The most important five weeks in high school football has arrived. 224 teams will have their sights set on one mission: state champions. Only seven teams will get the luxury to hoist the gold ball. As a former state champion myself, I know just how hard it is accomplish this. Playoff football is a different mentality. The sense of urgency, the tempo, and the will to win is on a whole new level. The margin for mistakes is slim as one misstep can end a season in the snap of a finger. In the end, it is a distinct honor for any team to qualify for the playoffs, no matter if it is the first time or tenth time. Let’s take a look at all seven divisions and predict each state football champion, runner up, and semifinalist:
Division One
Division one, which is the highest enrollment in Wisconsin high school football, will hands down be the most entertaining division in these playoffs. The amount of teams with deep playoff and state championship experience is unprecedented. Two teams, Waunakee Warriors and Kimberly Papermakers, have a combined 14 state championships! The unfortunate part is that both teams play in the same pod and could be a state quarterfinal matchup. On the other hand, two teams that have made their mark in the playoffs most recently are the Muskego Warriors and the Bay Port Pirates. These two teams squared off in the 2019 state championship with Muskego ousting Bay Port 21-10. I think these are the two best teams in the division and we will see a rematch from 2019 this season.
State Champion: Bay Port Pirates
Runner Up: Muskego Warriors
Semifinalists: Kimberly Papermakers, Arrowhead Warhawks
Division Two
The biggest change in division two this season was West De Pere making the jump from division three. West De Pere has been a staple in Wisconsin high school football for the past decade, and are no strangers to the big stage. Sun Prairie East is also another team that will make some noise in this division. This past school year, Sun Prairie made the choice to spilt their high school in two, which resulted in both school dropping to division two. Another team that is going to make some heads turn this postseason will Kettle Moraine. The Lasers finished with two conference losses in the overloaded Classic Eight conference that features Mukwanago, Muskego, and Arrowhead. The WIAA’s computer system that determines team seeding must have seen this as impressive and awarded them with a number one seed. My sights will also be set on a potential state quarterfinal matchup of Hartford and Slinger. Both teams come out of the North Shore conference and any conference matchup in the playoffs is an absolute treat. In the end, I see West De Pere coming out of division two as state champions.
State Champion: West De Pere Phantoms
Runner Up: Sun Prairie East Cardinals
Semifinalists: Brookfield Central Lancers, Hartford Orioles
Division Three
With West De Pere making the move up to division two, the division three field is completely wide open. There are three teams that stand out the most in this division. They are: Onalaska Hilltoppers, Monroe Cheesemakers, and West Salem Panthers. Onalaska and Monroe have combined for nine shutouts this season. That is a truly outstanding number. On the other hand, West Salem won the the conference championship in a very tough and competitive Coulee conference that features the defending division five state champions in Aquinas. I do think that the western side of the state gets overlooked in terms of producing good football. In the bottom left pod, I do see Martin Luther being the team to beat. In the end, I do see Onalaska pulling out a thriller in Camp Randall over Monroe to kick off day two of the state football championships.
State Champion: Onalaska Hilltoppers.
Runner Up: Monroe Cheesemakers
Semifinalists: West Salem Panthers, Martin Luther Spartans
Division Four
There really needs to be no debate about division four. The Catholic Memorial Crusaders are the clear favorites to win. The only discussion needed is who will play them at Camp Randall Stadium. Two team that I see punching their ticket to the state semifinals will be Ellsworth and Freedom. The last team is a tossup between Racine St. Catherines and Kewaskum. I am giving the nod to the Angels to get the final spot. They lost by one score to Martin Luther and dominated Racine Lutheran. One team that I am interested in as well is Two Rivers. The Purple Raiders have been nothing but dominant all season up until their game last week against Chilton. Two Rivers came out on top, but in triple overtime. They were ultimately awarded a three seed and play in a weak Eastern Wisconsin conference. Can they keep up momentum and make a playoff run? I do not see that happening. Division four should be another division that people should keep their eyes on in the state football playoffs.
State Champion: Catholic Memorial Crusaders
Runner Up: Freedom Irish
Semifinalists: Ellsworth Panthers, Racine St. Catherines Angels
Division Five
Division five features a few new teams making their mark in the state football playoffs. With Amherst not participating in the postseason this year, it opens the door for teams like Southern Door and Kewaunee. The Storm are no strangers to the postseason, but the Eagles have been a consistently good team the past three seasons. This will be a very good state quarterfinal matchup, but I have the Eagles winning this one. Additionally, I see Aquinas and Mayville both returning to the state semifinals. With one more team to qualify, I am going with Prairie du Chien beating conference opponent Broadhead/Juda to advance to the semifinals. Aquinas and Mayville gave fans an extremely entertaining state championship game last season. With that being said, I think we are going to see a rematch this season at Camp Randall Stadium, but Mayville flips the script and takes home the gold.
State Champion: Mayville Cardinals
Runner Up: Aquinas Blugolds
Semifinalists: Southern Door Eagles, Prairie du Chien Blackhawks
Division Six
Similar to division one, division six will give football fans a ton of great matchups. State powerhouses such as: St. Mary Springs, Stratford, and Darlington highlight this bracket. There are also some newcomers such as Coleman and Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic looking to make some noise as well. Coleman was the runner up in division seven last season and will more than likely square off with St. Mary Springs in the state quarterfinals. Darlington and Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic will be another entertaining quarterfinal matchup, but I have the Redbirds coming out on top. My last semifinal pick will be the Marshall Cardinals. It is very hard to bet against Bob Hyland when predicting state champion favorites. I think the Ledgers take down Coleman in the quarterfinals, and move past Stratford en route to avenge a runner up finish from last season.
State Champion: St. Mary Springs Ledgers
Runner Up: Darlington Redbirds
Semifinalists: Stratford Tigers, Marshall Cardinals
Division Seven
We now head into the final division for the state football playoffs. Going into the season, Eau Claire Regis was the team to beat, and still are. However, they could run into perennial powerhouse, Edgar, in the quarterfinals. I see the Ramblers pulling through and advancing to Camp Randall ,beating Potosi-Cassville, and avenging their loss in the semifinals from last season. On the other side of the bracket, I see the Cashton Eagles as the team to beat. They lost last season in the semifinals to the Reedsville Panthers. There will a lot of fuel to the fire for the Eagles as I see them taking down the Shiocton Chiefs in the state semifinals. When all said and done, Regis will still be the favorite to win, and will take down Cashton at Camp Randall Stadium to hoist the gold ball.
State Champion: Regis Ramblers
Runner Up: Cashton Eagles
Semifinalists: Potosi-Cassville Chieftains, Shiocton Chiefs
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