For the 20th season, The Big 1070 will offer weekly comprehensive coverage of area high school football, including a Game of the Week and The Prep Report on Wednesday nights, as well as Football Friday Night with WisSports.net.
During the week leading up, fans can tune in to The Prep Report on Wednesday nights at 6pm. The show covers all sports and runs from August through March.
After all of the action on Friday night, we recap football statewide with Football Friday Night hosted by Travis Wilson of WisSports.net.
Our 21-game high school football schedule includes the airing of all seven state high school football championships at Camp Randall Stadium November 21 and 22. And, our first game action is a double-dip in Week 1, with a rematch of a state quarterfinal game on tap for the first over-the-air broadcast of the season.
(UPDATE OCTOBER 1): Our remaining regular season schedule is as follows:
Week 7 (October 4): We will be at Verona's Homecoming when the 4-2 Wildcats take on 5-1 Madison La Follette in a battle that could impact not only the conference standings, but playoff positioning as well.
Week 8 (October 11): It's a battle of the Cardinals as Middleton takes on Sun Prairie on Sun Prairie's Homecoming. Sun Prairie won both match-ups last year but Middleton has been playing well against top competition this year.
Week 9 (October 18): As of Week 7, both Waunakee and DeForest were undefeated, so if they can both advance unscathed through the remainder of the Badger North schedule, this will set up a showdown for the conference title between two 8-0 squads.
Playoffs: We will cover one game each round of the playoffs until state, when we will air all seven state championships in 11-player football.
In Week 1, The Big 1070 will offer partner coverage with iHeartMedia-Eau Claire in bringing a non-conference showdown to the airwaves on Thursday night, August 22. Perennial Division 2 power Menomonie (7-3 in 2018) will make the return trip on a home-and-home with up-and-coming Division 4 program Lake Mills (7-3) of the tough Capitol North Conference. Last year, Menomonie won 33-7 over the L-Cats at UW-Stout in a game aired on iHeartRadio. While this game won't be over the air in Madison, you can stream it on iHeartRadio with links on thebig1070.com.
On Friday night, The Big 1070's over-the-air coverage begins with a rematch of a Level 3 contest in the Division 2 playoffs last year. Reigning Badger South champion Monona Grove (11-1) will return to the same field that the Silver Eagles saw their 2018 campaign end on at Waunakee (12-1), the defending Badger North champions. In a battle of undefeated squads, Waunakee shocked Monona Grove with a big 33-7 win in a game aired on The Big 1070 and iHeartRadio. Waunakee fell in the state semifinal the following week to Brookfield Central 20-13 at Oconomowoc.
Week 2 will match up two of the favorites for the Big 8 title in 2019. Last year, a late interception sealed a huge win for Verona, 27-22 over Middleton. This year, both teams return loaded backfields, talented lines, and defensive prowess as we begin our Big 8 coverage with a bang. Last year's game was aired on The Big 1070 and iHeartRadio, and won 2nd place for large market sports broadcast of the year from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.
In Week 3, The Big 1070 will air for the fourth straight time (and third straight season) The Battle For 138, as rivals Oregon and Stoughton go head-to-head in the Badger South Conference opener. Last year, Oregon ended a three-game losing streak to Stoughton and won on Homecoming over the then-unbeaten Vikings 35-10.
It's back to the Big 8 in Week 4, and the game will feature last year's Big 8 co-champ Madison Memorial taking on Middleton. Last year's game saw the Spartans win on a last-second Hail Mary 30-27. Both teams bring back loads of talent from playoff teams, so it's sure to be a key game in the Big 8 title race.
We won't stray too far from Mansfield Stadium in Week 5. In fact, we'll be right back high atop to take in The Battle For Burt Hable's Clipboard as Madison Memorial squares off with rival Madison West. Last year's contest on The Big 1070 and iHeartRadio saw Memorial and West play tight for the first 22 minutes before the Spartans pulled away for a 35-13 victory over the Regents. West, one of the more intriguing big-school teams in the state given their numbers (only ~30 out for varsity), promotes a talented JV squad to the varsity ranks this year to challenge the defending Big 8 co-champs.
In Weeks 6-9, The Big 1070 offers placeholder coverage subject to change based on the early-season results. Therefore, all of these games could change, but here's what we are planning.
Week 6 would feature a Badger South showdown between Monona Grove and Edgewood. The Crusaders have been rebuilding under coach Jesse Norris, and will host Monona Grove for a shot at upending the reigning conference champs. The game will be played at Breese Stevens or a location TBD.
Week 7's possible match-up would include two of the prime contenders for the Big 8 this season, with multi-year starting quarterbacks under center for both Verona and Madison La Follette. The Wildcats host this year's game. Last year, Verona dominated the Lancers 47-14.
It wouldn't seem likely that we would opt to forego a Middleton-Sun Prairie match-up in Week 8, but the annual clash typically comes with conference title implications. As we saw in both games last year, things can be crazy when these teams meet. It'll be Great American Rivalry Night, a fundraiser for the U.S. Army, and a rematch of a Level 1 playoff game last year, one of the craziest football games we've broadcast. Sun Prairie survived 42-36. Sun Prairie also beat Middleton two weeks prior last year, in much more dominating fashion, 35-7.
That brings us to Week 9, and one of WisSports.net's most anticipated games of the season. Defending Badger North champion Waunakee will see rival DeForest in the final Badger North Conference football game played, and as last year showed, DeForest is a program back on the rise. The Norskies bring just about everyone back to challenge the Warriors after two losses last year, the second coming narrowly in the playoffs in Level 2 on The Big 1070. Waunakee rallied to win 23-20 and picked off a pass in the end zone with seven seconds remaining to win in the playoffs, and also won the regular-season meeting 31-7, although the final score is a bit misleading in what was a well-played game.
The Big 1070 will broadcast all levels of the playoffs and all seven state football championship games (in 11-player). The playoff schedule will be announced on a week-by-week basis when the brackets are revealed.
For the third straight year, The Big 1070's broadcast team will include Hall of Fame and state champion coach Mike Stassi, a former Wisconsin Badger who plied his coaching trade at his alma mater, Monona Grove. Stassi will be the color analyst alongside Jimmie Kaska, who is back for his fourth season broadcasting on The Big 1070 and 16th season with iHeartMedia, with previous stops in Milwaukee and Eau Claire. Overall, this will be the 20th season of The Big 1070 broadcasting a high school football game of the week. The Coach of the Year award that the station presents at its annual end-of-season banquet is named for Knobby Kelliher, the Hall of Fame coach at Madison East who was a mainstay on our broadcast team for 17 years.