I’m working hard on a different story but in this edition, I’d like to pass on some, what I feel, is important news.
ON THE 8-PLAYER FRONT:
Last week, on January 17, Travis Wilson at WISSPORTS reported a mass realignment of 11-player football only conferences that is sure to have some schools protesting. The WIAA Conference Realignment Task Forcer had released their new proposal the day before. It was noted in his story that the 8-player realignment had been released back on December 10 and so far, there had been no protests. Now dated January 16, if you haven’t seen it I present it here:
To me, the 8-player proposal appears to be quite balanced. The 11-player is too expansive to present but if you are interested, check it out at: WIAA Conference Realignment Task Force amends 2026 football-only proposals
Also, on the 8-player front, back on January 6, MaxPreps released their own updated national 8-man/player career record book. There are a few Wisconsin players listed in the records but the overall list is statistically speaking, impressive…Career records added to MaxPreps 8-man football record book
The records are a combination of stats reported to the NFSA (National Federation of State High School Associations) and posted on MaxPreps. There are a few Wisconsin schools that post on both web sites and I first, encourage all 8-player coaches to post their weekly stats on WisSports and fill in as much information as possible. It helps me with adding stats to the state record book. Secondly, look into posting the team/player stats on MaxPreps. It’s simple to use and just takes a moment. It’s cool to see where your players rank nationally plus it gives a wider recruiting reach. Several Wisconsin players would have ranked highly on the 2024 season leaders as I mentioned in my December 30th story…2024 RECORD BOOKS UPDATES
As I said back in December, I have made some changes to the 8-player state record book. One of the additions is a “All-Time” 8-player team won/loss posting and an “All-Time” 8-player coaching record. Hope you like it when I’m finished with updating the file.
11-Player Info
Having previously mentioning the WIAA Playoff Task Force Matrix there is another update from WisSports and a potential vote this week (February 2-8, 2024) to have additional impact on football playoffs…WFCA's Wisconsin Football Playoff Matrix continuing through process, big test next week. Things are going to change and hopefully for the better with the coaches impute.
In past stories I’ve mentioned that Kevin Askeland writes a historical blog when not reporting on MaxPreps. He spends a lot of time researching national schools… Archive - High School Sports History (This leads to the entire listing of stories). There are several early stories covering the history of national high school football polls. Ne next moved on to the 1944 and 1945 All-America team as well as his top 50- teams for those two seasons and then he dropped back to 1917 before starting with 1958 and moving each year back. His latest story was released on January 25 with the 1950 teams… Archive - High School Sports History (This leads directly to 1950).
In the past Wisconsin had a team that ranked fairly low on the yearly national poll but for 1950, Kenosha High School is ranked #15. Because Kevin Askeland does really in-depth research that takes out of his pocket expenses he asks for donations or you can get it free. It’s up to you but look at his fine work. He goes the extra mile.
Not to beat a “dead horse” but there is more on Milton GA football. As I wrote in the last two stories about NIL, several Wisconsin 2025 players have transferred/moved to Milton GA. On January 23 a current 2027 sophomore quarterback, Derrick Baker from national powerhouse Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas High School, the Florida 2024 Class 5A Champion has also transferred…2027 QB Derrick Baker transfers from St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida) to Milton (Georgia) St. Thomas has won 16 state titles since 1992 and is consistently ranked in the national top-25 polls. Baker’s comments as to why he’s transferring seems questionable…he wants to win more championships. I don’t know how many returning players there are at. St. Thomas but since they have won six consecutive state titles (2019-2024) there’s a good chance the school has many returning stars in 2025.
So, why the moves to Milton? I’m not sure.
Following up on the second NIL story, I mentioned Julien Lewis, the quarterback from Carrollton GA. He had made the Sports Illustrated 2024 All-Georgia and their All-America team teams and he graduated early. Well, it seems that Deon Sanders has gotten the University of Colorado in trouble with the NCAA over minor recruiting violations in the recruitment of Lewis. My original info was that Lewis had not played in 2024 for Carrollton but he had. He did graduate early, passing up his senior 2025 season to take advantage of a lucrative NIL package.
Well, there has been a change in the Julien Lewis college landing spot. I had previously reported that he had rejected Colorado and had signed with USC. Now it seems that he decided to go to Colorado…for the moment as ”Coach Prime” has surprised Lewis by recruiting a former 5-Star quarterback, Kaidon Salter who transferred from Liberty who had passed for 5,283 yards, 64 touchdowns and rushed for 1,687 yards and 21 scores. In the mean time as Lewis was wavering in his commitment to USC, Coach Lincoln Reilly signed another top quarterback, Husan Longstreet. So, the story will continue for Lewis but I’m calling it a day on him. Just giving you, the reader, a final wrap-up on my end.
Take a look at this story from Sports Illustrated High School Football… Lawsuit against St. John Bosco furthers concern over high school football coaches' pressure to recruit, win. A national look at some other issues nationally.
Finally, it was announced on Thursday, January 30 that the Denver Bronco’s were donating over 15,000 new Riddell Axiom smart helmets to all of the 272 Colorado high school football teams. Partnering with the Colorado High School Activities Association and Riddell, the team dubbed the initiative as “All In, All Covered”. Typically, the cost of a smart helmet costs about $800 each so the Bronco’s donated over $12,000,000. Schools will begin receiving their helmets in early May. Broncos launch first-in-NFL program to give all Colorado high school football programs helmets.
Well, that’s it for now.
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