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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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Thursday was a significant day, as Wayland Academy scored a 26-22 victory over Lake Holcombe, marking the program's first varsity win since 2013, back when they were an 11-player team. Since that time, the Big Red have played as a JV program at times and made the move to 8-player. The last varsity win for the team came on October 19th, 2013 against Abundant Life.

Gilman was all over Thorp, 61-18, dominating the second half after holding a narrow 30-18 halftime advantage. Dawson Krizan completed all six of his pass attempts for 143 yards and three touchdowns, adding a team-high 119 yards on the ground with one score.

Jared Schultz continued to do Jared Schultz things for Northwood/Solon Springs, throwing for 100 yards and three touchdowns with 126 rushing yards and four scores. He led the Evergreens in tackles and also accumulated 42 return yards.

Defending champion Florence went down again, as Wausaukee scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 58-20 victory. Luke Smith threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns, adding 229 yards and two scores as well, accounting for nearly 500 yards of offense by himself. He also recorded 13 tackles on defense and forced a fumble.

The only ranked matchup of the week came on Saturday, but it turned out to be a blowout, with former number ten shutting out former number nine New Auburn 43-0. The Bears ran for 359 yards and five touchdowns, as both Dayne Mumm and Braden Curtis went for over 100 on the ground.

The biggest game this weekend is on Friday, when fourth-ranked Highland will travel to third-ranked North Crawford. The Cardinals of Highland have been very impressive in their first season as a member of 8-player football, and this one may determine the winner of the Ridge & Valley-8 Conference.

There is another top ten matchup on the schedule, however, as tenth-ranked Wausaukee will make the trip to sixth-ranked Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas. Both teams are 5-0 overall, as this one is a non-conference affair.

Port Edwards is alone on top of the Central Wisconsin-8 heading into Week 6, though three teams are close behind at 3-1 in league play. The Blackhawks get one of those teams this week, as they'll take on Newman Catholic.

It was a battle of former co-op partners Rib Lake and Prentice, who spent more than 20 years together before dissolving last year. Rib Lake had a big third quarter and it allowed the Redmen to pull away for a 46-32 win. Talon Scheithauer was huge in the second half especially, running for a score, throwing a touchdown, and returning an interception for a score. He accounted for four total touchdowns, rushing for 119 yards with 61 yards passing. Over on defense he recorded 16 tackles to go with the Pick-Six.

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.