Norse fall to Cardinals in Level One

The Whitehall football team came out ready to play in Level One of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association playoffs, but couldn’t keep up with undefeated Spring Valley, falling 42-7.

The Norse scored first, but the Cardinals answered and took the lead later in the first quarter then broke the game open in the second.

The loss ended Whitehall’s season with a 4-6 record. It was the team’s first playoff appearance since 2021, earning a bid despite a 3-4 record in Dairyland Conference play. The 2024 campaign was a two-game improvement from 2023 and the team was competitive in several games that it fell short in. Friday’s playoff game was the last for 13 Whitehall seniors.

S. Valley 42 Whitehall 7

Whitehall received the opening kickoff and marched down the field for a score, but they couldn’t keep up with the top seed in its playoff bracket.

The Norse got a big play early as Caydan Johnston broke loose on a third-and-eight play, running for a big gain deep into Spring Valley territory. Bo Killian finished the drive with a short touchdown run a few plays later. Nick Katzman’s point-after kick put the Norse ahead 7-0 with 8:30 remaining in the first quarter.

But Whitehall couldn’t stop the champions of the Dunn-St. Croix conference.

The Cardinals marched down the field on the ensuing possession before scoring on a 15-yard run by Asher Turner. The two-point conversion gave the team an 8-7 advantage with four minutes left in the first quarter.

After a Whitehall punt, Cade Stasiek broke free for a big gain inside the 10-yard line with about 40 seconds left in the first quarter. Stasiek connected with Caleb Bartko for a touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter, making the score 14-8.

The Cardinals were rolling from there.

Stasiek returned a Whitehall punt 39 yards before finishing the drive himself with a short touchdown run. The two-point conversion made the score 22-7 with about nine minutes left in the first half.

A usually efficient Whitehall running game was struggling to move the ball. Whitehall’s next drive ended when Killian was tackled in the backfield on a fourth down play. The team averaged just 3.5 yards per carry in the game.

Turner broke off a big run to move Spring Valley deep into Whitehall territory, but the Norse forced a punt with about three and a half minutes left in the first half.

The Cardinals got the ball back deep in Whitehall territory when a fourth down pass fell incomplete. Spring Valley added to its lead when Stasiek hit Trevor Forster for a 10-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left in the half. The point-after kick made the score 29-7 at halftime.

Stasiek threw another touchdown pass in the second half as he finished the game six-for-eight for 54 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 64 yards on 10 attempts.

Forster led Spring Valley in rushing with 103 yards on 14 carries, Turner added 83 yards on nine attempts as the team finished with 266 yards on 38 rushes.

Johnston led Whitehall with 63 yards on seven attempts. Killian ran for 51 yards on 25 carries. For the season, Johnston, a senior ran for 690 yards on 41 rushes — an average of 16.8 per carry. Killian, a sophomore, ran for 1,342 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Whitehall

Rushing (yards/attempts) — Johnston 7/63 Killian 25/51 Hutsell 2/5

Passing (comp./att./yds.) — Pientok 0/4/0

Tackles (solo/total) — Killian 1/1 Pientok 3/3 Stevens 1/1 Johnston 5/6 Steig ½ Hansche 1/3 Przybylla 1/2 Semb 2/4 Lisowski 1/5 Smith 3/6 Hutsell 8/10 Herman 2/2