantage of the situation and scored 20 unanswered points in the final 24 minutes for the 27-12 victory.
The Toppers second straight conference loss dropped them to 0-2 in league play and 2-2 overall.
“I was happy with our kids on defense. They stayed disciplined on their option keys most of the night, which gave us a chance to win the game,” stated Glenwood City head coach Shane Strong.
The first quarter remained scoreless until Janson ran the ball into the end zone from five yards out with just 47 seconds remaining on the clock. The extra point try sailed wide left leaving Glenwood City with a 6-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Glenwood City put together another solid drive that was capped by Janson’s second touchdown run of the game, this one coming from a yard away with 4:48 left on the first-half clock. The Toppers’ run for two points was stopped by the Cardinals but the lead was now 12-0.
It didn’t take long for Spring Valley to answer this time. Just 22 after Glenwood City took a dozen-point lead, Spring Valley finally erased its scoreboard goose egg with a 55-yard run by Diego Schmitt. A Cade Stasiek PAT cut the Cardinal deficit to 12-7.
“We gave up that long run before half on an inadvertent whistle that didn’t get called back,” noted Strong. “It was a bad break for us, but we need to respond when we face adversity.”
The Toppers would face plenty of that in the second half.
Spring Valley would go to the air for its second touchdown. Cardinal backup quarterback Cade Stasiek come on late in the third quarter to replace injured starter Wyatt Goveronski and promptly tossed a seven-yard touchdown to Justin Rielly on his only pass attempt of the game. Spring Valley was stopped on the two-point conversion attempt but suddenly it held the lead, 13-12, with 3:24 to play in the third quarter.
Spring Valley would put the game out of reach with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Schmitt scored his second rushing touchdown, this one from four yards, to extend the Cardinals advantage to 19-12 with 9:20 to play as the try for two failed to get the ball across the goal line.
TOPPERS’ running back Morgan Eggert took the ball up the middle of the field for a gain during Glenwood City’s conference football contest versus Spring Valley September 9. Eggert finished with 17 yards on five carries. —photo by Jacob Maes Photography
“We gave up that third-quarter touchdown on third and long,” said Strong. “We need to get our defense off the field on third down.”
“We struggled on offense to get anything consistent going,” he added.
Senior slinger Gabe Knops was intercepted on Glenwood City’s next possession giving the ball back to Spring Valley at the Topper 35.
The Cardinals methodically moved the ball downfield eventually scoring on a Stasiek four-yard run at the 2:33 mark. Stasiek ran in the two-point conversion to make it 27-12.
Glenwood City appeared to finally have something going as Janson turned in a nice run to put the Toppers at the Spring Valley ten yard line. That opportunity, however, would not come to fruition as Knops threw his second pick of the game allowing Spring Valley to hold on for the 27-12 victory.
Glenwood City finished with 221 yards of offense. Max Janson led the ground game with 81 yards and two TDs on 19 attempts. Knops added 47 yards on a dozen carries and was 7-for-13 passing for 76 yards with two interceptions. Janson hauled in a pair of receptions for 42 yards with Brady Klatt adding 22 yards on three catches.
Spring Valley had just a few more yards than the host Hilltoppers as it netted 237 yards of offense with 216 coming on the ground. Diego Schmitt led that attack with 120 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 19 carries. Cade Stasiek added 85 yards rushing and a score on 15 attempts.
Strong gave kudos to seniors Gabe Knops, Brady Klatt and Max Janson for their defensive efforts saying, “They play so hard and determined, which is what you love to see from upperclassmen.”
Glenwood City will look to get back in the win column this Friday when it travels to Clear Lake.