Northwoods 2026 Football Preview

Over the next several weeks, we’ll be previewing every conference in the state as part of our preseason preparations.

Check out all of our Football Conference Previews for every league in the state, here.

2025 Recap: Oconto Falls was the outright champion in the Northwoods Conference last season, though they’d drop their first playoff game. Coleman was second, advancing to a sectional final in D7 before going out to eventual state champion Kenosha St. Joseph. Crandon and Crivitz both won road playoff games, while Shiocton qualified for the postseason as well despite just two victories.

Note: The Northwoods Conference is a seven-team league paired with the Central Wisconsin Conference for a crossover. Oconto Falls moves out of the Northwoods and into the Packerland.

2025 Season Information:
Standings
Stats
All-Conference

2026 PREVIEW:

Predicted Order of Finish:

1) Coleman
2) Crivitz
3) Northland Pines
4) Shiocton
5) Crandon
6) Manawa
7) Clintonville

Players to Watch:

Wyatt Bieber, RB/LB, Coleman: Bieber rushed for 866 yards on offense as a Second Team All-Conference pick and was also a First Team selection on defense.

Nolan Bradley, QB/LB, Crandon: Bradley was First Team All-Conference as a linebacker and Second Team as a quarterback last season in the Northwoods Conference.

Kolton Peters, RB/LB, Coleman: Peters led the team in rushing (1,395 yards, 17 TD) and receiving (359 yards, 4 TD) last season and was First Team All-Conference at running back and linebacker.

Bryce Seefeldt, OL/LB, Coleman: Seefeldt was co-Offensive Lineman of the Year in the Northwoods and is a tackling machine on defense as well.

Brett Singler, TE/DL, Shiocton: Singler is a dominating physical presence and a First Team All-Conference pick on both sides of the ball. He caught 46 passes for 535 yards and seven touchdowns with 67 tackles last year.

2026 Team Previews

1) Coleman dropped a couple regular season games but made a nice playoff run, advancing to a sectional final before falling to eventual state champion Kenosha St. Joseph. Veteran head coach Jeff Bronson returns eight starters on offense and seven on defense for 2026. That includes a strong running back duo of Kolton Peters and Wyatt Bieber, who combined for more than 2200 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns a year ago. “We were relatively young last year and we have many underclassmen that going into their junior year have a full year of varsity experience,” said Bronson. He likes the depth and numbers in the program, but there isn’t a lot of size.

2) Crivitz had a nice season in 2025, with some close losses along the way resulting in a 6-3 regular season record. They’d go on the road to Reedsville in the playoffs and score a 42-27 upset victory before falling to eventual D7 champion Kenosha St. Joseph in Level 2. “We return a solid group of seniors and some quality sophomores that look to make an impact right away,” said veteran head coach Matt Bernier. There will be some challenges as they look to fill some holes, with just three starters returning on offense and five on defense. Brayden Sellen will play a much bigger role on both offense and defense this year.

3) Northland Pines won the first three games of the year and seemed to be in a good spot sitting at 4-2 heading into the home stretch. However, they dropped three straight to close the year, including a 36-12 defeat to Shiocton that kept them out of the playoffs. “With only five seniors graduating, and a junior class of 20 athletes, depth will be our strength this year,” said second-year coach Justin Nimsgern. “After five years of five different head coaches, playing in the same system for two years in a row will help our athletes grow.” The team does need to replace several multi-year starters at quarterback, receiver, and up front, but after not having a varsity team in 2023, the roster is expected to feature more than 60 athletes this year.

4) Shiocton had just one win heading into the final week of the regular season after four, one-score losses along the way. However, a victory over Northland Pines allowed the Chiefs to get into the playoffs despite just two victories on the year. They didn’t stay long, however, falling to Lourdes Academy 33-0. Shiocton has a lot of its top players coming back this year, including quarterback Kyle Bergsbaken, receiver Wyatt Hess, and Wyoming football commit Brett Singler.

5) Crandon did some outstanding things in 2025, including qualifying for the playoffs for a fourth straight year and winning just the second playoff game in school history, the last coming in 2004. It was quite the turnaround after four straight losses to begin the year, before things clicked and they rattled off five straight victories to end the regular season. Dan Witman was instrumental in the program’s improvement in recent seasons, and his departure creates a bit of uncertainty. Matt Kender takes over the program this year, losing top running backs Cruz Palubicki and Brexden Kane, but returning starting quarterback Nolan Bradley.

6) Manawa won conference games over Shiocton and Clintonville last year, but the 41-8 victory over Clintonville was the only time all year they scored more than 14 points, as there were some offensive struggles. A lot of the skill players from last season are back, as it will be a pretty experienced group coming back. In fact, 26 letterwinners return along with six starters on offense and eight on defense. “Despite the struggles in past performances, there are a lot of positives to build on, and some of our areas of improvement can become a strength for us,” said new head coach Josh Wachowiak.

7) Clintonville struggled to be competitive last year, with most games ending in blowout fashion. “We should be more competitive than last year, as the upcoming sophomore and freshman classes have seriously bought into the weight room,” said head coach Nick Raasch. “We do not have great numbers in the upcoming senior and junior class, but should have almost 30 between sophomores and freshman. We will be young at every position group on the team. We will more than likely start about five sophomores both ways.” The Truckers welcome back five starters on offense and six on defense. Parker Soldner got time at quarterback as a freshman last season and is expected to step into a much larger role in 2026.