Football: Week 2 previews as Wausau West, Wausau East, Marathon look for 2nd straight wins and Newman, DCE and Mosinee try for win #1

It's week 2 of the 2026 high school football season and, unlike last week, the greater Wausau schools will all play on Friday night. There will be two live broadcasts on Wausau Area Sports on Friday starting with the pregame at 6:40 pm: Wausau West vs. Rice Lake and Newman Catholic vs. Owen-Withee. Catch either or both games on the Wausau Area Sports YouTube channel. Here is a preview all the games featuring the Wausau area schools on Friday:

Wausau West (1-0) vs. Rice Lake (0-1), 7 pm at Thom Field.

The Warriors will look to go to 2-0 for the first time since 2023 when they kickoff their home schedule against the perennial power Rice Lake.

About Wausau West: The Warriors traveled to Memonomie last week and came home with a 36-21 win. Miles Waldvogel ran for 227 yards on 24 carries and 4 TD with the Warriors winning the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Dashawn Poulos anchored the defensive front with 10 tackles, including 5 for a loss. West is also very strong in the secondary with Kam Blasky making 6 tackles last week. West didn't have to pass much in the game last week but have confidence in senior QB Jackson Riley and returning starting WR's Finn Richardt and Asa Richardt should the Warriors need to air it out.

About Rice Lake: Has been to 9 State championship games in school history and won three state championships, including just three years ago in 2023. They made another state finals appearance in 2024 and made a run to level 3 in the playoffs last season. However, Rice Lake comes off a 44-6 loss at home to Marshfield in their season opener last week as they try to replace their QB, top 3 RB's and top 2 WR's from last season. Bode Schulz rushed for 97 yards last week vs. Marshfield.

Memonomie (0-1) at D.C. Everest (0-1). 7 pm at Stiehm Stadium

Two teams that had a hard time stopping the run last week look for their first win of the season.

About D.C. Everest: The Evergreens had a rough trip to Chippewa Falls last Thursday in a 50-22 loss. DCE saw Chi-Hi put up 474 yards on the ground in the game. Everest will face a team that doesn't have the same capabilities on the ground this week but will still look to solidify that part of the defense before being tested by West next week in the WVC opener. Ty Rohde was able to move the offense through the air last week with 20/32 passing for 272 yards, 1 TD and 1 interception. Oshay Johnson was his top target with 6 catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. Everest will look for more from their running game as they only put up 96 yards total on the ground and averaged just over 3 yards per carry. There should be opportunities against a Mustangs' defense that allowed more than 300 yards on the ground last week.

About Menomonie: After taking just two plays (a long kickoff return and a trick play from scrimmage) to take a 7-0 lead vs. Wausau West last week in the opening moments of the season, the rest of the night was a tough one for Menomonie before a couple of late touchdowns make things look a little better in the 36-21 loss. The Mustangs lost their most dangerous offensive threat when RB D.J. Butler was seriously injured returning a kickoff in the 4th quarter. Menomonie QB Aaron Howard used a lot of short passes in hitting 13/19 for 105 yards and a TD. Menomonie will have to be better up front to try and win on the road.

Wausau East (1-0) at La Crosse Central (1-0), 7 pm

The Lumberjacks will look for a 2-0 start but face a much stiffer test against the 10th ranked team in the state in D-3.

About Wausau East: A great start for East last week in a 28-0 win over Shawano. Efficient QB play from Cam Rye (8/15, 152 yards and 2 TD), RB Cash Ryan Seefeldt (26 rushes for 110 yards, 2 TD) plus two-way excellence from Aiden Kilde (3 catches for 62 yards and a TD on offense plus 10 tackles and an interception on defense) plus 10 tackles from Xander Klein. It will be a good test for the Lumberjacks in terms of the long road trip and the challenge of a much stronger opponent.

About La Crosse Central: Like East, La Crosse Central started their season with a shutout win as they topped Ellsworth 35-0. Ellsworth could only muster 137 yards of total offense as both the rush and pass defense for Logan was outstanding. The offense for Logan was very efficient. QB Thomas Check was solid both throwing and rushing with 6/9 passing for 61 yards and 2 TD and 58 yards and a TD on the ground. Logan ran for 264 yards on the ground with Jameson Degenhardt gaining 144 yards on 19 carries with 2 TD.

Marathon (1-0) at Auburndale (0-1). 7 pm

Old Marawood rivals meet in non-conference play with the Raiders looking for a 2nd straight win to start the season.

About Marathon: Marathon features one of the most dangerous receivers in the area in Garrett Bracewell. Bracewell was nearly unstoppable last week with 12 catches for 193 yards and 2 TD's in the 24-16 win over Loyal/Greenwood. Sophomore QB Brayson Schneider had an outstanding first start as well with 16 of 22 passing for 236 yards and 3 TD's. Marathon only had 71 rushing yards last week and averaged 3.1 yards per carry. The defense was able to make plays when they needed to, including when L/G was driving for a potential tying score in the final minutes. Both Landon Hilgart and Koltyn Stevens racked up 11 tackles for Marathon in the opener.

About Auburndale: The Eagles did the job defensively by giving up just 7 points last week but it wasn't enough as the offense only put up 6 in a 7-6 loss to Spencer/Columbus. Auburndale outgained S/C 187-101 in that game. Raymond Teska was solid on the ground with 85 yards on 13 carries with the lone score as Auburndale ran from 119 yards as a team and averaged more than 4 yards per carry. Russell Teska had a huge game on defense with 14 tackles with 2 for loss.

Menasha (0-1) at Mosinee (0-1), 7 pm

Two programs used to winning will both try to bounce back from season-opening losses to start 2026.

About Mosinee: After hanging around well into the 2nd half, Mosinee saw Stratford pull away for a 31-0 win last week. Mosinee was held to 121 yards of total offense in the game with only 27 coming through the air. Junior QB Fulton Zogata hit on 5 of 10 passes for 27 yards with Rudy Harris gaining 39 yards on 18 carries. The defense kept Stratford off the board until the 2nd quarter and kept the game close until a pair of Tigers' TD's in the 4th quarter. Max Harris had 11 tackles in the game for Mosinee.

About Menasha: Menasha lost in a vastly different way as they put up 41 points last week but fell 42-41 to Plymouth in a game they lead 28-14 at halftime. Offense was not an issue for Menasha with 202 yards through the air and 256 yards on the ground for 458 yards of total offense. Logan Bivens had 189 yards on just 17 carries with a pair of TD's. Shamir Senyange caught 5 passes for 148 yards and 3 TD's. Stopping the run was an issue for Menasha as they gave up 315 yards rushing and 433 yards of total offense.

Newman Catholic (0-1) vs. Owen-Withee (1-0), 7 pm at Balliet Field

Former Cloverwood Conference opponents meet for the first time as 8-Player conference opponents.

About Newman: The Cardinals had a difficult time getting the offense going in their season-opening loss to Algoma last week, but were able to drive 90 yards for a TD in the 4th quarter to open the offensive account for 2026. The defense had issues with the big play as three different Algoma scores came from more than 50 yards out. Carter Czerwonka recorded 10 tackles in the week 1 game.

About Owen-Withee: O-W put up 55 in a 55-28 win over Prairie Farm/Clayton last week. The Blackhawks put up 412 yards rushing on the stat sheet last week and Newman knows what they have to stop first. Sophomore Clay Mueller rushed for 197 yards on 17 attempts with 2 touchdowns. Defensively, O-W allowed 214 yards through the air to Prairie Farm/Clayton.