(WNFL) – The high school football season kicks off around northeast Wisconsin Thursday night and continues into Friday with some excellent week 1 matchups including Notre Dame at Neenah, West De Pere at Sun Prairie East, Mukwonago at Appleton North, Sussex Hamilton at Kimberly, Bay Port at Middleton, Lake Mills at Freedom, Kewaunee at Fox Valley Lutheran, Plymouth at Menasha and Little Chute at Xavier.
So who does the much-traveled prognosticator pick at his Week 1 top 5 teams?
- Notre Dame – The Tritons return, among others, Kingston Allen. Allen rushed for 57 touchdowns and nearly 3,500 yards last season. The Tritons will run against a relatively inexperienced defensive line and linebacker corps with Neenah. He could have a monster game at Rocket Stadium in Neenah.
- West De Pere – The Phantoms are the defending Division 2 champions but because of their success ratio, they get bumped up to Division 1 this season. With bookend Division 1 football recruits Sam Schmidt and David Provost anchoring the offensive tackle positions, new head coach Kegan Wirtz has a great starting point for a dynamic offensive season when they open up on the road at Sun Prairie.
- Bay Port – The Pirates made it all the way to the WIAA Division 1 state title game last year and came up a bit short. Brady Moon and Matt Stevens who combined to account for more than 5,000 yards of offense may be gone but the Pirates have 65 juniors and seniors led by wide receiver Jason Otradovec and Jordy Walker all fighting for playing time. The Pirates open their season on the road against the Middleton Cardinals.
- Freedom – The Irish in 2025 had the ability on the offensive line to impose their will on defensive lines and linebackers opening up big holes for running back Axzil Eggert and provide plenty of passing time for Owen Henkel. Four of the starting linemen are back. Henkel passed for 2,000 yards as a sophomore and Eggert rushed for more than 1,000 yards. The Irish host Lake Mills in their home opener.
- Bonduel – The Bears are the favorite in the Packerland Conference and will be lead by quarterback Quinn Wesenberg and running back Carter Moesch who rushed for over 1,500 yards and caught passes for over 400 more. Bonduel opens its season Friday by hosting old Central Wisconsin Conference foe Wittenberg-Birnamwood.
And then some: Teams also under consideration for the Top 5 include Little Chute, Fox Valley Lutheran, Neenah, Menasha and Kimberly.
Check back Thursday night, Friday morning, Friday night and Saturday morning at wnflsports.com for final scores of area teams.
– By Jim Scott
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