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8-Player Football Weekly Spotlight: October 28

10/28/2020, 11:30am CDT
By Travis Wilson

Every Wednesday during the regular season we will highlight the 8-Player Football game with a spotlight article on WisSports.net. We'll look back at the action and big stories from the previous week, look ahead at the coming week's big match-ups, and select a Star of the Week.

8-Player coaches, please enter player stats on WSN so that we can continue having the necessary information to produce this weekly spotlight of your game, and feel free to send any news or information to us as well.

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Looking Back

Without a doubt, the biggest story of the week, and likely the year, in 8-Player Football last week played out in the Luck versus Prairie Farm game. Luck was unbeaten, ranked #1, and the defending state champ. Prairie Farm had not won a game. No contest, right? Well, not so fast my friend. With Luck playing without star Wyatt Jensen, who averaged more than 200 rushing yards per game, the dynamic changed. Surprisingly, the contest was scoreless after the first quarter. While Luck would get on the board first early in the second quarter, the Cardinals held a slim 16-14 lead at halftime. The second half would belong to Prairie Farm, however. Tyler Rassback (more on him later) scored three rushing touchdowns in the second half as the Panthers pulled away for a shocking 34-16 victory.

Newman Catholic remained unbeaten in a 47-10 win over Port Edwards, as the Cardinals racked up 559 yards of total offense, including a pair of 100-yard rushers (Thomas Bates, Dylan Ackerman). 

Greenwood ran just 26 offensive plays in a 79-0 win over Tri-County, as ten of those plays went for touchdowns. The Indians also scored on a safety and punt return.

There were some incredible individual performances last week. McDonell Central quarterback Tanner Opsal was responsible for nine touchdowns in a 68-28 win over Bruce on Friday. He ran for seven scores and threw for two, with 430 yards of total offense. Shell Lake's Sam Negus ran for six touchdowns in a 60-14 victory against Siren. Saint Mary Catholic's Danny Griffith accounted for 427 total yards of offense and five touchdowns in a 49-14 decision over Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah. Belmont's Riley Christensen ran for five touchdowns and threw another, all in the first half, as the Braves topped Williams Bay 70-7.

In the rare close game in 8-Player, Phillips rallied from a 26-18 fourth quarter deficit to score twice and secure a 32-26 victory. The Loggers had 559 rushing yards in the game, including 263 from Brady Bogdanovic and 128 by Jesse Bruhn.

Looking Ahead

On Thursday, Gilman puts its undefeated record on the line as the Pirates travel to Clayton, who is 3-2 overall this season. Also on Thursday, Prairie Farm looks to continue the momentum from last week's big win over Luck as the Panthers welcome in Siren.

Saint Mary Catholic/Valley Christian has put up some big offensive numbers this year with Danny Griffith manning the controls at quarterback. Do they have enough to keep up with Riley Christensen and the unbeaten Belmont Braves?

Will anyone pull a Prairie Farm-sized upset this week?

Star of the Week: Tyler Rassbach, Prairie Farm

Prairie Farm scored perhaps the biggest upset in the history of the recently restored 8-player game, shocking top-ranked Luck 34-16 to score its first victory of the season. Sophomore Tyler Rassbach, lining up at quarterback and wearing number 84, carried the bulk of the offensive load for the Panthers, with 252 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 25 carries, as he averaged more than 10 yards per attempt.

About the Author

Travis Wilson serves as the WisSports.net General Manager, Football Editor, and contributing writer for other parts of the site. 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 @travisWSN.

For the latest and most up to date football news and recruiting information, follow Travis on Twitter @travisWSN. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Travis at travis(at)wissports.net.

Tag(s): News Archive  News  Travis Wilson