Northwest 8 Conference

Last updated

Northwest 8 Conference
Conference IHSA
Founded1977
Ceased1990
No. of teams8
RegionNorthwest Illinois (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago counties)
Locations
Northwest 8 Conference.png The Northwest 8 Conference within Illinois
Northwest 8 Conference
Invisible Square.svg
Invisible Square.svg
Mapscaleline.svg
10km
6miles
Blue pog.svg
Leaf River
Yellow pog.svg
Franklin Center
Purple pog.svg
Lutheran
Green pog.svg
North Boone
Red pog.svg
Mount Morris
Purple pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Kirkland-Hiawatha
Orange pog.svg
Warren
Blue pog.svg
River Ridge
Yellow pog.svg
Polo
Red pog.svg
Pearl City
Orange pog.svg
Milledgeville
Blue pog.svg
Durand
Green pog.svg
Ashton
Red pog.svg
South Beloit
Locations of Northwest 8 Schools

The Northwest 8 Conference was a high school conference in northwest and north central Illinois. The conference participated in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference included small public high schools with enrollments between 75-600 students in Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago counties.

Contents

History

The conference was composed of teams from the short-lived original Upstate Illini Conference (1974 to 1976). The first year of competition was 1977 with eight charter schools: Ashton, Durand, Franklin Center, Leaf River, Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Pearl City and Rockford Lutheran. The primary reason for the creation of the league was football-based. All of the teams from the Upstate Illini with football, except for Orangeville High School, merged into a conference of like sized schools. Prior to the 1982 season Rockford Lutheran left the conference, moving to the Prairie Conference. In 1985, a significant change in structure occurred as Kirkland-Hiawatha left the Trailblazer Conference and joined the Northwest 8, Ashton and Franklin Center began their coop and Leaf River dropped football, leaving the league with 6 teams for football. In 1987, the conference began talks with the Upstate Illini to create a league that would be divided into divisions with equal numbers for all sports, including football. In 1988, North Boone, South Beloit, Warren and River Ridge joined the conference while Rockford Lutheran rejoined. Even though the league was re-branded in 1988, the official final year of competition was 1990 in order to realign football schedules.

Based on the fact that there were originally 8 teams, the conference maintained the name Northwest 8 even when the total number of schools dropped below or increased beyond that total. The league eventually rose to 12 teams and due to the increased number, talks for a re-branding of the Northwest 8 took place in 1987. In 1988, the idea of moving back to the Upstate Illini provided an opportunity to eliminate a conference name that included a number, and competition for all sports, with the exception of football, was established. In 1991, football schedules were set with 6 teams in the North Division: Durand, North Boone, Pearl City, Rockford (Lutheran), Elizabeth (River Ridge)-Warren (coop) and South Beloit and the South Division: Ashton-Franklin Center, Kirkland-Hiawatha, Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Mt. Morris and Polo.

Member schools

SchoolLocationMascotColorsYear JoinedYear Left IHSA Classes A/AA [1] IHSA Music Class [2] IHSA Football Class [3]
Ashton
High School
Ashton, IL Aces  
Green, Gold
19771985*A-1A
Ashton-
Franklin Center
Ashton, ILRaiders   
Black, Gold, White
1985*1991A-1A
Durand
High School
Durand, IL Bulldogs  
Royal Blue, White
19771991AC1A
Franklin Center
High School
Franklin Grove, IL Eagles  
Maroon, Gold
19771985*AA1A
Kirkland-Hiawatha
High School
Kirkland, IL Hawks  
Navy Blue, Gold
19851990AD1A
Leaf River
High School
Leaf River, IL Demons  
Royal Blue, White
19771990AC1A
Milledgeville
High School
Milledgeville, IL Missiles  
Orange, Black
19771991AD1A
Mount Carroll
High School
Mount Carroll, IL Hawks  
Purple, Gold
19771991AD1A
Mt. Morris
High School
Mt. Morris, IL Mounders  
Red, Black
19901991AC1A
North Boone
High School
Poplar Grove, IL Vikings  
Green, White
19891991AC2A
Pearl City
High School
Pearl City, IL Wolves   
Red, White, Black
19771991AD1A
Polo Community
High School
Polo, IL Marcos  
Blue, Gold
19901991AC1A
River Ridge
High School
Elizabeth, IL**Wildcats  
Navy Blue, Grey
19881991ADCoop w/Warren
Rockford Lutheran
High School
Rockford, IL Crusaders  
Purple, White
1977, 19861982, 1991AC2A
South Beloit
High School
South Beloit, IL Sobos  
Scarlet Red, White
19891991AC1A
Warren
High School
Warren, IL Warriors  
Orange, Black
19881991AD1A

* Ashton and Franklin Center began a sports CoOp in 1985, creating a new mascot and school colors.
Sources:IHSA Conferences [4] , IHSA Coop Teams, [5] and IHSA Member Schools Directory [6]

Membership timeline

Northwest 8 Conference

Full membersFull members (non-football)Full members (Football Coop)Upstate Illini ConferenceMid-Northern ConferenceOther Conference

References