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8-Player Football Weekly Spotlight: October 5

10/05/2022, 11:00am 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

Let's get right to one of the wildest games in state history, with a number of state records set in Washburn's 114-92 win over Mellen on Friday night. The 114 points by Washburn is a new state record for 8-player or 11-player, as is the 206 combined points. It was a shootout from the beginning, as Mellen led 40-30 at the end of the first quarter. Brenden Walson of Washburn and Tommy Zakovec of Mellen were the stars. Walson carried the ball for 651 yards and 10 touchdowns, as both his yardage and rushing touchdowns set new state records. He also threw a 26-yard touchdown and scored ten, two-point conversions, also a new record. His 80 total points scored is the most in state history. Zakovec threw for 444 yards and seven touchdowns, adding 160 yards and three scores on the ground.

Florence and Three Lakes played for first place in the Northern Border Conference, and Florence scored a highly-competitive 32-26 victory. William Kelley completed seven-of-eight passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns, adding 102 yards and a score on the ground as well. He also led the team with nine tackles. It was enough to overcome 336 total yards of offense from Three Lakes quarterback Jared Kaufman.

Thorp continued its dominating season, beating old Cloverwood rival Athens 70-0, holding the Bluejays to just 86 yards of offense. Aiden Rosemeyer had 248 total yards and accounted for five touchdowns, while Logan Hanson scored four times.

In the lone ranked matchup of the week, Gibraltar won a wild back-and-forth affair with Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas 54-50, scoring the game-winning touchdown with less than three minutes to go. Gibraltar's Braden Kita threw for 246 yards and four touchdowns with another 129 yards and two scores on the ground. Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas running back Sam Marquardt ran for 265 yards and five scores.

Phillips rolled up 525 yards on the ground in a 56-20 win over Northwood/Solon Springs, as James Bruhn had 250 yards while Dom Mabie and Jesse Bruhn each went over 100 on the ground.

Newman Catholic quarterback Conner Krach threw five touchdown passes, all in the first quarter, as the Cardinals blanked Marion/Tigerton 49-0.

Looking Ahead

Abundant Life/St. Ambrose is back playing football for the first time in five years, and the co-op team is off to a solid 3-2 start, including a 3-0 record in the Southern-East. They'll be put to their toughest test yet this week when they travel to unbeaten St. Mary Catholic/Valley Christian. 

In the Southern-West, Belmont will travel to Wisconsin Heights with the Braves looking to stay unbeaten in league play to set up a huge Week 9 game against De Soto.

Thorp has been rolling people this year, and coming off a dominating 70-0 victory over Athens, the Cardinals now get another old Cloverwood rival, the Giliman Pirates. Both teams are in the top ten of the most recent WSN Coaches Poll.

Luck has had some struggles this year, but can still present some problems for the unbeaten Siren Dragons.

Washburn is looking to follow up a 114-92 win over Mellen last week with a Saturday evening home game against Northwood/Solon Springs.

I'm looking forward to checking out my first 8-player game of the year on Saturday, as Kickapoo/La Farge travels to Wonewoc/Weston for a 1 pm kickoff in Wonewoc. It will be one of the final games for my nephew Caleb Hysel of KLF.

Star of the Week: Brenden Walson, Washburn & Tommy Zakovec, Mellen

Brenden Walson of Washburn and Tommy Zakovec of Mellen were the stars of the highest-scoring game in state history, as Washburn beat Mellen 114-92. Walson carried the ball for 651 yards and 10 touchdowns, as both his yardage and rushing touchdowns set new state records. He also threw a 26-yard touchdown and scored ten, two-point conversions, also a new record. His 80 total points scored is the most in state history. Zakovec threw for 444 yards and seven touchdowns, adding 160 yards and three scores on the ground.


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