Edgar coach Jerry Sinz reached a big-time coaching milestone on Friday night
Week 5 of the 2026 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:
Bound Wisconsin Football Player of the Week nominees (Monday)
Bound Wisconsin Football Team of the Week nominees (Monday)
Prep Props (Monday)
Bound Wisconsin Coaches Poll (Tuesday)
Weather Impacts
At least 18 games were moved from Friday night to Thursday night in anticipation of bad weather moving into the state. In addition, a handful of Friday game time were moved up to try to avoid the worst of things.
In one of those Friday-to-Thursday games, La Crosse Logan and La Crosse Central met up for the battle for the Ark of Victory, marking the 101st meeting between the crosstown rivals. It was a game that lived up to the history, going back and forth before Logan was able to take a two-score lead in the third quarter. The Rangers would hold off Central’s late charge for a 37-29 victory. Junior quarterback Tommy Check was outstanding once again, with more than 200 rushing yards and four total touchdowns (two rushing, two passing).
Arcadia knocked Luther from the land of the unbeatens in a game moved to Thursday, as the Raiders won 22-6. Senior quarterback Carter Wegman completed 71% of his passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
Speaking of first losses, Abbotsford handed Pacelli it’s first defeat of the year, 20-19 in a nail-biter. Abbotsford ran for 343 yards and three touchdowns in the game, led by 179 from quarterback Carter Cihlar.
Cadott upset Division 7 eighth-ranked Boyceville 26-12 on Thursday. The Hornets’ defense came to play, limiting Boyceville to just 3.2 yards per carry and 185 total yards of offense. Meanwhile, the Cadott running game rolled up 267 yards on the ground and 339 overall.
In the 120th meeting between Sparta and Tomah, it looks liked Tomah may be in line for its first win, as the Timberwolves led 21-0 in the first half. However, Sparta came roaring back, and would win 28-27 on a late touchdown run by Hunter Huntington, as the extra point gave the Spartans the victory.
Milestone Reached
Edgar head coach Jerry Sinz is on the Mount Rushmore of football coaches in Wisconsin, and Friday night he reached a special milestone. Taking on Milwaukee Riverside in a replacement game, the Wildcats won 37-6 to give Sinz 500 wins in his legendary career.
Sinz has a 500-94 career record, with nine state titles and 16 trips to the WIAA state championship game. He won his first state title in 1979 and has guided Edgar to championships in five different decades (70’s, 90’s, 00’s, 10’s, 20’s) and four different divisions (D4, D5, D6, D7).
Unbeatens Go Down
In addition to Luther and Pacelli mentioned above, a number of other previously undefeated squads went down in Week 5.
In a game moved to a 5 pm start time on Friday, Holmen took down Reedsburg in a battle of unbeatens, 7-0. It was a defensive battle, with neither team reaching 150 yards of offense. Holmen took advantage of a short field for the only score of the game.
It was number one versus number two in Division 7 on Friday night, as top-ranked Cochrane-Fountain City hosted second-ranked Pepin/Alma. The host Pirates, the Division 7 runners-up a year ago, ground their way to a 21-6 win behind 112 rushing yards from senior Aidan Lisowski.
In another undefeated matchup, Division 5 eighth-ranked Durand-Arkansaw defeated Division 6 top-ranked Regis 20-15, as the Panthers now become the favorites in the Cloverbelt Conference.
In a key matchup in the Classic Eight Conference, Oconomowoc showed they are ready to be a contender, defeating Muskego 19-16 in a wild ending that saw the Raccoons kick a late field goal and then watch the Warriors drive down the field for a potential game-tying kick, only for it to be no good.
Pardeeville and Poynette were both undefeated coming into Friday night’s Eastern Suburban Conference showdown, but Pardeeville left no doubt who the better team was in a 34-0 victory.
New Richmond took control of the Big Rivers Conference race on Friday with an impressive 46-21 win over Hudson, as both teams had been undefeated. The Tigers already beat Chippewa Falls, though do still have River Falls left on the schedule. The Wildcats are 3-0 in league play, including a win over ChiHi last night, but dropped both non-conference games.
Division 5 second-ranked Lake Country Lutheran suffered its first loss of the year in a 28-17 defeat against Racine St. Catherine’s.
Waukesha South had been 4-0 but against a schedule that wasn’t the most challenging. Facing their stiffest test yet against New Berlin West, the Blackshirts came up short in a 35-0 loss that saw injuries play a big role. Several playmakers were limited, and prolific quarterback Jordan Garcia went out early in the contest.
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].
