A look at all of our area teams’ Friday matchups for the third week of high school football (second in Minnesota):
FRIDAY FOOTBALL
MVC
Onalaska (2-0) at Holmen (2-0)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Empire Stadium at Holmen High School
LAST YEAR: Holmen won 34-20
MVC SERIES: The Vikings lead 20-15, but the Hilltoppers have won two of the last three and four of the last five.
NOTEWORTHY: Onalaska–The Hilltoppers are coming off a 36-0 win over Medford. … Senior QB Ian Kowal (25-for-34-327 yards, 5 TDs-0 INTs) leads the area in passing yards and is tied for the lead in passing touchdowns. … Senor WR Luke Siegel (7 catches-186 yards, TDs) leads the area in receiving yards; Holmen–The Vikings are trying for a 3-0 start for the first time since 2014. … Senior RBs Eli Kane (34 carries-341 yards, 6 TDs) and Jack Barth (211 rushing yards, 109 receiving yards, 5 TDs) have been unstoppable the first two games. … Senior QB Colin Williams (4-6-109, 2-0) has also rushed for 100 yards and 2 TDs. … Holmen has rushed for 689 yards in wins over Medford and Sauk Prairie.
Sparta (2-0) at Logan (2-0)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Swanson Field at Logan
LAST YEAR: Logan won 21-16
MVC SERIES: The Rangers lead 25-11 and have won three times in a row.
NOTEWORTHY: Sparta–The Spartans own victories over Mauston (35-0) and Black River Falls (22-12) and are led by junior QB Everett Laufenberg (19-35-381, 5-1) and senior RB Camden McTaggart (42-272, 2); Logan–Sophomore QB Tommy Check has rushed for 207 yard and scored 3 TDs for Logan, which started last season with 3 straight wins. … Senior RB Maxim Roberts (32-108, 1) rushed for 80 yards and scored his first TD in last week’s 39-21 win at Wausau East.
Central (0-2) at Reedsburg (2-0)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Reedsburg High School
LAST YEAR: Reedsburg won 43-27
MVC SERIES: The Beavers lead 2-1 after the RiverHawks won in 2023.
NOTEWORTHY: Central–The RiverHawks will need a big game from senior QB Christian Rudrud (251 rushing yards, 2 TDs; 217 passing yards, 2 TDs) to hang with the state’s eighth-ranked team in the Medium Division of the ESPN Wisconsin Media Poll. … Junior Gabe Servais (9-97, 1) and senior WR Connor Groth (5-96, 1) have accounted for 14 of Central’s 16 pass completions through two games; Reedsburg–The Beavers have rushed for 883 yards and scored 96 points in wins over DeForest (54-22) and McFarland (42-0). … The RiverHawks will have to be ready for senior QB Will Mikonowicz (19-311, 5 TDs) and senior RB Landin Purifoy (40-265, 3) in a serious rushing attack.
COULEE
Arcadia (2-0) at Aquinas (2-0)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex at UW-L
LAST YEAR: Aquinas won 55-22
COULEE SERIES: The Blugolds lead 4-0 and have won by a combined score of 212-42.
NOTEWORTHY: Arcadia–The Raiders have the area’s top rusher in senior RB Max Blaschko (56-516, 6) after wins over Webster (26-13) and Whitehall (30-20). … Blaschko had 263 yards in Week 1 and 253 with 4 TDs in Week 2. … Junior QB Carter Wegman (10-26-142, 1-0) and junior Jonah Slaby (4-66, 1) have anchored the passing game; Arcadia is 2-0 for the third straight year; Aquinas–The Blugolds have won 53 of their past 57 games and 14 straight in conference play. … Senior QB Ryan Johnson (23-30-326, 1-0) has played two solid games as a first-year starter. … Senior WR Logan Becker (7-82, 0) was limited to 1 catch last week. … Junior RB Isaac Miller had 39 total yards in last week’s 34-13 win over state-ranked Columbus but scored 3 TDs. … Sophomore DB Will Dickinson had 2 INTs last week.
Viroqua (0-2) at West Salem (1-1)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Viroqua High School
LAST YEAR: West Salem won 35-7
COULEE SERIES: The Panthers lead 23-7 and have won 17 in a row with the Blackhawks’ last victory coming in 1999.
NOTEWORTHY: Viroqua–Senior QB Alex Klum (12-25-118, 2-2) and senior RB Tanner Schwen (30-50 are the top passer and rusher for the Blackhawks, who have lost to Brookwood (20-8) and Richland Center (47-8) by a combined score of 67-16 after gaining 177 total yards. … Senior WR Hayden Burckhardt (5-62, 1) is the top receiver; West Salem–The Panthers rebounded from a 35-26 loss to Onalaska in Week 1 to beat Tomah 37-6 last week. … Junior QB Drew McConkey (15-29-231, 5-2) is tied for the area lead in TD passes and has rushed for 153 yards and 3 TDs. … Junior RB Rory O’Neill (34-202, 1) has helped take pressure from McConkey, and junior WRs Josiah Wolbrink (3-97, 2) and Jameson Skifton (8-92, 2) have been McConkey’s top targets. … Junior LB Isaiah Laack has recorded 16 tackles.
Onalaska Luther (0-2) at G-E-T (0-2)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: G-E-T High School
LAST YEAR: Luther won 13-8
COULEE SERIES: The Red Hawks lead 13-2 after the Knights picked up their first series win since 2014 last year.
NOTEWORTHY: Luther–The Knights are still looking for their first win after a 25-22 loss to Blair-Taylor and a 40-6 loss to Bangor. .. Junior QB Jonny Holub (15-29-218, 3-4) has completed at least 1 pass to 7 receivers; G-E-T–The Red Hawks have allowed 106 points through two weeks, and junior QB Sawyer Foust (32-57-493, 3-5) had led the offense with junior WR Andrew Lebakken (9-152, 2) as his favorite target.
DAIYLAND
Eleva-Strum (1-1) at Melrose-Mindoro (2-0)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Melrose-Mindoro High School
LAST YEAR: Eleva-Strum won 22-21
NOTEWORTHY: Eleva-Strum–The Cardinals opened with a 34-6 loss to Glenwood City before rebounding with a 8-0 win over Colfax last week. … Senior RB Luis Kinser and junior RB Brock Stendahl have combined to rush for 219 yards; Melrose-Mindoro–The Mustangs are looking for their first 3-0 start since 2007. … Melrose-Mindoro has allowed 20 points after a 21-20 in over Bangor and 42-0 defeat of Necedah. … Junior RB Isaiah Kleinsmith (15-140, 4) has had 2 impressive games so far, as has junior QB Brady Blaken (18-30-243, 1-2). … Kleinsmith also has 8 catches for 107 yards.
RIDGE AND VALLEY
De Soto (1-0) at Wonewoc-Center/Weston (0-2)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Wonewoc-Center High School
LAST YEAR: De Soto won 40-0
NOTEWORTHY: De Soto–The Pirates didn’t get to play last week when Princeton/Green Lake canceled the game. … Senior RB Austin DeFlorian (10-108, 3) and senior QB Finn Wrobel (2-3, 57, 1-0 and 26 rushing yards and a TD) lead the offense, and senior Griffin Hanson led De Soto with 9.5 tackle and 2 blocked punts during a 46-0 win over Kickapoo/La Farge in Week 1; W-C/W–The Wolves have been outscored 77-14 in losses to Valley Christian and North Crawford.
THREE RIVERS
St. Charles (0-1) at Caledonia (0-1)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Caledonia High School
LAST YEAR: Caledonia won 28-0
NOTEWORTHY: St. Charles–Lost its season opener to Dover-Eyota 35-8; Caledonia–The Warriors started the season with a 21-14 loss at Rushford-Peterson after the Trojans scored a third-quarter touchdown. … Senior RB Jack Schmitz (13-83, 2) gave Caledonia its points on runs of 1 and 17 yards. … Senior QB Will Allen (7-16-100, 0-1) and sophomore RB Grant King (8-98, 0) also kept the ball moving for the Warriors, who had 308 total yards and received 10 tackles from sophomore DL Cooper Allen.
