Ironclads Win the Forge Bowl 31–28, Bringing the Anvil Home for the First Time Since 2019

The anvil is back in the Ironclad Fieldhouse concourse. Porter beat Chippewa Valley State 31–28 on Saturday in front of about 4,380 fans at Millwright Stadium. It was the Ironclads’ first Forge Bowl win since 2019, after Chippewa Valley State won the last three meetings (the 2020 game was not played).

The game was tied 28–28 when junior kicker Eli Thorson lined up a 41-yard field goal with 1:12 left, into a wind that had already knocked down one of his extra points. It cleared the crossbar by what the press box called “a comfortable foot.” On Chippewa Valley State’s first play after the kickoff, senior safety Marcus Lindahl stepped in front of a deep pass at the Porter 38. The Ironclads ran out the clock from there.

The rest of the afternoon:

• Senior quarterback Tyler Brandvik completed 19 of 27 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns.
• Sophomore running back Deshawn Ruud ran 22 times for 118 yards. One of his runs went 46 yards in the third quarter to tie the game at 21.
• Porter’s defense allowed 412 yards but forced three turnovers, two of them inside its own 20.

“Three years of watching their seniors hit that anvil. I told our guys on Monday that I was tired of that view. They were too.”

— Ray Gutzmer, head football coach

After the game, each of Porter’s 17 seniors struck the 138-pound anvil once with the four-pound hammer at midfield, as the custom has required since 1987. The score will be stamped onto a new steel plate on its base this week. Chippewa Valley State still leads the series 39–32–2 in 73 meetings.

Students in the north end zone filled 31 barrels for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s “Fill the Anvil” food drive, about 2,600 pounds for the campus food pantry.

The win puts Porter at 4–2 overall and 3–1 in the conference. The rivalry’s history, including the 1966 tie and the 2014 snow game, is on the Forge Bowl page. The rest of the season is on the football team page.

Contact: Office of University Communications, news@uwporterfalls.edu