Every Wednesday during the regular season we will highlight the 8-Player Football game with a spotlight article on boundwisconsin.com. We'll look back at the action and big stories from the previous week, look ahead at the coming week's big match-ups, and select a Star of the Week.
8-Player coaches, please enter player stats on Bound Wisconsin so that we can continue having the necessary information to produce this weekly spotlight of your game, and feel free to send any news or information to us as well.
Looking Ahead
This year marks the second season of the expanded playoff for 8-player football, with 32 teams that will make the postseason, though the requirement of a three-year enrollment average below 200 remains. That means some teams are still ineligible for the playoffs.
Speaking of the playoffs, this is also the second year of the Wisconsin Football Playoff Matrix. With expanded playoffs, the season start date has moved up one week and now coincides with the start of 11-player contests.
Defending 8-player state champion McDonell Central is moving to 11-player football this fall, opening things up for a new champion in 2026.
Clear Lake, Assumption, Turtle Lake, and Palmyra-Eagle make the move to 8-player, while Iola-Scandinavia is dropping down as an independent. Unfortunately, a handful of teams have already made the decision to cancel all or most of their varsity schedules.
Thursday Games
Oakfield is expected to be the top team in the Southeast-8 Conference this year, and they’ll open with a conference game against Abundant Life/St. Ambrose, who played an independent 8-player schedule last season after dropping out of 11-player.
Gilman was a dominant undefeated team up until last year’s state championship game, when they’d get shutout by McDonell Central 22-0. The Pirates were our top-ranked team in 8-player football coming into this year, and open the season against Phillips, who was 5-2 last season and is always a physical test for the opposition.
Iola-Scandinavia announced this summer that they were dropping from 11-player to 8-player and will play an independent schedule. They’ll travel to take on Marion/Tigerton in Week 1 in a matchup that pits the top two individual players in 8-player: Iola-Scandinavia’s Korz Loken, who is heading to Wisconsin, and Marion/Tigerton’s Braylon Mielke, who rushed for more than 2000 yards last season.
Friday Games
With defending champion McDonell Central moving to 11-player football this year, Owen-Withee figures to be one of the top challengers. Veteran coach Terry Laube has an experienced and talented group with seven starters back on both sides of the ball. The Blackhawks will open the season against a Prairie Farm/Clayton team trying to compete towards the top of the North Central West-8.
Assumption begins its first season in 8-player football with a matchup against Rosholt, who moved unofficially last year. Assumption made the playoffs last year in 11-player, while Rosholt went 5-2 playing an independent schedule.
Wabeno/Laona and Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas met up in the sectional finals last season, with both undefeated at the time. Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas jumped out to a 16-0 halftime lead before pulling away for a 38-14 victory. Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas was in control throughout, rushing for 297 yards and interceptions Wabeno/Laona three times. The teams meet up to begin the 2026 campaign.
Travis Wilson serves as the Bound Wisconsin Manager. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisBound or reach him at [email protected].
