2025 COULEE CONFERENCE PREVIEWPredicted Order of Finish1. Aquinas (La Crosse)
2. West Salem
3. Luther (Onalaska)
4. Westby
5. Arcadia
6. Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau (Galesville)
7. Black River Falls
8. Viroqua Players to WatchLogan Becker, WR, Aquinas: Becker caught 43 passes for 674 yards and nine touchdowns last season as a First Team All-Conference and WFCA All-Region selection.
Max Blaschko, RB, Arcadia: Blaschko was a First Team All-Conference pick last year, going for more than 1000 yards on the ground for the Raiders.
William Flottmeyer, OL/DL, Aquinas: Flottmeyer earned First Team All-Conference recognition on both sides of the ball last year, including WFCA All-State honors on defense.
Drew McConkey, QB, West Salem: McConkey is a dual-threat quarterback and a favorite for league Player of the Year after racking up more than 1700 total yards and 18 touchdowns last season.
Landon Michlig, DL, West Salem: Michlig is a returning First Team All-Conference selection at defensive line and also a top-level punter for the Panthers.
Maddox Torkelson, QB, Westby: Torkelson got valuable experience as a sophomore starting quarterback last season, throwing for more than 1000 yards for the Norsemen.
2025 Team Previews1. Aquinas won three consecutive Division 5 state championships from 2021 to 2023, bumping up to Division 4 last season as part of the WIAA Performance Factor. The Blugolds had another outstanding season, winning an outright Coulee Conference title, advancing to the state semi-finals, where they went down to eventual D4 champion Racine St. Catherine's in a 12-6 low-scoring affair. Until someone proves otherwise, Aquinas is the favorite in the Coulee, though West Salem should provide stiff competition. "We will have over 70 athletes out for football," said head coach Thomas Lee. "Depth has been a strength of ours and has been a key factor in our success. We believe we will also have solid skill position players and good team speed (as we work to improve this in our newly remodeled weight room). Our kids LOVE the weight room at Aquinas, and are blessed with an outstanding coach in Eddie Hodges, who gets the best out of them." The team has to figure out the quarterback spot after the graduation of Jacob Thornton, and will look to fill in the primary ball-carrying role after Kyle White moves on. Logan Becker and Waylon Hargrove are a pair of talented pass-catchers coming back for the Blugolds, who bring back five starters on offense and six on defense. William Flottmeyer may be the best linemen in the league. Defensive back Brady Lee and linebacker Tyson Martin are returning standouts on defense as well.
2. West Salem couldn't quite get past Aquinas last year, falling 20-18 in a late-season conference contest. The Panthers ended up in the Division 4 playoffs, beating Platteville before exiting to Columbus in Level 2. With 28 letterwinners returning and 14 starters back, the Panthers have the pieces in place to challenge Aquinas' league superiority. "Many will predict us to have a down year after graduating a group of talented seniors; however, we are excited about the group of guys we have," said head coach and athletic director Ryan Olson, a 2009 Royall High School graduate. "We return 15 guys who played meaningful snaps for us last year. Our strength will be in our numbers, with nearly 100 kids out, along with our offensive line. Our weakness will be that some spots will be inexperienced, and we need them to step up into those roles!" Among the players coming back is junior quarterback Drew McConkey, who had an excellent sophomore season with 1,242 passing yards and 14 touchdowns while also finishing second on the team in rushing with 465 yards. Rory O'Neill also returns in the backfield and should see his carries increase following the graduation of league Player of the Year Luke Baginski. The defense brings back eight starters and has experience at every level, including senior defensive lineman Landon Michlig, who doubles as one of the top punters in the state.
3. Luther finished third in the Coulee Conference last year, going 7-2 during the regular season. The Knights knocked off Ladysmith in the postseason before a tough 17-14 loss to Regis the following week. Momentum continues to build for Luther, who has made three consecutive postseason appearances after just one regular playoff appearance in school history prior to 2021. The Knights lost most of last year's offensive production, including quarterback Jackson Kendall, top rushers Elijah Potaracke and Landon Bryant, plus leading receivers Jack Schmeling and Gabe Shepard, but the team has some young athletes coming up that have a lot of promise. They may be a step behind Aquinas and West Salem, but they should contend strongly for a playoff spot out of the Coulee once again.
4. Westby got off to a solid start, but a four-game losing streak to end the season, including a Level 1 playoff exit against Lancaster, wasn't quite how the team wanted to finish. There's a good amount of experience coming back this season, though head coach Andy Hulst resigned; he'll remain as an assistant, as 2019 Westby graduate Alex Gluch will take over the reins for the Norsemen. "Our strength this season will be the return of four starting offensive linemen and a returning starter as a junior at quarterback." That quarterback is Maddox Torkelson, who threw for more than 1000 yards in his first year leading the offense, though he'll be missing his favorite target, Anders Stakston. A total of seven starters are back on the offensive side of the ball, with five back on defense.
5. Arcadia got back into the playoffs after a two-year hiatus, though the appearance was short-lived, falling to Columbus in Level 1. Veteran head coach Derek Updike likes the experience coming back on the offensive line, as well as a returning 1000-yard rusher in Max Blaschko, plus quarterback Carter Wegman back. They're among seven starters returning on the offensive side of the ball, while six starters return to the team's 4-3 defense. The Raiders figure to battle for a postseason spot once again this season.
6. Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau dropped five straight games to open the 2024 season and weren't able to recover, finishing 2-7 overall and uncharacteristically missing the playoffs. The Red Hawks have 24 appearances all-time, and will try to make it 25 under new head coach Luke Oliver, who replaces Paul Anderson. "Lots of underclassmen had to step up and play varsity last season," said Oliver, a 2016 Regis graduate. "Still, we graduated a lot of two-way starters with multiple years of varsity experience." Just 13 letterwinners return, with two starters back on offense and three on defense.
7. Black River Falls managed just one victory last season, a 13-8 decision over G-E-T, as the team has not qualified for the postseason since 2019 and not tasted victory in the playoffs since the 2014 season. Larry Severson takes over as head coach this year, with eight starters returning on offense and four on defense. "Our team strength should be our offensive line, with four starters returning with good size and physical ability," Severson said. "We also have two returning running backs and two returning receivers. Defensively, we have four returning starters but seven players who worked into the defensive rotation."
8. Viroqua finished 3-6 overall last year, winning both non-conference games over Dodgeville and Brookwood, along with a conference shutout of Black River Falls. The Blackhawks are yet another Coulee Conference team with a coaching change (four of our eight teams have new coaches this season), with Jonah Curley replacing Taylor Henry as the head football coach. The team has to replace the top passer (Benson McDowell), rusher (Nicholas Elisius), and receiver (Solomon Murdock) from a year ago.
