Wisconsin

Eight-player high school football is growing in Wisconsin. Here’s how it works

Published

1 year ago

October 9, 2024

Eight-player high school football is growing in Wisconsin. Here’s how it works

Since the WIAA membership reinstated eight-player football in Wisconsin in 2012, participation has quadrupled, going from 16 teams that first year to 66 in the 2024 season.

The reduced-player game is mostly an option for smaller schools, allowing them to continue to play, and often be more competitive, while maintaining their identity by not becoming part of a co-op program or dropping football altogether.

Here’s a look at the game:

What is eight-player high school football?

The game is, as its name indicates, played with three fewer players per side than traditional football, a tweak that allows programs that otherwise might not have enough players to still compete.

An offense is limited to three interior lineman and has one fewer eligible receiver. Defenses operate with one fewer level of secondary.

Reduced-player football dates to the Great Depression, with the six-man game beginning in Nebraska in 1934.

Is a standard field used for eight-player football?

National rules call for a field 80 yards long instead of 100 and 140 feet wide rather than 160, but the WIAA permits an exception.

So in Wisconsin, 100 yards is considered the standard length – that avoids schools needing to move goal posts if they change from eight- to 11-player or vice versa – while fields are narrowed by 20 feet. A few Wisconsin teams do play on 80-yard fields, said Chad Schultz, an assistant director for the WIAA who oversees eight-player football.

When did eight-player football begin in Wisconsin?

Reduced-player football became an option for Wisconsin high schools in 1937 with a six-player version, and eight-player came along in shortly thereafter.

How many eight-player high school football teams are there in Wisconsin?

Sixty-six programs are fielding eight-player teams in the 2024 season, and 50 of those teams are playoff eligible, according to the WIAA.

Those 16 teams ineligible for the playoffs may exceed enrollment caps or may initially have committed to 11-player football for 2024-25.

Before World War II, there were as many as 90 schools taking part in Wisconsin’s six- or eight-player options.

The WIAA didn’t sanction reduced-player football once the modern playoff system came to be in 1976 but reinstated the sport in 2012, when 16 teams took part.

Why do some Wisconsin schools opt for eight-player football?

When short on numbers, schools can face the choice of forming co-op programs with others schools, moving to the eight-player game or dropping the sport altogether, coaches and administrators say. With eight-player, the program maintains its school identity and has a greater opportunity to be competitive, which in turn tends to increase interest and participation.

Decreasing overall enrollment and additional extracurricular offerings for students that have cut into football participation are the general reasons offered as to why programs have made the change from 11-player football.

South Shore, a school that sits along Lake Superior in Port Wing with 68 students, is the smallest school to play a game this season. Cambria-Friesland with 113 is the smallest to compete in 11-player, and Middleton with 2,388 is the largest.

Is eight-player football an option for large WIAA member high schools?

Although only teams with a three-year enrollment average of 200 or fewer are eligible for the playoffs, larger schools can play.

One example: Wausau East has had about 1,000 students, but coming out of the COVID-19-affected 2020 season was left with few juniors and seniors in its football program, so it took part in eight-player in 2021. The team went 1-5.

Which Wisconsin high school has won the most eight-player football championships?

Newman Catholic of Wausau has won two championships (2021, 2022) since the playoffs began in 2018. Newman and Luck are the only programs to have played in three championship games.

Which Wisconsin high schools have qualified for the eight-player football playoffs most?

Two-time champion Newman Catholic, defending-champion Florence, Northwood/Solon Springs and Oakfield all have made the playoffs five times.

Gibraltar, Chippewa Falls McDonell Catholic, Shell Lake and Wabeno/Laona have qualified four times.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape

Published

4 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate to please the fictional horror villain known as Slender Man was ordered back to a state psychiatric hospital Tuesday after she escaped from her group home last month.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge K. Scott Wagner granted a state Department of Health Services request to revoke 23-year-old Morgan Geyser’s release privileges. Geyser told the judge through her attorney, Tony Cotton, last week that she would not fight revocation. Wagner then approved the request during a short hearing.

Cotton didn’t immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.

Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier lured their classmate, Payton Leutner, to a Waukesha park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier cheered her on. A passing bicyclist discovered Leutner, who barely survived. All three girls were 12 years old at the time.

Geyser and Weier later told investigators they attacked Leutner in hopes of impressing Slender Man enough that he would make them his servants and wouldn’t hurt their families. Both of them were eventually committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute — Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25 years.

Weier earned conditional release in 2021. Wagner granted Geyser conditional release this past September despite warnings from state Department of Health Services officials that she couldn’t be trusted.

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Geyser was placed in a Madison group home. Authorities say that on Nov. 22 she cut off her GPS monitor and fled the state with a 43-year-old companion. Police arrested both of them the next day at a truck stop outside Chicago, about 170 miles (274 kilometers) south of Madison.

Geyser’s companion told WKOW-TV that the two of them became friends at church and had been seeing each other daily for the last month. Geyser decided to escape because she was afraid the group home would no longer allow them to see each other, the companion said.

Slender Man was created online by Eric Knudsen in 2009 as a mysterious figure photo-edited into everyday images of children at play. He grew into a popular boogeyman, appearing in video games, online stories and a 2018 movie.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin warns of “sextortion,” online crimes against kids

Published

16 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin warns of “sextortion,” online crimes against kids

MILWAUKEE – The FBI calls it an online crime against kids – perpetrators convincing kids to send sexual images of themselves and then blackmailing them.

Online crime against kids

The backstory:

The reality is settling in. This will be Brittney Bird’s first Christmas without her son, Bradyn Bohn, since he was born. That is because just nine months ago, the 15-year-old died by suicide, just hours after telling his family good night.

“This winter has been pretty heavy,” Bird said. “This will be a lot of first this year.”

Bird said Bradyn was the kind of kid who would always try to make you launch. The teen had a lot of friends, played sports, did well academically, and had big plans for the future.

“Definitely a kid who we were just so proud of,” Bird said. “Bradyn never struggled with or suffered from mental illness or depression or anything of that nature so immediately we knew, you know something’s wrong.”

Once police went through Bradyn’s phone, she said it came out he was the victim of the cyber crime, sextortion.

What is sextortion?

What we know:

“Sextortion is a form of online child exploitation where a child is coerced by a perpetrator to send compromising images,” said Jesse Crowe from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

This week, the Wisconsin Department of Justice sent out a public service announcement on sextortion.

Officials say suspects often pose as someone else online. While exchanging messages, they convince a child to send images of themselves. Once they have explicit images of the child, they use the photos or videos to blackmail the child into sending even more images, money or ask for sexual favors.

FBI data, change in Wisconsin law

Dig deeper:

The FBI said victims are typically males between the ages of 14 and 17, but any child can be a target.

This crime led to at least 20 suicides between October 2021 and March 2023.

In the months after Bradyn’s death, change would come to Wisconsin. Earlier in December, Gov. Tony Evers signed Bradyn’s Law. It creates a new crime of sexual extortion in Wisconsin. It aims to ensure harsh penalties for those who exploit children online.

“It will bring, hopefully statewide, eventually nationwide attention to where every family is having this conversation with their kids,” Bird told FOX6 News.

Take action

What you can do:

The Department of Justice said the best thing to do if a child finds themselves in this situation is the following:

Block the perpetrator
Report the account, but do not delete the messages
Tell a trusted adult
Do not send any money

Resources available

The Source: Information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.

Crime and Public SafetyMilwaukeeNews

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Wisconsin

Trump names Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 federal holidays. What does that mean for Wisconsin?

Published

1 day ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

Trump names Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 federal holidays. What does that mean for Wisconsin?

President Donald Trump declared Christmas Eve and Dec. 26 to be federal holidays this year.

The Dec. 18 executive order deems the days as work holidays for all federal departments and agencies, but adds some of them will remain open. Certain offices may stay open on one or both days for “national security, defense, or other public need,” the order reads.

But, what does this mean for other federal workers and services?

Here’s what to know in Wisconsin:

Are Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 official federal holidays?

Even though Christmas Eve and Dec. 26 have been declared federal holidays in 2025, they are not permanent additions to the holiday schedule.

Legislation must be passed by Congress and then signed into law by the president for a federal holiday declaration to be official.

Who gets Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 off in Wisconsin?

Only federal agencies are set to be closed on Christmas Eve and Dec. 26, according to USA TODAY.

Since these two days have not been designated permanent federal holidays, many businesses that follow the schedule will likely not give their employees a last-minute extended Christmas break.

Wisconsin state government and Milwaukee city offices are closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will be open on Dec. 26.

Will mail still be delivered on Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 in Wisconsin?

Yes. The U.S. Postal Service will deliver mail and post office locations will remain open on Christmas Eve and Dec. 26, according to its website. Mail will not be delivered and locations will be closed on Christmas.

Will banks be open on Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 in Wisconsin?

Yes. Banks will follow the typical schedule of being open on Christmas Eve and Dec. 26, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Banks will be closed on Christmas.

Mary Walrath-Holdridge of USA TODAY contributed to this report.

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