Northwest 8 Conference
ConferenceIHSA
Founded1977
Ceased1990
No. of teams8
RegionNorthwest Illinois (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago counties)
Locations
The Northwest 8 Conference within IllinoisThe Northwest 8 Conference within Illinois
Locations of Northwest 8 Schools

The Northwest 8 Conference was a high school conference in northwest and north central Illinois. The conference participated in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference included small public high schools with enrollments between 75-600 students in Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago counties.

History

This conference was composed of teams from the short-lived original Upstate Illini Conference (1974 to 1976), the first year of competition was 1977 with eight charter schools: Ashton, Durand, Franklin Center, Leaf River, Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Pearl City and Rockford Lutheran. The primary reason for the creation of the league was football based, all of the teams from the Upstate Illini with football, except for Orangeville High School, merged into a conference of like sized schools. Prior to the 1982 season Rockford Lutheran left the conference, moving to the Prairie Conference. In 1985, a significant change in structure occurred as Kirkland-Hiawatha left the Trailblazer Conference and joined the Northwest 8, Ashton and Franklin Center began their coop and Leaf River dropped football, leaving the league with 6 teams for football. In 1987, the conference began talks with the Upstate Illini to create a league that would be divided into divisions with equal numbers for all sports, including football. In 1988, North Boone, South Beloit, Warren and River Ridge joined the conference while Rockford Lutheran rejoined. Even though the league was re-branded in 1988, the official final year of competition was 1990 in order to realign football schedules.

Based on the fact that there were originally 8 teams, the conference maintained the name Northwest 8 even when the total number of schools dropped below or increased beyond that total. The league eventually rose to 12 teams and due to the increased number, talks for a re-branding of the Northwest 8 took place in 1987. In 1988, the idea of moving back to the Upstate Illini provided an opportunity to eliminate a conference name that included a number, and competition for all sports, with the exception of football, was established. In 1991, football schedules were set with 6 teams in the North Division: Durand, North Boone, Pearl City, Rockford (Lutheran), Elizabeth (River Ridge)-Warren (coop) and South Beloit and the South Division: Ashton-Franklin Center, Kirkland-Hiawatha, Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Mt. Morris and Polo.


Member schools

School Location Mascot Colors Year Joined Year Left IHSA Classes A/AA[1] IHSA Music Class[2] IHSA Football Class[3]
Ashton
High School
Ashton, IL Aces    
Green, Gold
1977 1985* A - 1A
Ashton-
Franklin Center
Ashton, IL Raiders      
Black, Gold, White
1985* 1991 A - 1A
Durand
High School
Durand, IL Bulldogs    
Royal Blue, White
1977 1991 A C 1A
Franklin Center
High School
Franklin Grove, IL Eagles    
Maroon, Gold
1977 1985* A A 1A
Kirkland-Hiawatha
High School
Kirkland, IL Hawks    
Navy Blue, Gold
1985 1990 A D 1A
Leaf River
High School
Leaf River, IL Demons    
Royal Blue, White
1977 1990 A C 1A
Milledgeville
High School
Milledgeville, IL Missiles    
Orange, Black
1977 1991 A D 1A
Mount Carroll
High School
Mount Carroll, IL Hawks    
Purple, Gold
1977 1991 A D 1A
Mt. Morris
High School
Mt. Morris, IL Mounders    
Red, Black
1990 1991 A C 1A
North Boone
High School
Poplar Grove, IL Vikings    
Green, White
1989 1991 A C 2A
Pearl City
High School
Pearl City, IL Wolves      
Red, White, Black
1977 1991 A D 1A
Polo Community
High School
Polo, IL Marcos    
Blue, Gold
1990 1991 A C 1A
River Ridge
High School
Elizabeth, IL** Wildcats    
Navy Blue, Grey
1988 1991 A D Coop w/Warren
Rockford Lutheran
High School
Rockford, IL Crusaders    
Purple, White
1977, 1986 1982, 1991 A C 2A
South Beloit
High School
South Beloit, IL Sobos    
Scarlet Red, White
1989 1991 A C 1A
Warren
High School
Warren, IL Warriors    
Orange, Black
1988 1991 A D 1A

* Ashton and Franklin Center began a sports CoOp in 1985, creating a new mascot and school colors.
Sources:IHSA Conferences[4], IHSA Coop Teams,[5] and IHSA Member Schools Directory[6]


Membership timeline

Full members Full members (non-football) Full members (Football Coop) Upstate Illini Conference Mid-Northern Conference Other Conference

  • River Ridge became a consolidated school district in 1986, combining Elizabeth High School and Hanover High School, both coming from the Upstate Illini Conference

References

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