Prep football: Prairie Farm, McDonell to battle in CWC-West
Aug. 18—Prairie Farm is one of the eight-man football teams in northwest Wisconsin identified as a threat in its conference by at least two opposing coaches. Coaches pointed at the Panthers as one of the top teams to watch in the Central Wisconsin Conference-West.
Prairie Farm is a year removed from finishing atop the Lakeland West, and with significant experience back, the Panthers have the look of a contender in their new league. The team went 8-2 last year and reached the state quarterfinals.
Other teams in the CWC-West coaches say bear watching are McDonell and Lake Holcombe.
McDonell has a new coach as Mark Maloney replaces Jason Cox on the sidelines. The Macks return seniors Dale Tetrault, Brady Rubenzer, Malaki Suckerman, Evan Eckes, Will Fritz, Grant Smiskey and David Anderson. McDonell reached the playoffs last season and finished 7-3.
"We will need to play at a high level to be competitive against some very good teams in our conference," Maloney said.
The Macks finished 3-2 in the newly-formed conference in 2021. One conference coach noted McDonell was one of two successful CWC-West teams that made the 2021 playoffs, and brought back a large group for this year. The Macks played Prairie Farm in a Level 1 contest to end last season with a 46-40 loss.
Lake Holcombe went 3-6 in its first season playing the eight-player game. The Chieftains ended the year well, winning three of their final four contests. They've got several starters back who will look to guide the team to the next level this season.
Lake Holcombe's former co-op partner, Cornell, lost just one player to graduation, and brought in seven fresh faces to help improve upon last year's 0-5 conference finish.
"We will have seven seniors this year with five of them starting every game for us last year," Chiefs coach Craig Braaten said. "Each class has gained in athletes this year, with our freshman group being our smallest at three. I expect to put together a competitive team for both the JV and the Varsity for the first time in some years, which will only help our program get stronger. Our goal every year is to improve, and this year is no exception."
Braaten named second -team all-conference safety Avery Turany as one of his top returning players. Turany boasted 84 carries for 405 yards and three touchdowns in 2021. Another retuning player, Dylan Bowe claimed 56 carries, 245 yards and three touchdowns last season. Quarterback Daniel Person returns for his junior season after throwing for 235 yards as a sophomore.
New Auburn is the sole remaining member from last year's CWC-West. The Trojans went 3-5 last season and will be young this year. They've got just one senior in their ranks.
Bruce joins the CWC-West after a year in the Rogue Independent Conference. The Red Raiders were 1-8 last year, although two of those defeats were forfeits. They'll need to replace the production of Chris Brockman, who ran for 11 scores last season.
