DURAND — Spring Valley headed to enemy territory and prevailed to open its football season, as the Cardinals claimed a 28-20 win.

Each of Durand-Arkansaw’s three touchdowns were countered quickly by a Spring Valley touchdown, with the Cardinals not allowing for even an ounce of momentum to remain in the Panthers’ favor.

“That’s really important,” Head Coach Ryan Kapping said. “I didn’t feel like they were going to be able to sustain drives against us. It was the big plays I thought that really hurt us defensively, so we’ve got some things to fix there. But I really didn’t think they had an answer for us. If we executed, I didn’t think they could stop us.”

Durand-Arkansaw came out of the gates with a nine-yard passing touchdown to open the scoring, which was followed by a Spring Valley trick play to set up an eight-yard rush for senior running back Trevor Forster to take an 8-6 lead. The trick play spanned 42 yards as a toss to the running back was then pitched to a receiver before back to senior quarterback Cade Stasiek, who then unleashed downfield for a completion to Caleb Bartko.

“Practiced that every day for the last two weeks,” Kapping said. “And they executed it better than they did any time during the two weeks.”

The Panthers punched right back, scoring again on their second drive, taking a 12-8 lead. With 12 seconds to play in the half, Stasiek found Forster for a five-yard touchdown to bring a 16-12 Spring Valley lead into the half.

The third quarter featured just one touchdown, coming on an 18-yard run from Asher Turner to take a 22-12 lead into the fourth.

Durand-Arkansaw scored one more time to bring the scoreline to 22-20, but a one-yard rushing touchdown from Stasiek and an interception from Elijah Haug on the ensuing drive would seal the game.

The Spring Valley offense looks a bit different this year, as the team saw some changes to their offensive system. Kapping said they are looking to keep some of the things they do well while making some tweaks.

Spring Valley mustered up 354 total yards, 122 passing and 232 rushing. Stasiek led the team in both categories, finishing 9-of-11 passing for 122 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and rushing for 121 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

Kapping said while the offensive line still has a few issues to figure out, they were a big part of the reason for the offensive success.

A reason Kapping was so confident in the defense getting stops late in the game was because of the experience they bring.

“We’ve got a pretty senior-dominated defense,” Kapping said. “I think seven of our starters are senior players, and we’re going to hang our hat on that leadership and their experience.”

The lone piece of the machine that was not working like the rest for Spring Valley was ball security. Cardinal ball carriers lost just one fumble, but they recovered their own fumbles a few times throughout the game as well. The lost fumble was also a big one, coming as Forster was lunging into the end zone for what would have been a touchdown until Durand-Arkansaw recovered.

“You got two pretty young football teams in a couple areas, a couple places, and that’s something we really harp on a lot,” Kapping said. “I think when we do possess the ball, we’ll be tough for people to beat.”

Forster had an otherwise solid day, rushing for 57 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries and taking a lone reception for a five-yard score.

Spring Valley now takes on a three-game home stretch, with matchups against Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, Colfax and Clear Lake over the next three weeks.