WIAA 8-Participant Championship Sport Preview – Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Affiliation

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Monday, November 10, 2025
THE CHAMPIONSHIP: The seventh annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Affiliation 8-Participant Soccer State Championship Sport can be held Saturday, Nov. 15, at South Wooden County Stadium in Wisconsin Rapids at 1 p.m.
ADMISSION TICKETS: The WIAA makes use of GoFan Ticketing for all digital and cashless tickets. Admission is $11 plus on-line charges for adults and college students. All tickets should be redeemed on a cellular machine. To buy tickets, go to the WIAA web site at:  https://www.wiaawi.org/Tickets#42691696-8-player-football.
LIVE STREAMED ON WIAA.TV:  The 8-player soccer championship recreation can be streamed dwell on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Community on a shopper subscription foundation. To buy a $13.99 subscription to the dwell programming, log-on to wiaa.television and click on on the “Subscribe” hyperlink on the prime of the web page. Archived streams of the sport can be out there on demand 72 hours after the championship recreation with a subscription to the NFHS Community .
THE MATCH-UP:  Each Gilman and McDonell Catholic can be making their first look within the 8-player championship recreation, and each are from the identical convention. Gilman (12-0) has certified for the 8-player soccer playoffs in 4 of the previous 5 seasons of the event, which additionally accounts for the Pirates’ total variety of appearances within the playoffs. Previous to this yr, their furthest advance within the bracket was to the third spherical in 2021. They’ve posted an 8-3 report of their appearances within the 8-player event area.  Earlier than transitioning to 8-player, Gilman certified for the 11-player playoff area 15 occasions, together with as soon as in Division 5, 4 occasions in Division 6 and 10 occasions in Division 7. The Pirates compiled an 11-player playoff report of 32-12. Most notably, they received the Division 6 championship in 1986 and the Division 7 title in 2006. The Pirates additionally superior to the championship recreation in 2005 and got here away with a runner-up end. Gilman was the champion within the East Division of the North Central Convention this fall. They earned the chance to play for the championship after beating Oakfield 30-12 of their State semifinal match-up performed at Waupaca. McDonell Catholic (11-1) advances to the championship recreation with a 64-29 victory over Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas, final season’s runner-up, within the sectional ultimate performed at D.C. Everest. The Macks have certified for the playoffs six occasions and have now compiled a playoff report of 7-5. Their furthest advance within the playoffs previous to this yr was to the third spherical in 2023.  Previous to the transition to 8-player, they made 10 appearances within the 11-player playoffs, compiling a 9-10 report. The Macks superior to the championship ultimate in Division 7 and completed runner-up in 2009. They completed runner-up behind Gilman within the East Division of the North Central Convention this season. Gilman defeated McDonell Catholic in Week 5 of the common season by a rating of 38-12.
2024 CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP:   Owen-Withee captured the State 8-player soccer championship with a 50-36 victory over Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas. Mason Homosexual accounted for a lot of the Blackhawk’s offense, dashing for 321 yards and 6 scores. That dashing yardage complete ranks second-most in championship recreation historical past. Sully Poehler ran for 35 yards on 9 carries. Dominic Sherwood accomplished his one go try for 44 yards and a landing. The Owen-Withee protection was led by Colin Fritz with 17 tackles, together with 10 solos and a sack, and Sherwood contributed with 12 tackles. Calvin Peters rushed 30 occasions for 178 yards and a rating to guide the Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas offense. He additionally accomplished 10-of-16 passes for 122 yards and a pair of scores. Max Peterson and Ty Shallow every carried the ball eight occasions for 42 and 37 yards, respectively. Shallow caught 5 passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns, and Max Peterson made 4 receptions for 51 yards. Peterson led the Titans’ protection with 11 tackles.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY:  Sevastopol defeated Luck 38-30 within the first title recreation, which was performed at Stanley-Boyd in 2018. The primary yr featured an eight-team bracket that was expanded to a 16-team bracket in 2019. There was no championship recreation in 2020 due to COVID-19 pointers and lodging when just one degree of the playoff was provided. Newman Catholic is the one program to have received two 8-player soccer titles. Newman Catholic and Luck have performed in essentially the most championship video games with three.
REDUCED PLAYER FOOTBALL HISTORY:  Lowered-player soccer has had an extended historical past within the affiliation. The WIAA launched a reduced-player soccer possibility for the primary time in 1937 with a six-player alternative meant to serve small colleges. An eight-player possibility was launched a couple of years later, and previous to 1941, there have been 90 colleges taking part in both six- or eight-player soccer. World Battle II had an affect because the variety of reduced-player groups declined to 70. In 1950, there have been 50 six-player groups and 26 eight-player squads. By 1956, the eight-player recreation had all however changed the six-player possibility as 71 applications had been taking part in eight-player to solely six colleges sponsoring the six-player possibility. By 1969, virtually each soccer program was 11-player with the variety of groups taking part in eight-player dwindling to 6. In 2012, the WIAA reinstated reduced-player soccer with 16 groups optioning for the eight-player format that season. For six seasons, the highest 4 groups in two separate areas had been afforded a chance to match-up and play in a four-game jamboree on the finish of the season. In 2018, the 8-player soccer started with an eight-team playoff, which expanded to 16 groups in 2019 after which to 32 groups in 2025.
FACTS & FIGURES: There are 67 applications sponsoring 8-player soccer in 2025 and 51 are event eligible. There are a number of colleges collaborating within the 8-player program which are ineligible for the post-season event as a result of their three-year common enrollment exceeds 200, which is the brink to be eligible for the 8-player event.
KEY DIFFERENCES IN THE GAME: Along with solely eight gamers on the sector for both sides, the sport differs barely from the 11-player format each within the area configurations and taking part in guidelines. The 8-player area is 40 yards vast and the space between the hash marks are narrower than the 11-player area. The taking part in guidelines differ from 11-player in that there should be at the least three gamers on the offensive line of scrimmage on the snap. Every participant that’s on the finish of the road of scrimmage and every of the three gamers behind the road of scrimmage are eligible and should have any jersey quantity.
STATE TOURNEY CENTRAL:  The WIAA has a one-stop web page on the web site for State Event info named State Tourney Central. The web page shows hyperlinks for customers looking for details about the State Tournaments, together with schedules, tickets, parking, venue carry-in insurance policies, outcomes, previews, the place to look at broadcast and streams, attire and far more. 
FOLLOW THE FINAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Obtain updates of the State 8-Participant Soccer Ultimate on the WIAA State Event X account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaafb. Additionally like us on Fb and observe us on Instagram at wiaawi.
NEED RESULTS?:  Outcomes and official statistics can be out there on the WIAA web site following the conclusion of the sport.
WILSON IS THE OFFICIAL BALL:  Wilson is the official recreation ball of the WIAA State 8-Participant Soccer Ultimate. Wilson footballs are additionally the official ball on the 11-player sectional finals, State semifinals and finals.
LICENSED STATE MERCHANDISE:  Attire gross sales for the 2025 WIAA 8-Participant Soccer Championship recreation can be out there by pre-ordering on-line by  Tier 1 Sports activities. The hyperlink to order on-line is: tier1sports.com/product/2025-wiaa-8-player-football-state-championship/. On-line pre-orders should be positioned by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10. Orders can be out there for pickup on the venue in Wisconsin Rapids Saturday.
Wisconsin Interscholastic
Athletic Affiliation
5516 Vern Holmes Drive
Stevens Level, WI 54482-8833
Telephone (715) 344-8580
Fax (715) 344-4241
Mon-Fri: 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM

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