EVERYTHING EVERGREENS (FOX SPORTS WAUSAU-WSAU) We're less than a month away from the start of the high school football season, so it's a fine time for predictions. My guesses are no better or no worse than yours. So here are my 2015 projections:
DIVISION OVERALL
1. Kimberly 7-0 9-0
2. Appleton-North 5-2 6-3
3. DC Everest 5-2 6-3
4. Appleton-East 4-3 5-4
5. Wausau-East 3-4 4-5
6. Wausau-West 2-5 3-6
7. Kaukauna 1-6 1-8
8. Appleton-West 0-7 0-9
Kimberly is number one until someone knocks them off, and the Papermakers get the built-in advantage of drawing Oshkosh West and Neenah as their non-division opponents, and both of those games should be wins. If my projections are correct, Kimberly would enter the playoffs on a 37-game winning streak.
Appleton-North, unlike Kimberly, gets a much tougher out-of-division schedule. I see them losing to either Hortonville or Oshkosh-North, and I expect the week 9 game against DC Everest to be a battle for second place in the division.
DC Everest has a lot of players coming back from last season, especially on defense which was a strength last year. I believe Everest will be improved from a year ago, and both of the non-division games (Wisconsin Rapids and Marshfield) are winable.
Appleton-East has a returning quarterback, a returning running back, and a returning top receiver. They'll be a better team than last year, but they must avoid an 0-3 start with Fond du Lac, Oshkosh North, and Kimberly as their first three opponents.
For the first time in awhile, Wausau-East has coaching stability and a positive vibe. Tom Tourtillott has the program moving in the right direction. I wouldn't be surprised to see them beat a “down” Marshfield team, and win the Log Game vs. West.
Wausau-West was a good team for the last two years because they had a small, core group of good athletes. They've been hurt by graduation and may struggle this year. I think their wins will come against Rapids, Kaukauna, and App-West.
Kaukauna went from 0 wins to 3 wins last season, but lost their best running back to graduation… Even though they'll have a 3rd year starter at quarterback, they'll probably open 0-4 and 0-5 with back to back games against Kimberly and App-North in weeks 3 and 4.
Appleton-West's only win last year was a week 10 add-on game. Their chances for wins this year are against Osh-North in week 2 or Kaukauna in week 9. West has lost 19 straight division games, and that streak may stretch to 26 before this season is done.
