Madison-Area Level 3 High School Football Preview

Division 1: #3 Madison West (9-2) at #1 Sun Prairie (11-0): The Regents upset Middleton last week and are now on the deepest playoff run for the Regents since 1981. Sun Prairie is undefeated and looking to stay that way with another win over West. Read the full preview here, as we are airing this game Friday night.

Division 2: #3 Hartford (9-2) at #1 Waunakee (11-0): Hartford is balanced yardage-wise as an offense, but scores nearly 2:1 on the ground as opposed to through the air. Hartford also doesn't feature one playmaker exclusively: multiple players are threats. Waunakee won't see the size they saw against Slinger last week, but there's nobody to key on in this game with so many weapons for the Orioles.

Division 2: #2 Waukesha West (11-0) at #1 Monona Grove (11-0): A rematch of last year's classic Level 3 battle, one of the best running backs in the state (Peter MacCudden) will be on display for Monona Grove, who counters with one of the best quarterbacks in the state (Alec Ogden). Expect points aplenty in this game, and one of the absolute best games in all of the state in Level 3.

Division 4: #3 Lake Mills (10-1) at #1 Lodi (11-0): Lake Mills dispatched undefeated Racine St. Catherine's last week, beating a team with a D1-level quarterback pretty handily 30-13. Lodi enters having beaten up a very good Platteville squad in Level 2 and survived an upset bid in Level 1. Both teams have state aspirations and the rematch should be even better than the top-four showdown we saw in the regular season. Coach Dan Ferkovich of Lake Mills made it known that they wanted to play Lodi again, and his wish has been granted. Here's his preview:

Division 5: #2 Lake Country Lutheran (11-0) at #1 Clinton (11-0): One of a handful of undefeated vs undefeated Level 3 games. Clinton has a state-leading rushing attack, and will test their mettle here. The winner may be a Level 4 favorite. Clinton, with a win, may get a Level 4 rematch with Cedar Grove-Belgium.

Division 6: #3 Mineral Point (9-2) at #1 Markesan (10-1): Both teams are coming off of tough, grind-it-out wins by one score over their respective opponents in the previous round. Defense will be the name of the game in this contest.