Boyceville avenges loss to Spring Valley with level 3 playoff win for first ever sectional crown

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SPRING VALLEY — When Boyceville hosted Spring Valley back on October 11, the Bulldogs missed on all three of its extra point opportunities which allowed the Cardinals to escape with a heart-wrenching 19-18 victory and eventually this season’s  Dunn-St. Croix football championship.

As fate would have it, the pair met once again last Friday evening, November 8 in a WIAA Division 7, level 3 playoff game in Spring Valley, and this time, the Bulldogs would not be denied.

A dominate performance on both sides of the ball highlighted by three touchdowns and three good extra point kicks off the foot of Zach Hellendrung led Boyceville to a 21-6 win for the program’s first-ever level three victory and sectional football championship. And even more significant, a date in this Friday’s state semifinal game against the defending state champion Edgar Wildcats who booted the Bulldogs from last year’s playoff picture with a 52-26 win in a D7, level 3 contest that was played at Evenson Field.

“It is always special when you make history in sports. It is even more special when you make it with family, friends, and the best fans around. What a night!” said  Boyceville head coach Michael Roemhild following the Spring Valley victory.

“We knew coming into this game that if we did our job we would be happy with the results.  Our loss the first time against Valley is exactly what we needed. It definitely doesn’t feel good losing, but we were able to really break down film, make adjustments, switch some personnel, and not look back.  I am so proud of these players and my coaching staff. This couldn’t have played out any better for us,” added Roemhild.

Boyceville outgained Spring Valley by a better than two to one margin as it finished with 314 yards of total offense – 246 on the ground and 68 through the air – compared to just 141 for the host.

Throughout the game, the Bulldogs enjoyed good field position, a trend they began on the game’s opening drive when Carson Roemhild returned the kickoff to the ‘Dogs own 39.

From there, the junior duo of quarterback Carson Roemhild and running back Zach Hellendrung established an effective rushing tandem that battered the Cardinal defense. The big play was Roemhild’s 27-yard run that gave the Bulldogs a first and goal at the Cardinal nine. Unfortunately, the promising drive stalled as three straight rushes netted just four yards and a heavy Cardinal rush forced Roemhild to throw an incompletion on fourth down .

Taking control on its own five yard line with 7:01 remaining in the first quarter, Spring Valley managed to move out of the shadow of its own goal with a pair of first downs, but the Boyceville defense stiffened and forced the Cardinals to punt after a one-yard run and back-to-back incomplete pass attempts.

Cade Stasiek’s short punt was returned 17 yards by Roemhild to the Spring Valley 38. It took Boyceville just four plays to find the end zone. Hellendrung opened the Bulldogs’ second drive with an 11-yard gain. Freshman Tucker Lindstrom, who saw his first extended varsity action of the season, duplicated Hellendrung’s previous carry for another 11 yards.

Hellendrung picked up two on a first-down run before Roemhild lofted a nice toss into the hands of junior Owen Rydel, who had gotten behind the Spring Valley defense, for the 14-yard touchdown at the 2:31 mark. Hellendrung added an all important PAT kick and the Bulldogs had the early advantage at 7-0.

The Cardinals would respond.

Alternating runs between its senior quarterback Stasiek and backs Trevor Forster and Asher Turner, Spring Valley moved the football near the mid-field stripe as the first quarter drew to an end.

The Cardinals continued their ground attack in the second. Stasiek ran a pair to open the stanza that netted 14 yards and took the ball inside the Boyceville 40 yard line. After a short gain on first down, Stasiek completed a six-yard throw to Ian Hakes that left the Cards a yard short. Stasiek again went to the air, but pressure forced him to loft a high toss down the middle of the field. The ball appeared to be intercepted by Roemhild with Landyn Leslie also defending. But, as Roemhild began to fall to the ground, the ball came loose and ended up in the arms of Cardinal receiver Caleb Bartko who landed at the one yard line. On the very next play, Forster took the ball to pay dirt. Although the kick attempt missed, Spring Valley was within a point at 7-6 with 9:26 left in the half.

The Bulldogs took the ensuing kickoff and returned it to their own 40. Hellendrung carried the first two plays for six yard. Lindstrom got the call on the next two runs which produced another six yards including four on a fourth and two that netted a fresh set of downs.         

The Bulldogs then caught the Cardinals on a double reverse that Lexton Benitz ran for 25 yards to the Spring Valley 23. Hellendrung carred twice for five and two yards and Roemhild picked up nine on third down to give Boyceville a first and goal at the seven. Three straight runs by Hellendrung, the final one from a yard out, had the Bulldogs back in the end zone. Hellendrung kicked the PAT straight through the uprights even after a false start penalty pushed Boyceville back five yards. The kick had the Bulldogs ahead by eight at 14-6 with 3:52 left in the half.

That was also the score at intermission as Boyceville forced Spring Valley to punt on its next possession before draining off the final minute of the half.

Spring Valley received the second-half kickoff and made it to the Boyceville 35 before three incomplete passes ended the drive.

Boyceville took over and quickly moved into Cardinal territory on runs of 19 and 11 by Roemhild and Hellendrung, respectively. But, three plays later, following a third-down time out, Roemhild was sacked and fumbled. Spring Valley’s Connor Erickson recovered the loose pigskin at his team’s 40.

The Cardinal’s ensuing possession ended after three plays lost six yards and they had to punt.

The Bulldogs started at their own 42 and on the second play from scrimmage, Roemhild completed a pass to Rydel for the second time in the game with the result being a 35-yard gain down to SV 20. Hellendrung rushed four straight times for 14 yards to give the Bulldogs a second and goal at the Cardinal six as time expired on the third quarter.

Roemhild gained a yard to start the final stanza and Hellendrung had a two-yard gain to leave Boyceville with a fourth and goal at the Valley three yard line. Roemhild took the ensuing snap, drove hard up the middle and appeared to make the end zone. The football, however, was spotted short of the goal line and after several seconds of discussion by the officials the possession was awarded to Spring Valley on downs with 10:22 to play.

Spring Valley narrowly avoided a safety on second down and when Stasiek’s third-down pass completion to Bartko was short of the line of gain, the Cardinals had to punt.

Roemhild returned Stasiek’s punt 18 yards to set the Bulldogs up at the Cardinal 24. A two-yard gain by Lindstrom and a Roemhild carry for no gain had the Bulldogs facing a third and long. Needing eight yards, Hellendrung ran for nine and a first down at the 13. Roemhild carried for seven on second down and Hellendrung finished off the drive with his second TD run of the game, this from six yards away. He added the kick and the Bulldogs had a commanding 21-6 lead with just 4:33 left in the game.

Spring Valley’s final possession lasted all of one play as Stasiek was intercepted by Landyn Leslie and the Bulldogs took over at the Cards 37 and ran out the final 4:15 to earn their first-ever sectional championship in football.

Roemhild passed for 68 yards on a 4-for-6 performance with a touchdown to Owen Rydel who tallied two catches for 53 yards. Bradley Maes and Hellendrung each had a catch for six and nine yards, respectively. Roemhild also added 87 yards on the ground with 12 rushes. Hellendrung, however, was the top ground gainer for Boyceville with 24 carries for 95 yards and two scores and three extra points. Lindstrom finished with 30 yards on seven hauls and Benitz had the double-reverse run for 24 yards.

Stasiek accounted for 95 of the Cardinals 141 yards. He was 4-for-10 passing for 52 yards and an interception and ran ten times for 43 yards. Forster added 37 yards rushing on ten carries and had the Cards’ lone TD.

Boyceville, now 11-1, advances to level 4 competition or the state semifinal to face Edgar this Friday evening, November 15 on Chippewa Falls High School’s  Dorais Field.

“This group made history tonight in front of a packed and loud crowd. No team has made it to level 4 from Boyceville. This group can now say they are D7 Sectional Champs, but they aren’t going to settle for that. Once we got off the bus our minds were already on Edgar. We are going up against the best team in the state, and they have been that team for years. Edgar is a team that others strive to be,” concluded Roemhild.