For the second straight year as a five-team football conference, the Capitol South managed to send three teams to the WIAA State Football Tournament. Unlike last year, however, all three teams that advanced shared the conference title.
One of those teams, Belleville, hadn't been to the playoffs as a standalone team since the early 1980's (Belleville had made it in the 2000's as a co-op program with Albany). The Wildcats used some good-sized linemen and solid two-way playmakers to push for a conference title. Belleville's placement in the playoff field made it so that all five teams in the conference have played postseason football in the past two seasons. (In fact, all five teams currently in the conference have won a conference title in the past three seasons).
Cambridge used its Week 7 victory over Belleville to clinch a playoff spot, in a bounceback season after missing out on postseason play in 2016.
New Glarus/Monticello boasted some of the conferences' top players both along the lines and in the backfield, and won the Capitol South outright in 2016.
Marshall and Waterloo, who shared the conference title in 2015 and are the last two teams in the conference to win a playoff game, both failed to reach the postseason in 2017.
Game Audio: Cambridge 25, Belleville 19
By Jimmie Kaska
2017 Conference Standings: New Glarus/Monticello, Belleville, and Cambridge all shared the conference crown at 3-1, while Waterloo finished at 1-3 and Marshall went winless at 0-4.
2017's Top Games: The only conference game decided by one score or less was Cambridge's 25-19 win over Belleville in Week 7. Cambridge made a huge stop at midfield on third down, and the Blue Jays held on when Belleville's fourth-down pass went out of bounds with just seconds remaining... The week prior, on the dedication of Cambridge's home field to longtime coach Bob Nodolf, the Blue Jays lost to Darlington 15-13... New Glarus/Monticello survived a 29-28 battle with Mauston of the South Central Conference mid-way through the season... One of the most entertaining games in August was Marshall's wild battle with Parkview, as the Cardinals held off the Vikings for a 36-31 victory after nearly blowing a 29-7 third-quarter lead.
All-Conference Honors: Cambridge and Belleville led the way with eight first-team honors total, and each team will be bringing back over half of their all-Capitol South performers for 2018. New Glarus/Monticello and Marshall each had five first-teamers, and both will bring back roughly half of their total honorees. Waterloo had 11 total All-Conference honors among nine players, and three will return for 2018. The conference's reigning Offensive Lineman of the Year will be back, Belleville's Danny Enloe, and 2016's Offensive Player of the Year (Zach Feller) and Defensive Lineman of the Year (Adam Marty) will be back in the fold for New Glarus/Monticello as well.
All-Region Honors: Cambridge got a trio of players on the WFCA's All-Region list, and two will return for 2018: running back Riley Olson and linebacker Denver Evans. Both Waterloo and New Glarus/Monticello also had all-Region linemen, but both have graduated.
A Quick Look Ahead: We'll have a full preview of each team, and the conference, coming up as we get closer to the start of the season on August 17. In addition to some of the top conference match-ups, some of the more intriguing non-conference clashes include Cambridge at Brookfield Academy in Week 1, Stanley-Boyd at Marshall in Week 2, and Columbus at New Glarus/Monticello in Week 3. Look for individual team previews to roll out in July, with full conference previews to come in August.
2018 High School Football Preview Schedule
Late June/Early July: 2017 In Review (by conference)
Mid-July: Team-by-team previews
Early August: Conference previews
Coming Next: July 2: Capitol North 2017 In Review
Daily High School Sports Content Schedule
June 28: Throwback Thursday - Top 2017 Games #5: Waunakee 14, Brookfield Central 13
June 29: Capitol South 2017 In Review
July 2: Capitol North 2017 In Review
July 3: Rock Valley 2017 In Review
July 5: Throwback Thursday - Top 2017 Games #4: Stoughton 30, Oregon 27
July 6: Other Area Teams 2017 In Review *Trailways, 8-player, and southwestern Wisconsin schools
July 9: Badger South 2017 In Review
July 10: Badger North 2017 In Review
July 11: Big Eight 2017 In Review
July 12: Throwback Thursday - Top 2017 Games #3: Cambridge 25, Belleville 19
July 13: 2017 High School Football In Review
July 16: Start of Team-by-Team Previews
Julu 19: Throwback Thursday - Top 2017 Games #2: Madison West 30, Middleton 27
July 26: Throwback Thursday - Top 2017 Games #1: Lodi 17, St. Croix Central 10
August 6: Start of Conference Previews
August 13: Prep Report and Game of the Week content begins