Holmen’s Jack Barth (#7) helped the Vikings to a comeback victory over Reedsburg in a game delayed into Saturday
All of the action from Week 5 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 5 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 5, including:
Prep Props: Top Statistical Leaders from the week (Monday)
Bound Wisconsin Football Player of the Week nominees (Monday)
Bound Wisconsin Football Team of the Week nominees (Monday)
Bound Wisconsin Coaches Poll (Tuesday)
8-Player Weekly Spotlight (Wednesday)
Week 4 Preview (Thursday)
The longer we delay…
Weather played a factor with games both Thursday and Friday night, with lightning delays in more than a dozen games. A couple of Thursday night’s games ended quite late, the last after 11 pm.
On Friday, weather forecasts led to a number of games being moved up to earlier start times, but that wasn’t enough in some cases. More than half a dozen games, mostly in western Wisconsin, were pushed into Saturday.
Notably, a couple Mississippi Valley Conference games featured strong contenders that were among the wild five-way tie for last season’s league championship.
Holmen and Reedsburg were tied at 14 at halftime Friday night when weather moved in and forced the game to be delayed until 1 pm on Saturday. Reedsburg got on the board first on a long touchdown run by Will Mikonowicz, but the Beavers twice missed chances to add to the lead, and three turnovers helped do the team in as Holmen scored with about a minute and a half left and converted the two-point play when Jack Barth hit A.J. Alesch on a halfback pass to help the Vikings to 22-21 victory. Holmen remains undefeated at 5-0.
In another key Mississippi Valley Conference game, La Crosse Logan and La Crosse Central didn’t even get underway Friday night before weather caused a delay into Saturday. Central quarterback Christian Rudrud hit Connor Groth for a touchdown late in the game, and conversion put the Riverhawks ahead. Groth sealed a 13-12 win for Central with an interception a few moments later.
Number 1 Goes Down
Arrowhead had gone 4-0 against a brutally tough early schedule, but couldn’t quite keep things going as the top-ranked Warhawks came up short against eighth-ranked Muskego in a hard-fought 21-17 decision. Caleb Hein helped seal the deal with an interception in the red zone late in the ballgame. Jackson Niemiec and Bryson Hoeffler combined for 210 yards on the ground for the Warriors, who are now tied with Mukwonago atop the Classic Eight Conference.
Other Impressive Games
On Thursday night, Regis made a big-time statement in the Cloverbelt Conference, knocking off Durand-Arkansaw 35-6 in a game that saw both teams come in undefeated and ranked in the top ten of their respective division.
A week after shocking Brookfield East, Germantown had another chance for a big win this week, but Hamilton pulled out a 23-21 victory, as the Chargers had to work in a new quarterback this week. Cole Erdmann threw a pair of interceptions, but accounted for 214 total yards and ran for a couple touchdowns. Brayden Schroeder rushed for 183 yards and a score on 29 carries.
In the last Southeast Conference matchup (for now) between longtime rivals Franklin and Oak Creek, it was a dominating second half performance for Franklin, who pulled away for a 45-10 running clock victory. Keegan Best completed eight-of-nine passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns and Rob Beglinger ran for 178 yards and two scores on just 13 carries in a dominating performance.
Catholic Memorial (#1) and New Berlin West (#8) entered Friday night unbeaten and ranked in the top ten of the Bound Wisconsin Division 3 Coaches Poll. However, it was all CMH in a 37-7 victory, as they out-gained the Vikings 409-156.
In a Division 2 top ten matchup, Monona Grove defeated Milton 36-29, moving to 4-1 on the season.
Freedom handed Fox Valley Lutheran its first loss of the season on Friday, 28-17. Sophomore running back Axzil Eggert had a big game with 21 carries for 175 yards and four touchdowns, adding a pair of catches for 26 yards as well.
After losses to a couple D1 heavyweights, Pewaukee showed it is still one of the top teams in Division 3, beating a solid D2 Waukesha West squad 48-28 on Friday. The Pirates rolled up 472 yards of offense, including 367 on the ground.
Amherst won a battle of unbeatens in the CWC-Large, knocking off Loyal/Greenwood 34-12 on Friday night.
Winnebago Lutherna entered just 1-3 against Saint Mary’s Springs, but the Vikings knocked off the Ledgers in last year’s playoffs in what turned out to be Bob Hyland’s final game as coach. And WLA’s losses this year had come against top ten teams Racine St. Catherine’s, Amherst, and Mayville. So Winnebago Lutheran’s 25-24 win over Springs shouldn’t be too big of a surprise, with senior quarterback Gannon Schwartz rushing for 183 yards and two touchdowns with another 109 yards and a score throwing the football.
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].