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Week 2 Rapid Reaction

08/31/2024, 11:00am CDT
By Travis Wilson

Luther knocked off Bangor 28-0 in Week 2 as part of a big group of upsets around the state

Week 2 of the 2024 high school football season in Wisconsin is in the books. Below we will take a look at some of the storylines and notes this week.

For the full Week 2 results, please click here

As a reminder, we'll have loads of additional content coming in the next few days to wrap up Week 1, including:

We'll also have the Kwik Trip & Wisconsin Dairy Game of the Week nominees on Sunday evening, 8-Player Spotlight on Wednesday, and the Week 3 Preview on Thursday.

Upset City

Week 2 of the high school football season was all about the upset, and there were plenty of them around the state. It started on Thursday, with Appleton East shutting out Kettle Moraine 6-0. The Patriots have not been to the playoffs since 2019, while Kettle Moraine has 10 postseason victories in the last three years.

Things got even more topsy-turvy Friday night. Hosting Madison Memorial, Waunakee suffered a 49-34 loss. It is unfamiliar territory for the Warriors, who had not lost a non-conference game since 2013 (not counting playoffs) when they fell to Edgewood. The WSN archives go back to 2002, and during the WSN era, Waunakee had not previously lost a non-conference home game. 

D.C. Everest dropped its opening game to Rice Lake 44-17, but the Evergreens went on the road to hammer D2 #3 River Falls 51-26 last night.

Speaking of Division 2, defending state champion Badger went down, 35-33 to Slinger in an outstanding high school football game. 

The Badgers were one of three top-ranked teams to fall in Week 2. After taking down defending D1 champion Marquette in Week 1, Arrowhead was annoitted as the top team in the initial D1 Coaches Poll on WSN. However, the reign will be short, as the Warhawks fell to old rival Homestead 24-21.

It's not necessarily an upset, but when two defending state champions go down, someone has to lose. That turned out to be Edgar, as last year's D7 champs and number one team fell to rival Stratford 21-8. The Tigers have won the last two Division 6 state titles but will bump up to D5 this season.

Three-time defending Division 5 champion Aquinas also suffered a loss in Week 2, going on the road to Columbus, dropping a 20-16 decision at Fireman's Park.

Darlington was third in the Division 5 coaches poll, coming off an impressive win over Platteville in Week 1. However, Week 2 as a different story, as the Redbirds were blown out by host Prairie du Chien 35-7.

Sussex Hamilton has made it to two consecutive state semi-finals in Division 1, but the sixth-ranked Chargers fell 21-14 to Oconomowoc, who has missed the postseason the last two years.

Luther and Bangor used to be conference opponents, but played as a non-conference game this season. While Bangor has dominated the matchup in recent years, Luther was a 28-0 winner on Friday night.

Rivalry Results

We touched on a few rivalries above, but this was a busy week for some of the state's most-played matchups.

In the 118th playing of the M&M Game, Menominee (MI) continued its recent dominance of Marinette, posting a 49-6 victory.

Chippewa Falls blew out Eau Claire Memorial 66-7 in the 116th meeting between the schools, though this one comes as a non-conference contest with Eau Claire Memorial moving to the VFA this year.

In the 100th meeting between neighboring rivals Neenah and Menasha, it was all Neenah, as the Rockets posted a 50-13 running clock win.

The Marsh Bowl was won by Mayville, 47-14 over Horicon/Hustisford, as it was the 88th meeting between schools representing Horicon and Mayville.

Fort Atkinson beat Jefferson 23-13, taking a 49-26-6 lead in the series that has been played 81 times since 1911.

The China Bowl Trophy will go home with Winneconne this season after the Wolves dominated rival Omro 60-7. It was the 76th time the teams have played since the first meeting in 1948.

Meeting for the first time as standalone programs since 1983, New Glarus defeated Belleville 16-13. The teams have met 75 times, sometimes as part of co-ops, and have played games as six-player squads, eight-player, and 11-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.

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