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Many of state's oldest and most-played rivalry games on tap for 2023

08/14/2023, 8:00am CDT

By Travis Wilson

Reedsburg and Baraboo will square off for the 136th time this year

The first games of the 2023 high school football season are less than a week away, which means soon we'll be immersed in the pageantry of the boys of fall -- the bands, cheerleaders, student section themes, Friday night lights...and the rivalries that make high school sports, especially football, so memorable.

WisSports.net has been compiling information on the state's most-played high school football rivalries for nearly a decade, establishing the most robust database in Wisconsin.

Many of those longtime rivalries will be rekindled this season, while some will not be contested due to conference changes, adjustments to schedules, or even moves of some teams to 8-player football.

Week 7 is shaping up to be an especially busy rivalry week, with three of the state's most-played matchups kicking off that week.

That includes Reedsburg at Baraboo in the 136th matchup between the Sauk County schools, the most of any rivalry in state history. Amazingly, the margin in the series that dates back to 1900 and has been played continuously since 1919 is razor thin, with Reedsburg holding a 65-64-6 advantage in the previous 135 meetings.

For more information on the history of the Old River Jug rivalry (trophy pictured at left), as it's known, see this article on WSN from longtime Reedsburg newspaperman Jeff Seering from 2014.

Also taking place in Week 7 is Marshfield against Wisconsin Rapids, which will be held for the 122nd time. The venerable Green Bay East versus Green Bay West showdown, which is the state's longest active rivalry game, will also be held in Week 7, marking the 118th time the Green Bay schools will face off.

A week earlier in Week 6, Mineral Point will take on Darlington for the 122nd time, tied for third-most played in state history, with Darlington holding a dominating 90-26-5 advantage.

The famous "M&M Game" is set for Week 2, as Marinette and Menominee (MI) are separated by just 3.2 miles, the Menominee River, and a state border.

Sadly, the state's second-most played rivalry game will once again not be held this season, as Algoma moved to 8-player football several years ago and thus will not face Kewaunee, a matchup that has been played 125 times previously.

With Beaver Dam and Watertown squaring off last year for the 100th time, there are 16 high school football rivalries that have been contested at least 100 times. Reedsburg is part of two of those, as in addition to the 135 meetings with Baraboo, the Beavers have also faced Portage 109 times, though will not do so this season. Wisconsin Rapids is also on twice (Marshfield 121 times; Stevens Point 107 times), as is Chippewa Falls (Eau Claire Memorial 114 times; Menomonie 110 times).

Do you have info on a long-running football rivalry? Please share the information with us as we put together a list of the most played and/or longest-running rivalries. Email Travis Wilson at travis@wissports.net with the name of the teams, the total number of games played, and the overall series record. Please include only specific, verified information on rivalries with at least 70 meetings.

Most Played High School Football Rivalries

Team A	Team B	Meetings	Series	1st Meeting	Played Since	2023
Baraboo	Reedsburg	136	Tied 65-65-6	1900	1919	Wk 7 – Baraboo 24-0
Algoma	Kewaunee	125	Kewaunee leads 79-39-7	1899	N/A	N/A
Darlington	Mineral Point	123	Darlington leads 92-26-5	1894	N/A	Wk 6 – Darlington 20-13 & 7-0
Marshfield	Wisconsin Rapids	122	Rapids leads 68-40-4	1907	N/A	Wk 7 – Marshfield 6-0
Green Bay East	Green Bay West	118	East leads 64-51-3	1905	1905	Wk 7 – West 41-28
Sparta	Tomah	117	Tomah leads 68-43-6	1894	N/A	Wk 4 – Sparta 21-20
Marinette	Menominee (MI)	116	Menominee leads 59-50-7	1894	1999	Wk 2 – Menominee 26-0
Chippewa Falls	Eau Claire Memorial	115	ECM leads 69-41-5	1898	N/A	Wk 8 – Chippewa 40-22
Chippewa Falls	Menomonie	111	Menomonie leads 59-47-2 *	1895	N/A	Wk 4 – Menomonie 28-20
Algoma	Sturgeon Bay	110	Sturgeon Bay leads 65-42-3 ^	1900	N/A	N/A
Portage	Reedsburg	109	Portage leads 56-52-1	1902	N/A	N/A
Stevens Point	Wisconsin Rapids	108	Stevens Point leads 57-40-11	1912	1914	Wk 4 – SPASH 41-9
Hudson	River Falls	106	River Falls leads 56-50	1899	N/A	Wk 4 – Hudson 48-26
Marshfield	Stevens Point	106	Stevens Point leads 61-36-9	1914	1919	Wk 8 – SPASH 21-0
Antigo	Rhinelander	102	Antigo leads 65-34-3	1917	1921	Wk 5 – Antigo 24-0
Beaver Dam	Watertown	101	Watertown leads 56-42-3	1904	N/A	Wk 6 – Beaver Dam 27-21
Menasha	Neenah	99	Neenah leads 54-40-5	1896	N/A	Wk 2 – Neenah 40-0
Merrill	Rhinelander	99	Merrill leads 51-46-2	1921	2009	Wk 8 – Rhinelander 7-0
Racine Horlick	Racine Park	99	Park leads 54-39-6	1928	1928	Wk 9 – Park 27-20
Berlin	Ripon	98	Berlin leads 51-43-4	1915	N/A	Wk 9 – Berlin 40-0
La Crosse Central	La Crosse Logan	97	Central leads 50-40-7	1928	N/A	Wk 9 – Central 20-10
Beaver Dam	Waupun	95	Beaver Dam leads 71-20-4	1895	N/A	N/A
Durand-Arkansaw	Mondovi	95	Mondovi leads 46-38-2	1938	1948	Wk 8 – Mondovi 39-8
Cudahy	South Milwaukee	94	Cudahy leads 47-42-5	1922	2009	Wk 4 – SM 44-8
Cedarburg	Port Washington	93	Port Washington leads 57-32-4	1928	1951	Wk 1 – PW 41-28
Boscobel	Fennimore	91	Fennimore leads 59-27-5	1902	N/A	N/A
Kenosha Bradford	Racine Horlick	91	Bradford leads 48-41-2	1929	1983	Wk 5 – Bradford 33-26
New Holstein	Sheboygan Falls	90	Sheboygan Falls leads 60-28-2	1938	N/A	N/A
Lancaster	Prairie du Chien	88	Lancaster leads 55-29-4	1897	2022	Wk 3 – Lancaster 28-27
Horicon	Mayville	87	Mayville leads 65-18-4	1895	N/A	Wk 2 – Mayville 36-28
Sheboygan North	Sheboygan South	86	South leads 44-39-3	1938	1938	Wk 3 – North 32-20
Hurley	Ironwood (MI)	85	Ironwood leads 48-34-3	1919	N/A	N/A
Beaver Dam	Oconomowoc	81	Oconomowoc leads 44-33-4	1918	N/A	N/A
Reedsburg	Richland Center	81	Reedsburg leads 38-35-8	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fort Atkinson	Jefferson	80	Fort Atkinson leads 48-26-6	1911	N/A	Wk 2 – Fort Atkinson 34-27
Kiel	Plymouth	79	Plymouth leads 64-18-2	1936	N/A	N/A
West Allis Central	West Allis Hale	78	Central leads 41-32-5	1940	N/A	Wk 5 – Hale 42-0
New London	Shawano	78	Shawano leads 43-34-1	1927	1979	Wk 8 – Shawano 36-22
Kiel	New Holstein	77	Tied 38-38-1	1935	N/A	Wk 9 – Kiel 23-0
Omro	Winneconne	75	Winneconne leads 41-33-1	1948	N/A	Wk 2 – Winneconne 49-7


			* - results not available for 3 games
			^ - 2020 game played as 8-Player

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.