Glenwood City miscues result in loss to Spring Valley
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GLENWOOD CITY’S Mitchel Main hauled in this reception during the October 18 home football game versus Spring Valley.
—photo by Joel DeWitt
by Joel DeWitt
Sports Correspondent
GLENWOOD CITY – The Spring Valley football team strolled into town on Friday, October 18 with their heads held high. Coming off a win against previously unbeaten Boyceville the prior week, the Cardinals were looking to wrap up a perfect regular season when they faced off against the Hilltoppers.
Glenwood City, winners of three consecutive games, had positioned themselves solidly in third place in the conference standings and were anything but intimidated by the Division 7 fourth ranked (wissports.net) Cardinals.
A stingy Glenwood City defense held a powerful Cardinal offense to only 219 yards on the night. However, the Topper offense only managed 153 yards and committed three turnovers, two of which Spring Valley converted into touchdowns, as the Cardinals pulled away for the 21-3 victory.
“That was the difference in the game, the blocked punt and fumble on special teams gave Spring Valley a short field,” indicated coach Shane Strong. “You can’t make those mistakes in a big game and expect to win.”
The game started on a promising note for the Hilltoppers. After receiving the opening kickoff on their own 32-yard line, Mitch McGee converted two consecutive second down rushes into first downs to push Glenwood City into Spring Valley territory.
Brody Olson’s 18-yard scramble on third-and-long took the Toppers inside the redzone. That was all the farther the Hilltoppers made it as they settled for a short field goal by Javier Vilar Alvarez. The ten-play, 68-yard drive took 5:51 off the clock and gave Glenwood City the 3-0 advantage.
The Cardinals followed up with a long drive themselves. The 13-play drive consumed over nine minutes of game time and cumulated with a fourth-and-goal attempt from the Hilltopper one-yard line. The Hilltopper defense stuffed quarterback Cade Stasiek and gave the Hilltoppers the ball back.
The Hilltopper offense managed only a single first down on the proceeding possession and were forced to punt with their backs to the end zone. The punt by Olson was blocked by Spring Valley resulting in them taking over on the Hilltopper nine-yard line.
TOPPERS’ LONE POINTS — Glenwood City placekicker Javier Vilar Alvarez (#6) approached the hold of Andrew Blaser (#3) and made this first-quarter field goal for three points. As it turned out, those were the only points Glenwood City scored in its regular season football finale at home versus Spring Valley October 18. Logan McVeigh is also shown blocking during the play. The Cardinals won 21-3 to finish 9-0 in the regular season and claim the outright conference championship. —photo by Joel DeWitt
This time, the Cardinal offense capitalized on their opportunity inside the ten-yard line. Two plays later Trevor Forster‘s short rush put Spring Valley up 7-3 with 6:01 left in the half.
A three-and-out by Spring Valley to start the second half resulted in the Hilltoppers starting their initial second half possession with great field position at their 47-yard line. The ensuing Topper drive resulted in three first downs but was halted when Stasiek intercepted an Olson pass on the three-yard line and returned it to his 43-yard line.
Spring Valley exploited the Hilltopper miscue and drove 57 yards in seven plays for the 13-3 lead when Stasiek connected with Elijah Haug for the 14-yard touchdown reception.
The subsequent kickoff took a wrong turn for the Hilltoppers as the ball was fumbled on their 26-yard line and recovered by Spring Valley. Three plays later the Cardinals extended their lead to 21-3 with a Stasiek nine-yard rushing touchdown with 2:41 left in the third quarter.
The Hilltoppers attempted to counter the Cardinal momentum on their next possession. Starting on their own 30-yard line, the Toppers converted on back-to-back third down conversions, both on receptions by Brody Riba from Olson, to get into Spring Valley territory. However, Glenwood came up short on the drive as a fourth-down pass from Olson was intercepted on the Spring Valley nine-yard line.
After that drive the Hilltoppers were not able to mount any productive offensive possessions the reminder of the fourth quarter and fell to the Cardinals 21-3.
“Our defense played well all night. I was very pleased with our effort and pursuit of the ball,” commented coach Strong on his defense’s performance. He continued with his assessment of the offense, “We need to take care of the ball and play better on the offensive line.”
The loss in the season finale drops Glenwood City’s record to 6-3 on the year and puts them in a third-place tie in conference with Turtle Lake at 4-3. This year’s mark is their best finish since 2016 when they also posted a 6-3 regular season record.
Olson passed for 90 yards on the night, going 8-of-19 with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Three receivers, Ryley Dickmann, Brady Thompson, and Riba, had two catches apiece with Dickmann leading the way with 38 yards.
McGee paced the Hilltopper rushing attack with 45 yards on 12 carries. Olson was the only other Hilltopper to register rushing yardage with 22 on the night.
The third-place finish in the Dunn-St. Croix conference earned the Hilltoppers a fifth seed in the WIAA Division 7 football tournament. Glenwood City will travel to Blair on October 25 for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff against fourth seed Blair-Taylor in level one action. The Wildcats boast a 7-2 record and are co-champions of the Dairyland Conference.