MONROE — The WIAA released its football playoff brackets live on local TV stations Saturday, Oct. 14, where Monroe and Darlington learned they earned the No. 1 seed in their respective brackets. Another three local teams qualified for playoffs, with Black Hawk-Warren hosting a Level 1 playoff game.
DIVISION 3
Defending state champions Monroe (7-2, 7-0 Rock Valley) earned a No. 1 seed and will host No. 8 seed New Berlin Eisenhower (4-6, 3-4 Parkland). The Cheesemakers have won the Rock Valley — not losing a single conference game — for the last three years. This season, Monroe has outscored its opponents 310-91 and gained 2,201 rushing yards. Its only two losses came to nonconference opponents Beaver Dam (6-3, 4-3 Badger Large) and No. 2-ranked Mount Horeb-Barneveld (9-0, 7-0 Badger Small), both of whom are also playoff bound. Meanwhile, NBE enters Level 1 on a two-game losing streak.
DIVISION 5
In the final season of its 40-year co-op, New Glarus-Monticello (5-5, 3-4 Capitol) made the playoffs as the No. 8 seed, traveling to No. 1 seed and defending D5 state champs Aquinas (8-1, 7-0 Coulee). The Blugolds, ranked No. 1 in Division 5, outscored their conference opponents 273-69. After starting their season 4-0, the Knights have lost their last three games.
Brodhead-Juda (6-3, 4-3 SWC) earned the No. 6 seed and will travel to the No. 3 seed Columbus (8-1, 6-1 Capitol). Columbus, ranked No. 2 in Division 5, have lost just one game all season, 28-0, to Division 4 No. 2-ranked Lodi. The team’s leading rusher, UND-commit Colton Brunell, currently has 1,632 yards on the season and 6,750 yards in his career. Wisconsin’s all-time rushing record is 6,932 yards, set by Racine Lutheran’s Tyler Tenner in 2016. Brodhead-Juda, ranked No. 10 in Division 5, finished fourth in one of the toughest conferences in southern Wisconsin. SWC champion Platteville (8-1, 7-0) is ranked No. 5 in Division 4, conference runner-up Lancaster (8-1, 6-1) is No. 8 in Division 6 and third-place finisher Prairie du Chien is No. 9 in Division 5.
DIVISION 6
Darlington (8-1, 7-0 SWAL) earned the No. 1 seed and will host conference opponent No. 8 seed Belleville (3-6, 3-4). The Redbirds won the SWAL for the third straight season, outscoring their opponents 233-28. The team’s only loss came to Prairie du Chien 21-19 in a Week 2 nonconference game. In the regular-season, Darlington beat Belleville 58-0.
DIVISION 7
Black Hawk-Warren (8-1, 6-1 Six Rivers) earned the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 seed Seneca-Wauzeka-Steuben (5-4, 5-2 Ridge & Valley). The Warriors, ranked No. 7 in Division 7, ended their conference season as runners-up to Potosi-Cassville, ranked No. 6 in Division 7. PC beat BHW 41-20 in Week 7. SWS also lost to PC, 35-0 in Week 1, and fellow Six Rivers opponent River Ridge 19-0 in Week 2. The Warriors, however, beat the Timberwolves 14-6.
Pecatonica-Argyle (1-8, 1-6 Six Rivers) and Parkview-Albany (0-9, 0-7 SWAL) did not qualify for the playoffs.
