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Below are some quick takeaways from Level 1 of the high school football playoffs. Look for a full preview of each division to come out next week on WisSports.net. To see the full Scoreboard, click here.

Bob Hyland's legendary 54-year coaching career came to a sudden end in Level 1, as Saint Mary's Springs fell to crosstown rival Winnebago Lutheran 21-20 on Friday night. The Ledgers scored with about a minute remaining, but a potential go-ahead two-point conversion failed. It was especially shocking given the teams met in the final regular season game, with Saint Mary's Springs winning 37-7 in that one.

The Ledgers' Level 1 playoff loss is the first time they did not make it to at least Level 3 since the team missed the postseason in 2007.

It proves to be the swan song for Hyland, the state's all-time winningest coach who ends his career with a 522-118 record. That includes an incredible 17 state championships, nine in WIAA and eight in WISAA. Hyland's WIAA playoff record is 84-13.

The first year the WIAA went to true 1-8 coach seeding of regional groupings was 2012. That season, 26 of 112 road teams claimed victory, for a winning percentage of 23.2%. Each year since, we have tracked the winning percentage of road teams in Level 1 of the 11-player playoffs. In 2019, the last year of a regular playoffs with coach seeding, road teams won 24 contests for a winning percentage of 21.4%.

Of course, beginning in 2021, the seeding was done via an automated computer formula developed by the WIAA and Wisconsin Football Coaches Association. In 2022, road teams in 11-player football had a winning percentage of 17.9% in Level 1, claiming victory in 20 contests. In 2023, 22.3% of road teams won in Level 1.

This season, road teams in 11-player football have a winning percentage of 19.6%, claiming victory in 22 contests. 

While home teams took control of most of the games, there were several road teams that not only won, but won big. 11 of the 22 road victors won by double digits, including seven that won by 20 points or more. There were road victories with winning margins of 41, 35, 34, 29, and 27 points.

There were 12 teams seeded sixth or worse that claimed victories (13 in 2023):

#7 D.C. Everest over #2 Hudson, D1
#6 Sheboygan North over #3 Milwaukee Reagan, D1
#7 Elkhorn over #2 Monroe, D2
#7 Germantown over #2 Cedarburg, D2
#6 Waterford over #3 Stoughton, D3
#6 Ellsworth over #3 Mosinee, D4
#6 Evansville over #3 Edgerton, D4
#7 Winnebago Lutheran over #2 Saint Mary's Springs, D5
#8 Belleville over #1 Cambridge, D6
#6 Manitowoc Lutheran over #3 Reedsville, D6
#6 Lourdes Academy over #3 Crivitz, D7
#7 Hilbert over #2 Iola-Scandinavia, D7

Surprisingly, there were no conferences that were perfect in Level 1 of the playoffs. The Mississippi Valley and the Badger-Large had the best overall won-loss percentage, going 4-1. The only loss by an MVC team was against another MVC squad (Holmen over La Crosse Central). Eight other leagues had just one loss among their teams: the Big Eight, Capitol, Classic Eight, Dunn-St. Croix, East Central, Middle Border, and Woodland all went a combined 3-1, while the Midwest Classic-Small was 2-1.

Just two conferences did not win a playoff game, both divisions of the Milwaukee City Conference, the Blackbourn and the Richardson.

Badger-Large 4-1
Badger-Small 1-3
Bay 3-2
Big East 4-2
Big Eight 3-1
Big Rivers 2-3
Capitol 3-1
Classic Eight 3-1
Cloverbelt 3-2
Coulee 3-2
CWC-Large 3-2
Dairlyand 2-3
Dunn-St. Croix 3-1
East Central 3-1
Eastern Suburban 1-3
Eastern Wisconsin 1-5
Flyway 3-2
Fox Valley Association 3-2
FRCC-North 3-2
FRCC-South 2-2
Great Northern 1-4
Greater Metro 2-2
Heart O'North 2-2
Lakeland 1-3
Marawood 3-2
Metro Classic 3-2
Middle Border 3-1
Midwest Classic-Large 1-4
Midwest Classic-Small 2-1
Mil. City - Blackbourn 0-3
Mil. City - Richardson 0-5
Mississippi Valley 4-1
North Eastern 2-2
North Shore 2-3
Northwoods 2-3
Packerland 3-3
Parkland 3-3
Rock Valley 2-2
Scenic Bluffs 2-3
Six Rivers 2-3
South Central 1-3
Southeast 3-2
Southern Lakes 3-3
SWAL 3-2
SWC 2-3
Trailways 3-2
Wisconsin Valley 1-3
Woodland 3-1

Seven of the state champions from 2023 qualified for the postseason this year, with defending 8-player champion Florence missing out. Rice Lake, Aquinas, and Stratford changed divisions, meaning we're guaranteed a new champions in Divisions 3, 5, and 6.

D1: Marquette beat Milwaukee Marshall 63-0
D2: Badger beat Union Grove 51-22
D3: Rice Lake beat DeForest 56-22 in a Division 2 game
D4: Lodi beat Wisconsin Dells 37-20
D5: Aquinas beat Edgewood 14-10 in a Division 4 game
D6: Stratford Horicon/Hustisford 48-14 in a Division 5 game
D7: Edgar beat Pittsville 36-0
8-Player: Florence did not qualify for the playoffs

There were 42 teams that qualified for the playoffs with a conference record under .500. Seven of those teams earned victories in Level 1 of the playoffs: 

Elkhorn
Fox Valley Lutheran
Hilbert
Muskego
Shiocton
Winnebago Lutheran
Xavier

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.