Earlier this month, Da Capo Press published the 25th Anniversary Edition of Friday Night Lights: A Team, a Town and a Dream, the controversial book by journalist H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger about the 1988 Permian High School football team in football-frenzied Odessa, Texas.
The book’s legacy includes a critically acclaimed movie, an endearing television series and a title that defines an American fall ritual.
Friday night lights return to the Madison area this week, with 43 games scheduled throughout Dane County and south central Wisconsin.
Up until early August, the opening night schedule included a 44th game: Dodgeland at Hustisford. But then Shannon Mueller, head coach of Hustisford High — a Trailways Conference school in Dodge County with fewer than 125 students — announced the cancellation of its 2015 varsity season, citing safety concerns over the fact that more than half of the Falcons would have been freshmen and sophomores. Of the team’s five seniors, four had recently suffered concussions, had a shoulder injury or undergone surgery.
Schools in the Big Eight Conference needn’t worry about having enough players to field teams. But in addition to conference rivalries, those teams should be concerned about a major contender swooping in from the north to challenge for state supremacy: Kimberly High School, which moved up to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Division 1 level in 2014 and has won 28 straight games, plowed through the playoffs last fall — demolishing Madison West in the first round (56-20), and then shutting out Madison La Follette (34-0) before eventually crushing perennial powerhouse Arrowhead, 31-6, in the state title game at Camp Randall Stadium.
Division 2 teams in the Badger North and South conferences have a new state-level rival from the Fox Valley, too, as reigning champion Menasha appears poised for another strong run.
But south central Wisconsin also boasts a small share of title contenders, including Waunakee — number 13 in the MaxPreps statewide preseason rankings — a team that won three of four state championships between 2009 and 2012 and came within one point of returning to Camp Randall last year.
Among the new faces on area sidelines this season will be Adam Smith, the former coach of the semi-pro Madison Mustangs, who takes over a Madison Memorial team that went 3-6 last season, and Oregon High School alum Dan Prahl, who recently was named head football coach at conference rival Stoughton.