BROWN COUNTY – As we head deeper into the football season, there are several high school football games on the schedule this week that are sure to promise a competitive atmosphere, including several rivalry matchups.
The Ashwaubenon Jaguars have had a solid start to the 2026 season upon the return of head coach Brian Ryczkowski.
The Jaguars kicked off the season taking down Oshkosh North in Week 1 with a 28-20 win on the road before clinching a 42-0 shutout over Manitowoc Lincoln and a 14-0 shutout over the Green Bay Preble Hornets.
Yet, the Jaguars will have their work cut out for them as they face the 2025 WIAA D2 State Championship West De Pere Phantoms team.
The Phantoms are 3-0 this season taking down solid programs such as Sun Prairie East, Appleton North and their rivals, the De Pere Redbirds.
The Appleton West Terrors are 3-0 on the season so far this year and will be taking on the De Pere Redbirds (2-1 overall) at De Pere High School on Friday, Sept. 11.
Despite their so-far undefeated record, the three programs the Terrors have faced so far have struggled the most in the FRCC over recent years.
The Terrors defeated Green Bay East 40-18, Sheboygan South 44-8 and Green Bay Southwest 20-14.
The De Pere Redbirds have had a decent start to their season with a 47-0 shutout win over the Manitowoc Lincoln Ships and a 38-19 win over Fond du Lac.
The Redbirds lone loss of the season so far came as a 35-12 loss last week in their rivalry match up against the West De Pere Phantoms who secured the WIAA D2 State Title in 2025.
The Redbirds’ face off against the West Terrors should be very telling in where the FRCC-North teams begin to fall in the standings as we get deeper into the season.
The Green Bay Preble Hornets started off their season with an unanticipated 40-37 win over West Bend West before falling 14-17 to Appleton East and 14-0 to the Ashwaubenon Jaguars.
The Hornets are now sitting at a 1-2 overall record as they enter their game against the Pulaski Red Raiders this weekend.
The Red Raiders saw a 47-7 win over Appleton East to open their season, as well as a 21-16 win over Hortonville.
However, after seeing two consecutive wins to open their season, the Red Raiders had one of their more difficult matchups of the season taking on the Bay Port Pirates — WIAA D1 State Runner-Ups in 2025 — in what became a 0-46 loss.
Though the Red Raiders likely have the upper hand going into the game, the head coach Brad Boockmeier and the Preble Hornets are sure to give them some decent competition.
Green Bay West is off to their first 3-0 season in decades after taking down Green Bay East 37-8 for the fourth consecutive season on Friday, Sept. 4.
West opened their season with a 20-13 win over Omro and a 44-3 win over North Fond du Lac.
Meanwhile, Oshkosh North has been struggling this season starting off 0-3 with losses to Ashwaubenon, Oshkosh West and Menasha.
Though in recent years this game might not have been a close contest, a Green Bay West Wildcats 4-0 record is not entirely out of the question this season.
In the first year since the co-op split, the Oneida Nation Thunderhawks will take on the Green Bay New Lutheran Blazers.
The Blazers will host the matchup after starting off their season 2-1 with wins over Gibraltar and Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah.
Despite the Blazers seeing a Week 3 50-18 loss to Sevastopol, they are still carrying the upper hand against the Thunderhawks who are off to a 0-2 start on the season.
After their first game of the season against Menominee was cancelled, the Thunderhawks saw losses to Gibraltar and Valley Christian.
This matchup of former teammates will be one of the biggest games this season for the two 8-player programs.
The Seymour Thunder have started off this season 2-1 under new head coach Jeff Marsh with wins over Waupun and Oconto Falls, and a 28-21 loss last Friday to Fox Valley Lutheran.
Waupaca saw a 34-14 loss to Oconto Falls, a 47-21 loss to Denmark and a 40-0 shutout loss to Xavier.
The Thunder finished last season second in the Bay Conference standings to Winneconne.
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