Hilltoppers football season, playoff run ends with another loss to Spring Valley Cardinals

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SPRING VALLEY — Glenwood City’s game plan when it headed to
Spring Valley November 1 for its WIAA Division 7, level 2 football playoff game was simple – keep the ball out of the hands of the Cardinals’ offense as much as possible.

It was a tactic that worked well for the Hilltoppers in their 40-25 victory over Blair-Taylor in the previous week’s playoff opener.

And it was producing early results last Friday in Spring Valley as the Hilltoppers dominated the time of possession in the first quarter, ten minutes to two. Glenwood City ran 19 plays to three by Spring Valley over that span and held a 3-0 advantage after the first 12 minutes, thanks to a Javier Vilar Alvarez 30-yard field goal.

But, just like the pair’s contest in Glenwood City two weeks prior, a turnover would change the momentum and trajectory of the playoff game.

When Hilltopper quarterback Brody Olson was intercepted by the Cards’ Trevor Forester on just the third play of the second stanza, a switch seemed to flip on for the Spring Valley offense. The Cardinals proceeded to go on a  nine-play, 76 yards drive that culminated in a two-yard run to pay dirt by Forester that gave the Cardinals a 6-3 lead.

Spring Valley never trailed again as it scored three more touchdowns to defeat Glenwood City for the second time in two weeks, 27-10, and end the Hilltoppers’ season and playoff run.

“(We had a) Very similar plan to our level one game with a couple of formation changes,” said Shane Strong, Glenwood City head coach. “We wanted to keep the ball away from Spring Valley as much as possible. We started out playing very well, but could not find consistency up front.”

“That was a key play for sure,” noted Strong of the game-changing interception in the second quarter. “But, we need to respond on defense when that happens. We knew we would have to use our play-action to win this game with 9-10 guys in the box. Brody made a great throw the first time we went play-action to keep a drive alive. This play just didn’t work out for us.”

After Spring Valley won the coin toss and deferred its selection until the second half, Glenwood City took the game’s opening kickoff and drove down field with a solid ground attack.

Senior running back Mitchell McGee opened with gains of seven, three and four yards for the Toppers. Olson then gained just a yard to leave GC with a fourth and two. McGee, a workhorse these last two contests, netted four yards and a first down at the Spring Valley 30 yard line. 

After an illegal motion penalty on first down put the Toppers back five yards, Olson went to the air on play action and found an open Dylan LaBeree for a 14-yard completion. A short run by McGee gave the Toppers a fresh set of downs. But, a holding call against Glenwood City put it in a third and 19 situation. Olson got 14 yards back on a nice toss to Brock Wood that left the squad with a fourth and five. With the ball sitting on the Cardinal 14, Coach Strong opted for the field try which strong-legged foreign exchange student Javier Vilar Alvarez booted through the uprights from 30 yards away to give Glenwood City a 3-0 advantage with 5:19 left in the first.

Glenwood City’s defense then forced a three and out on the Cardinals’ first possession of the game.

The Toppers took over at their own 42 and moved to the Valley 36 by the end of the first quarter. 

But, just three plays into the second, Olson’s out pass was picked off at the 24 yard line.

Spring Valley moved down field quickly as the Cardinals’ elusive quarterback, Cade Stasiek, ripped off a 48-yard run to the GC 14. Three plays later, Forster busted across the goal line for six. The PAT kick went wide right, but Spring Valley led 6-3 at 6:48 of the second.

Stasiek’s runs would haunt the Toppers’ the rest of the evening as he finished with 158 yards on 16 carries to lead the Cardinals.

“The key for them was their quarterback (Stasiek),” stated Strong. “We locked their receivers down and contained their backs. He would scramble out and make big plays, while we missed far too many tackles on him. If we put him down in the backfield, it is a different game. He is a game changer for sure.”

Spring Valley went ahead 12-3 on its next possession when the Valley quarterback rushed the ball six yards to pay dirt with 1:48 left in the first half. Stasiek had another highlight with a 26-yard run that jump started the drive.

The Cardinals took the ball to open the second half and drove 70 yards in eight plays for their third touchdown which Forster ran in from 14 yards out at the 7:13 mark of the third.

Spring Valley would open the final stanza with its fourth and final touchdown drive. A two-yard run by Charlie Hollstadt and Isaac Koenning’s kick made it 27-3 with 6:47 to play.

Glenwood City put the final points on the scoreboard on its ensuing possession. Beginning at their own 33, the Toppers moved to midfield thanks to an unsportsmanlike call against the Cardinals. Two plays later Olson and Andrew Blaser connected on a 29-yard pass completion to the Valley 16. McGee then capped his career with a touchdown run from three yards away. Alvarez added the PAT and the final count was 27-10.

Glenwood City finished with 143 yards of offense compared to 305 by Spring Valley. Olson finished 6-of-13 for 77 yards and an interception. McGee finished with 61 of the Toppers’ 66 rushing yards on 20 carries.

The Toppers 7-4 finish was the program’s best since 2016 when they were 7-3, a season which ironically ended with a 27-6 loss to Spring Valley in level one of the playoffs.

Glenwood City is losing a dozen seniors after this season.    

“They are a great group of boys. I will cherish the countless mornings we have spent together the past four years in the weight room. They were a dedicated group of boys, who really cared about putting in the work. I’m very proud of them and grateful to have coached them,” Strong said of his departing seniors.