WIAA Eight-Player Football Championship

media release:  The sixth Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association 8-Player Football State Championship final will be held Saturday, Nov. 16, at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School at 1 p.m., featuring Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas and Owen-Withee.

The WIAA uses GoFan Ticketing for all digital and cashless tickets. Admission is $11 plus online fees for adults and students. All tickets must be redeemed on a mobile device. To purchase tickets, visit the WIAA website at:  https://gofan.co/app/school/WIAAWI.

The 8-player football championship game will be streamed live on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network on a consumer subscription basis. To purchase a subscription to the live programming, log-on to www.wiaa.tv and click on the “Subscribe” link at the top of the page. Archived streams of the games will be available on demand on the NFHS Network 72 hours after the tournament with a subscription.

THE MATCH-UP:  Both Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas and Owen-Withee will be making their first appearance in the 8-player championship game. Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas has qualified for the 8-player football playoffs in each of the last four seasons of the tournament. Prior to this season, the Titans’ furthest advance in the bracket was to the second round in 2021 and 2022. Before transitioning to 8-player, the co-op qualified for the 11-player playoff field in Division 6 three times and were eliminated from title contention in the first round in each of their previous experiences. Lena, as a stand-alone program, advanced to the third round of the playoffs in Division 6 in 1991, which accounts for its only stand-alone experience. The Titans were the runners-up in the Across the Bay Conference this fall. They earned the opportunity to play for the championship after beating Northwood/Solon Springs 38-14 in their State semifinal matchup. Owen-Withee has qualified for the playoffs for the second time. The Blackhawks qualified last season and lost to their opening-round foe. Prior to the transition to 8-player, the Blackhawks qualified 18 times in the 11-player playoffs, compiling a 31-15 record. They won Division 6 championships in 1992 and 1999, and were the 2014 champion in Division 7. Owen-Withee is the champion in the East Division of the North Central Conference this season. The Blackhawks advance to the title game following a 23-21 win over Highland in their State semifinal game played at Stanley-Boyd.