Melrose-Mindoro went into Bangor and took down the Cardinals to open the season
There is one game to be played later today, but otherwise all of the action from Week 1 of the 2025 high school football season in Wisconsin is in the books. Below we will take a look at some of the storylines and notes this week.
For the full Week 1 results on the Bound Wisconsin scoreboard, please click here.
As a reminder, we'll have loads of additional content coming in the next few days to wrap up Week 1, including:
Bound Wisconsin Football Player of the Week nominees (Monday)
Bound Wisconsin Football Team of the Week nominees (Monday)
Bound Wisconsin Coaches Poll (Tuesday)
Impressive Coaching Debuts
Every year there are a number of noteworthy coaching changes, and keeping track of how those transitions go is a compelling storyline.
2025 is no different, and some of the new coaches made impressive debuts this week.
Kettle Moraine and new head coach Wyatt Jentz got off to a good start, taking down Wauwatosa West 27-16.
Oak Creek welcomed in former Wisconsin Badger and NFL player Brian Calhoun in the off-season, and the Knights looked very good in Week 1, defeating Waterford 34-3 behind a strong outing from sophomore quarterback J.J. Chapman.
Plymouth’s new head coach Mark Vollbrecht spent 12 seasons as an assistant at Menasha, and in his head coaching debut, helped the Panthers defeat Menasha 38-12 on Thursday.
Steve Vitale took over for longtime coach Steve Rux at Waukesha West, and guided the Wolverines to an impressive opening victory against Wisconsin Lutheran, 38-14.
State Finalists Go Down
Of last season's 14 state finalists, three suffered defeat to open the season.
Stratford has won three consecutive titles, including after moving up to Division 5 last year. They’ve faced Mosinee to open the season for five straight years, winning three previous meetings with one weather-shortened tie. However, Mosinee was too much for the Tigers Friday night in a 26-19 victory.
Catholic Memorial fell to Notre Dame in last year’s Division 3 state title game, and the Crusaders opened 2025 as they have several years in a row, facing D1 heavyweight Franklin. It was a close one, but Franklin pulled out a 23-20 victory.
Muskego was the Division 1 runner-up last year but returned a good amount of its roster from that group, while Neenah had to replace a couple standout playmakers in UW recruit Grant Dean and quarterback Evan Vanevenhoven. It was Neenah that hung for the win when Muskego missed a potential game-winning field goal in the closing seconds.
Other Impressive Victories
Defending Division 1 state champion Bay Port opened the season on Thursday night with a showdown against a solid Middleton squad. It turned into a thriller, with Bay Port able to hold on for a 39-36 win as senior quarterback Matt Stevens threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns with another 82 on the ground plus a score, while Brady Moon rushed for 217 yards.
Sussex Hamilton posted one of the most impressive victories to open the season, hammering a very good Kimberly squad 42-21 as Jacob Osmanski threw for 306 yards and two scores.
Notre Dame showed it will be a force to be reckoned with, despite graduating loads of talent and bumping up to Division 2 this year, taking down a very good Kaukauna team 27-20 in a top ten showdown in D2.
Sun Prairie East was impressive in an opening 28-21 victory over Verona on Thursday evening, with Brady Kaufman going for 175 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries, while junior Braylon Peterson had an impressive starting debut at quarterback, completing 11-of-12 for 203 yards and three touchdowns.
Appleton North is coming off a 5-5 season in 2024, and the Lightning quickly showed they intend to do better than that, taking it to a very good Mukwonago team 21-6 in the season opener.
Aquinas will be a problem for the opposition again this year, as the Blugolds shutout Prairie du Chien 22-0 in a matchup of deep playoff teams last season.
Talent hasn’t been the issue at Arrowhead the last few years, but the Warhawks haven’t quite been able to put it all together. They made a huge statement that things may be ready to pop in 2025 by hammering Marquette 53-22 to open the season.
Grafton loses a number of multi-year starters from last year’s group, and while we expected the Black Hawks to be good again, an opening 24-7 victory over a formidable Mount Horeb/Barneveld squad indicates Grafton will be among the elite teams in D3.
Pewaukee posted a huge 14-13 win over Port Washington, picking up important Playoff Matrix Points as they prepare for the gauntlet that is the Classic Eight schedule later in the year.
Lake Country Lutheran spoiled the coaching debut of Zach Wildermann, who takes over for legendary Bob Hyland at Saint Mary’s Springs. The Lightning won 28-7 over the Ledgers at home.
Medford is a solid program and won an outright Great Northern title a year ago, but the Red Raiders were no match for Holmen Friday night, as the Vikings were a dominating 56-16 winner.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood showed it may be ready to push Stratford and Amherst from atop the CWC-Large, knocking off a very good Bonduel squad 33-13.
Onalaska and West Salem have met up a number of times in recent years, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. Their traditional Week 1 non-conference game showed the Hilltoppers of Onalaska may not dip as far as thought, taking down highly-regarded West Salem 35-26.
Melrose-Mindoro missed the playoffs last year but showed they may be ready to get back into postseason contention with a 21-20 victory over perennial power Bangor on Thursday night.
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].