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Kwik Trip & Wisconsin Dairy Game of the Week Preview: Belleville at Darlington

10/05/2022, 10:30pm CDT
By Travis Wilson

We asked, you voted, and Belleville at Darlington has been selected as the Kwik Trip and Wisconsin Dairy Game of the Week for Week 8 of the high school football season. A total of 11,708 votes were cast, as this one received 5,022 of those votes. 

The Kwik Trip & Wisconsin Dairy Game of the Week allows you, the fans, to pick what you feel is the biggest high school football game in the state each week. Not only will that game get featured on WisSports.net, but WSN General Manager Travis Wilson will make it his destination that week, with updates, photos, videos, and stories from the big game.

And of course, no trip to a big game in Wisconsin would be complete without a stop or two at Kwik Trip and a chocolate milk!!

It pretty much all comes down to this in the SWAL, as these two teams are unbeaten in league play and three games ahead of anyone else in the conference.

Belleville has outscored conference opponents 201-36, while Darlington has dominated to a 277-27 advantage in five league games. Their high-powered offenses do things a little differently, with Darlington averaging 322 yards per game on the ground. Belleville has one of the state's top passing attacks, as quarterback Aidan Keyes has already thrown for more than 2000 yards, with Kaden Desmet, DeMarcus Conner, and Andrew Ace one of the best receiving trios in the state.

"This is where we expected to be at this point," said Belleville head coach Mike Nolden. "There's not much else we can ask from our kids when we're sitting at 7-0 with a chance to win a conference championship this week. All of our season goals are still within reach and we know we won't be given anything."

After a tough loss to Saint Mary's Springs in Week 2, Darlington has gotten back on track.

"First and more important, we have been pretty healthy this year, knock on wood," Redbirds head coach Travis Winkers said. "I hope it can continue this way as we finish the regular season and attempt at making a deep playoff run."

Big games like this take on heightened importance the deeper they get into the season.

"We know this is a de facto conference championship game," Winker said. "We work hard all calendar year long in the weight room so we can compete in and win games like this. They are very good and really have not been challenged for a full game all year. Their passing game is going to be a real test for us. Lastly, their offense get a lot of the publicity, but their defense has not given up more than a touchdown in a game. They are good on both sides of the ball. It will be a true test for us and a great opportunity to get better before the playoffs."

"We're not shying away from the fact that this is a big game," added Belleville coach Mike Nolden. "We talk about playing in games like this every day of the season. It's a heck of an opportunity to have against one of the most storied programs in Wisconsin high school football. One of the best parts of being in the SWAL is you get a good opponent every Friday."


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  KT Game of the Week