The Spring Valley Cardinals are 3-1 to start the 2022 season and have made being both physically and mentally tough the identity of the football team.

After Spring Valley lost a 22-21 shootout on the road against Durand in the season opener, the Cardinals bounced back with three consecutive victories, including the first two games of the Dunn-St. Croix Conference schedule against Boyceville and Glenwood City in weeks three and four.

Spring Valley head coach Ryan Kapping felt as if his team got “exposed” in the first week of the season against Durand. He spoke about that game and how his team responded in the 41-0 victory in week two against Chetek-Weyerhaeuser.

“I don’t think we played well in week one and I think we were exposed in some ways, maybe just as far as our mindset,” Kapping said. “We challenged the kids coming back from that to get better and I think we took a big step in week two; we played a lot better.”

The Spring Valley roster certainly responded to the challenge of being mentally tough after the week one loss. The response, that blowout victory against Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, translated to a gritty week three performance against the Boyceville Bulldogs, a team that some prognosticators picked to win the conference this season.

After jumping out to a 12-0 lead on the road against Boyceville, the Bulldogs responded with 14 unanswered points to take a 14-12 lead going into the fourth quarter. Less than one minute into that final frame, junior quarterback Wyatt Goveronski scored on a two-yard touchdown run to make it 18-14 Spring Valley, a lead that the Cardinals held until the end of the game.

“We knew it was a really big game because Boyceville was tabbed as the favorites by a lot of people,” Kapping said. “I thought both teams made some mistakes. We got down late and then were able to regain the lead and then get a couple of stops. I give (our) kids a lot of credit for regrouping and playing a good second half.”

Spring Valley again demonstrated mental toughness in the Friday night contest on the road against Glenwood City. The Cardinals fell behind 12-0 late in the second quarter and again faced adversity.

Spring Valley responded with a 55-yard touchdown run by junior running back Diego Schmitt. It was the first points of Spring Valley’s 27 unanswered points that culminated in a 27-12 week four victory against the Hilltoppers of Glenwood City. Kapping spoke about the strength of his team through the first four weeks.

“The mindset of the kids changed after that first week. Coming back since then, we’ve been more even-keeled,” Kapping said. “The way some things went last week we could have panicked or been in trouble, but our kids were able to calm themselves down mentally and move forward. The composure has been really good.”

While the composure has been excellent, according to Kapping, so has the offensive and defensive line play. Before the season, Kapping stated that the strength of the team needed to be those units battling at the line of scrimmage. So far, Spring Valley has won games in the trenches with those units.

“Up front on both sides we’re relying heavily on them,” Kapping said. “We’re re- lying on our offensive line to grind some first downs. We have to be patient and be happy to take three and four yards a crack instead of always hitting a home run ball with some of the kids we’ve had in the past.”

While many schools have one primary offensive force, Spring Valley has the luxury of multiple skill position weapons, including Goveronski at quarterback, and a stable of running backs including Schmitt, senior running back Justin Rielly and sophomore running back Cade Stasiek.

“It’s important when we get to those bigger games where teams will be focusing on taking away what we do best,” Kapping said. “Spreading it around will be a key for us going forward. Diego (Schmitt) has stepped up, Wyatt (Goveronski) is going to continue to do so, Rielly has always been a presence and Stasiek has been important too. They’re our top four weapons.”

Spring Valley is currently 3-1 overall and 2-0 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference games, which gives the Cardinals a share of first place along with Elmwood/Plum City and Turtle Lake. The next game on the schedule for Spring Valley is on Friday, Sept. 16, at home against Colfax. That game is slated to begin at 7 p.m.