With just one final regular season football game this season, Friday will have a totally different feel than the final Friday night of all football seasons before. With many teams opting out for the spring season, and some teams opting to not extend their season, the wait for playoff announcements will be far less captivating this year. For 8 Man Football, it’s actually to be fairly simple.
1:30 a.m. – release 8-team groupings/brackets by division
8-PLAYER FOOTBALL
The WIAA will select 16 qualifiers for the 8-Player postseason using the existing criteria. Those teams will be placed into four-team groupings, with two levels of postseason just like 11-player, which means no full state tournament or champions. Teams with a three-year enrollment average of more than 200 are not eligible for the playoffs, which leaves 33 programs.
However, Auburndale switched to 8-player late and is ineligible, while Mercer/Butternut, Sevastopol, and Washburn will play in the spring.
Additionally, Bowler/Gresham, Elcho/White Lake, Gillett, Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas, Marion/Tigerton, New Auburn, Newman Catholic, Prairie Farm, Suring, and Tri-County have opted out of the postseason.
This leaves 19 teams eligible for the playoffs, to fill 16 postseason spots:
Alma Center Lincoln
Belmont
Bruce
Clayton
Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah
Florence
Frederic
Gilman
Greenwood
Luck
McDonell Central Catholic
Mellen
Northwood/Solon Springs
Port Edwards
Shell Lake
Siren
Three Lakes
Wabeno/Laona
Wausaukee
The 8-player qualifiers and matchups are expected to be released late Friday night.
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
