FIRST AND SHORT

Saturday games absent from playoff football equation in 2016

JR Radcliffe
jr.radcliffe@jrn.com

As the Wisconsin prep football world prepares for one last round of Friday Night Lights, it should be noted that none are planning for the Saturday afternoon sky. That's a rare reality at this stage of the tourney, but in 2016, there has been only one playoff game throughout the state played on Saturday -- a first-round battle between Hurley and Owen-Withee.

Especially in the late stages, when teams are coming from different corners of the state to face off at a neutral site and travel is significant, many programs opt for Saturday play, sometimes as part of a doubleheader at the same site. But even for a team like Brookfield East, traveling to Stevens Point to face Menomonie on Friday night, staying on schedule has become preferable to allocating an extra half day for travel.

The trend really began last year, with only two Level 3 and two Level 4 games played on Saturday.

"Coaches were pretty adamant to play on Friday," WIAA communications director Todd Clark said. "The way the games played out allowed for field availability to place each game. We had one game where the schools wanted turf and on a Friday, and that almost went to a doubleheader with the game at 5 p.m. until StanleyBoyd offered to host and play at Merrill.

"We're not pushing it," Clark said. "It's just the way it worked out."

Clark also said teams are particularly motivated to keep Level 4 games on Friday with the state-championship games played the subsequent Thursday or Friday during the day. The proliferation of artificial field turf across the state has opened up more suitable venues for high-level games -- the WIAA has shown a heavy preference for staging games on fields with that feature in recent years.

Western Waukesha County will be particularly busy Friday night. Games are scheduled for Waukesha North, Oconomowoc, Kettle Moraine and Arrowhead.