Osseo-Fairchild, Fall Creek chosen for 2026 WIAA playoff field
Membership does have its benefits.
And joining the Dunn-St. Croix Conference as Osseo-Fairchild High School did for football was a benefit for the Thunder despite finishing with a 3-6 overall record, 2-5 in the league, 2-4 among league teams.
For six of the seven teams in the league all received WIAA playoff berths this season, including the Thunder for the first time since 2019.
Of course, with its record, O-F is a No. 7 seed and has to take the long journey across the state to the east to face No. 2 seed and No. 8 ranked Shiocton in a Division 7, Level 1 contest on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. The winner faces either No. 3 seed Boyceville (7-2 overall) or No. 6 seed Chippewa Falls McDonell (4-5) whom the Thunder defeated this season.
But just two years removed from being a JV squad there is no question progress has been made in the Thunder program.
Even if O-F fell in its final regular season contest last week Friday, Oct. 16 at Spring Valley 20-13.
The Thunder held a 13-6 lead at halftime against the D-SC co-champs on their home field before the Cardinals rallied in the second half. Junior QB Ty Skoyen had one of his best games this season behind center throwing for 125 yards on 10-of-18 passing. Senior back Drew Hanson led the Thunder in rushing and receiving - catching six passes for 64 yards - and scoring both a rushing touchdown and having a touchdown reception. Hanson also led the team in tackles with 13, including one for loss. Sophomore receiver Jace Boettcher caught three passes for 51 yards.
Spring Valley was saved by quarterback Mason Springer's three touchdown passes, 12-for-14 passing for 150 yards. Fellow senior Asher Turner rushed for 85 yards and led his team in tackles with 11.
Shiocton is one of the co-champions of the Northwoods Conference with an 8-1 overall record. Their quarterback, senior Kyle Bergsbaken has completed 60 percent of his passes for over 1,100 yards and nine TDs with only three interceptions. Senior Wyatt Hess leads the team in rushing with over 600 yards on 73 carries and 10 TDs. Hess is also the leading the receiver on the team with 263 yards on 19 catches and two touchdowns although Shiocton has five other players with over 100 yards receiving. Junior Alejandro Garcia leads the team in tackles with 46.
Being part of a strong conference is the hope Fall Creek has for playoff advancement in Division 6. The Crickets stamped their playoff ticket again after shutting out Stevens Point Pacelli (5-4) 41-0 at home last week Friday. The win snapped a three-game losing streak and assured FC will finish no lower than .500 this season. Fall Creek led 26-0 at halftime with senior running back Ethan Westrate rushing for 74 yards on 10 carries and two TDs. Sophomore Dylan Birdsall also scored twice and rushed for 56 yards on nine carries,. Senior Tyler Biegel had a team-best 12 tackles, four of them for loss while five other players had between 5-6 tackles. FC's defense forced three turnovers.
FC's Level 1 opponent on Friday is No. 2 seed St. Mary's Catholic Central (7-2) of Neenah in the Fox Valley, co-champs of the Eastern Wisconsin Conference. St. Mary's leading passer is senior Tarver Trinker with 963 yards passing on 70-of-123 attempts and 11 TDs to go with five INTs. He's also one of their leading rusher with 568 yards and six TDs and teammate and fellow senior Dominic Todd has rushed for 751 yards and eight TDs. Senior Luke Fairweather is the Zephyrs' top receiver with nearly 400 yards in receptions on 28 catches and five TDs.
Considering some of the records of the teams that got in and the fact Augusta won three league games too, had the Beavers hoping they would get in as well, especially after they topped Blair-Taylor at home last week Friday, Oct. 16 by a 20-8 score. Owen Lee made AHS's only reception in the ballgame but it was good for a 40-yard score. Meanwhile Rylee Mickelson rushed for 129 yards on 26 carries. Lee also scored on a rushing TD of 11 yards and Mickelson led the Beavers with 13 tackles, two for loss and he snagged an interception as well. Augusta's Nate Atchinson rushed for 97 yards on 19 carries and scored twice as the Beavers rushed for 227 yards ion the ground, the key for them to the most games they did since 2022 at 3-6 overall. Only an agonizing 26-22 early season loss (with eight turnovers) at home to Elmwood/Plum City (plus a top-heavy Dairyland Conference) kept them out of the playoffs and put the Wolves in.
Eleva-Strum was tied at halftime in its season finale with Melrose-Mindoro at 8-8 with Bo Windjue scoring a TD for the Cardinals. But the Mustangs scored 15 points in the third quarter to win 23-8 last week Friday, Oct. 16 at Central. Senior quarterback Brady Blaken led the Mustangs (7-2) with two touchdown passes and 107 yards rushing and a score. Windjue led the Cardinal offense with 86 rushing yards on 12 attempts. He also led the team in receiving yards with 44 and the team’s defensive effort with six tackles followed by Brock Stendahl and sophomore Skyler Nelson with four tackles each.
Mel-Min. has a tough match-up in Friday's playoffs in a tough D-7 field as they travel to No. 9 ranked Webster (7-2), who is just a No. 4 seed. Mel-Min. is one of four teams from the Dairyland to make the playoff field along with No. 1 ranked and defending state runner-up Cochrane-Fountain City (9-0), No. 3 Alma/Pepin (8-1) and Whitehall (6-3). E-S concludes its season with a 2-7 overall record after making the playoffs a year ago.
Cloverbelt Conference
Team Conf Overall
*Mondovi 6-0 8-1
Durand-Arkansaw 5-1 8-1
Eau Claire Regis 4-2 7-2
Elk Mound 3-3 6-3
Fall Creek 2-4 5-4
Neillsville/Granton 1-5 3-7
Stanley-Boyd 1-5 2-7
*Clinched conference title
Friday, Oct. 9
Eau Claire Regis 39, Stanley-Boyd 7
Durand-Arkansaw 42, Fall Creek 6
Mondovi 62, Elk Mound 57
Neillsville/Granton 2, Iola-Scandinavia 0 (Forfeit)
Whitehall 33, Neillsville/Granton 7
Thursday, Oct. 15
Eau Claire Regis 44, Neillsville/Granton 6
Friday, Oct. 16
Fall Creek 41, Stevens Point Pacelli 0
Mondovi 35, Durand-Arkansaw 7
Elk Mound 33, Stanley-Boyd 8
Dunn-St. Croix Conference
Team Conf. Overall
*Spring Valley 6-1 7-2
*Glenwood City 6-1 8-1
Boyceville 5-2 7-2
Chippewa Falls McDonell 3-4 4-5
Elmwood/Plum City 2-5 3-6
Osseo-Fairchild 2-5 3-6
Colfax 0-7 2-7
*Clinched tie for conference title
Friday, Oct. 9
Boyceville 30, Chippewa Falls McDonell 22
Spring Valley 14, Colfax 7
Webster 50, Elmwood/Plum City 28
Glenwood City 28, Osseo-Fairchild 6
Friday, Oct. 16
Chippewa Falls McDonell 16, Colfax 0
Boyceville 52, Elmwood/Plum City 24
Glenwood City 38, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 15
Spring Valley 20, Osseo-Fairchild 13
Dairyland Conference
Team Conf. Overall
*Cochrane-Fountain City 7-0 9-0
Pepin/Alma 6-1 9-1
Melrose-Mindoro 5-2 7-2
Whitehall 4-3 7-3
Augusta 3-4 3-6
Eleva-Strum 2-5 2-7
Blair-Taylor 1-6 1-8
Independence/Gilmanton 0-7 0-9
* Clinched conference title
Friday, Oct. 9
Eleva-Strum 48, Independence/Gilmanton 21
Cochrane-Fountain City 48, Melrose-Mindoro 0
Alma/Pepin 45, Augusta 16
Whitehall 2, Blair-Taylor 0 (forfeit)
Whitehall 35, Neillsville/Granton 7
Friday, Oct. 16
Cochrane-Fountain City 35, Whitehall 7
Augusta 20, Blair-Taylor 8
Melrose-Mindoro 23, Eleva-Strum 8
Alma/Pepin 2, Independence/Gilmanton 0 (forfeit)
Alma/Pepin 42, Auburndale 7
