North Central 8-Player Football Conference

Last updated January 15, 2026

The North Central 8-Player Football Conference is a high school football conference consisting of small high schools in northern Wisconsin. Founded in 2024, the conference sponsors eight-player football and is affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.

History

The North Central 8-Player Football Conference was formed in 2024 as part of the 2024-2025 Wisconsin high school football realignment overseen by the WIAA and the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association.^[1] Nine of its fourteen member schools formerly belonged to the CWC 8-Player Football Conference (Alma Center Lincoln, Cornell, Gilman, Lake Holcombe, McDonell Central Catholic in Chippewa Falls, New Auburn, Owen-Withee, Prairie Farm and Thorp) and the other five came from the Lakeland Conference's eight-player football division (Clayton, Frederic, Luck, Siren and Valley Christian School in Osceola). The fourteen member schools were aligned into East and West Divisions:

North Central-8 East	North Central-8 West
Alma Center Lincoln	Clayton
Cornell	Frederic
Gilman	Luck
Lake Holcombe	New Auburn
McDonell Central Catholic	Prairie Farm
Owen-Withee	Siren
Thorp	Valley Christian School

For the 2026-2027 competition cycle, the North Central-8 lost McDonell Central Catholic to eleven-player football ^[2] and the Dunn-St. Croix Conference, Clayton and Prairie Farm as individual programs and Valley Christian to the loss of football as a varsity sport. Six programs joined the conference to replace them: two from the small schools division of the Heart O'North Conference (Clear Lake and Turtle Lake), two from the Central Wisconsin Conference (Assumption from the small schools division and Newman Catholic from the eight-player division), one from the Northwoods Football Conference's eight-player division (Athens) and the new Clayton-Prairie Farm football cooperative.^[3] Lake Holcombe switched to the West Division to accommodate the net gain of two schools to its sixteen-member roster:^[4]

North Central-8 East	North Central-8 West
Alma Center Lincoln	Clayton/Praire Farm
Assumption	Clear Lake
Athens	Frederic
Cornell	Lake Holcombe
Gilman	Luck
Newman Catholic	New Auburn
Owen-Withee	Siren
Thorp	Turtle Lake

List of conference members

Current members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Joined	Primary Conference
Alma Center Lincoln	Alma Center, WI	Public	164	Hornets	2024	Dairyland
Clayton	Clayton, WI	Public	93	Bears	2024	Lakeland
Cornell	Cornell, WI	Public	111	Chiefs	2024	Lakeland
Frederic	Frederic, WI	Public	116	Vikings	2024	Lakeland
Gilman	Gilman, WI	Public	97	Pirates	2024	Cloverbelt
Lake Holcombe	Lake Holcombe, WI	Public	90	Chieftains	2024	Lakeland
Luck	Luck, WI	Public	118	Cardinals	2024	Lakeland
McDonell Central Catholic	Chippewa Falls, WI	Private (Catholic)	206	Macks	2024	Cloverbelt
New Auburn	New Auburn, WI	Public	95	Trojans	2024	Lakeland
Owen-Withee	Owen, WI	Public	126	Blackhawks	2024	Cloverbelt
Prairie Farm	Prairie Farm, WI	Public	129	Panthers	2024	Lakeland
Siren	Siren, WI	Public	145	Dragons	2024	Lakeland
Thorp	Thorp, WI	Public	170	Cardinals	2024	Cloverbelt
Valley Christian	Osceola, WI	Private (Christian)	27	Jaguars	2024	Independent

Future members

School	Location	Affiliation	Enrollment	Mascot	Joining	Primary Conference
Assumption	Wisconsin Rapids, WI	Private (Catholic)	139	Royals	2026	Marawood
Athens	Athens, WI	Public	127	Bluejays	2026	Marawood
Clayton/Prairie Farm	Prairie Farm, WI	Public	222	Bearcats	2026	Lakeland
Clear Lake	Clear Lake, WI	Public	181	Warriors	2026	Dunn-St. Croix
Newman Catholic	Wausau, WI	Private (Catholic)	128	Cardinals	2026	Marawood
Turtle Lake	Turtle Lake, WI	Public	129	Lakers	2026	Lakeland

Membership timeline

North Central 8-Player Football Conference

Eastern Division Western Division

List of state champions

Source:^[5]

School	Year
Owen-Withee	2024
McDonell Central Catholic	2025

List of conference champions

School	Quantity	Years
Clayton	2	2024, 2025
Gilman	1	2025
Owen-Withee	1	2024
Siren	1	2024
Alma Center Lincoln	0
Cornell	0
Frederic	0
Lake Holcombe	0
Luck	0
McDonell Central Catholic	0
New Auburn	0
Prairie Farm	0
Thorp	0
Valley Christian	0

References

↑ "2024-25 Conference Realignment Plan – 8-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
↑ Bott, Zachary (15 November 2025). "McDonell gets revenge on Gilman, wins 8-man state title". Eau Claire Leader-Telegram (via Yahoo! Sports). Retrieved 14 January 2025.
↑ Runberg, Justin (7 August 2025). "Clayton enters last year as Bears before co-op with Prairie Farm". Amery Free Press. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
↑ "2026 - 27 Conference Realignment – 8-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
↑ "Football Championship Games (thru 2025)" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. Retrieved 13 January 2026.

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[1] "2024-25 Conference Realignment Plan – 8-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. Retrieved 14 January 2026.

[2] Bott, Zachary (15 November 2025). "McDonell gets revenge on Gilman, wins 8-man state title". Eau Claire Leader-Telegram (via Yahoo! Sports). Retrieved 14 January 2025.

[3] Runberg, Justin (7 August 2025). "Clayton enters last year as Bears before co-op with Prairie Farm". Amery Free Press. Retrieved 14 January 2026.

[4] "2026 - 27 Conference Realignment – 8-Player Football" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. 10 December 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2026.

[5] "Football Championship Games (thru 2025)" (PDF). Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. Retrieved 13 January 2026.

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