Northwest 8 Conference


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

With the conference composed of teams from the short-lived original Upstate Illini Conference, 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. Prior to the 1982 season, Rockford Lutheran left the conference, moving to the Trailblazer 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. In 1987, the final year of the conference, North Boone, South Beloit, Warren and River Ridge joined while Rockford Lutheran rejoined. Even though the conference was re-branded in 1988, the 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 the increased number, talks for a re-branding of the Northwest 8 took place in 1987. In 1988, the Upstate Illini name was resurrected 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, Elizabeth -Warren and South Beloit and the South Division: Ashton-Franklin Center, Kirkland-Hiawatha, Milledgeville, Mt. Carroll, Mt. Morris and Polo.

Member schools

SchoolLocationMascotColorsYear JoinedYear LeftIHSA Classes A/AAIHSA Music ClassIHSA Football Class
Ashton
High School		Ashton, ILRaiders
Black, Gold, White		19771990A-1A
Durand
High School		Durand, ILBulldogs
Royal Blue, White		19771990AC1A
Franklin Center
High School		Franklin Grove, ILEagles
Maroon, Gold		19771990AA1A
Kirkland-Hiawatha
High School		Kirkland, ILHawks
Navy Blue, Gold		19851990AD1A
Leaf River
High School		Leaf River, ILDemons
Royal Blue, White		19771989AC1A
Milledgeville
High School		Milledgeville, ILMissiles
Orange, Black		19771990AD1A
Mount Carroll
High School		Mount Carroll, ILHawks
Purple, Gold		19771990AD1A
Mt. Morris
High School		Mt. Morris, ILMounders
Red, Black		19901990AC1A
North Boone
High School		Poplar Grove, ILVikings
Green, White		19891990AC2A
Pearl City
High School		Pearl City, ILWolves
Red, White, Black		19771990AD1A
Polo Community
High School		Polo, ILMarcos
Blue, Gold		19901990AC1A
River Ridge
High School		Elizabeth, IL**Wildcats
Navy Blue, Grey		19891990ADCoop w/Warren
Rockford Lutheran
High School		Rockford, ILCrusaders
Purple, White		1977, 19851981, 1990AC2A
South Beloit
High School		South Beloit, ILSobos
Scarlet Red, White		19891990AC1A
Warren
High School		Warren, ILWarriors
Orange, Black		19891990AD1A

Sources:IHSA Conferences, IHSA Coop Teams,and IHSA Member Schools Directory

Membership timeline


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ImageSize = width:1100 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1974 till:1990
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Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:pink
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of an Other Conference
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a full member in a football coop
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of the Upstate Illini Conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that was a member of the Mid Northern

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width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1977text:Ashton
bar:1 color:Full from:1977 till:1985 text:
bar:1 color:AssocOS from:1985 till:1990 text:Franklin Center
bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1977text:Durand
bar:2 color:Full from:1977 till:1990 text:
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1977text:Franklin Center
bar:3 color:Full from:1977 till:1985 text:
bar:3 color:AssocOS from:1985 till:1990 text:Ashton
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1977text:Milledgeville
bar:4 color:Full from:1977 till:1990 text:
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1977text:Mt. Carroll
bar:5 color:Full from:1977 till:1990 text:
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1977text:Pearl City
bar:6 color:Full from:1977 till:1990 text:
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1977text:Rockford Lutheran
bar:7 color:Full from:1977 till:1981 text:
bar:7 color:AssocF from:1981 till:1985text: Trailblazer Conference
bar:7 color:Full from:1985 till:1990 text:
bar:8 color:OtherC2 from:1974 till:1977text:Leaf River
bar:8 color:Full from:1977 till:1985 text:
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1985 till:1989
bar:9 color:AssocF from:1974 till:1982text:Kirkland-Hiawatha
bar:9 color:AssocF from:1982 till:1985text: Trailblazer Conference
bar:9 color:Full from:1985 till:1990 text:
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1986 till:1989 text:River Ridge*
bar:10 color:AssocOS from:1989 till:1990 text:
bar:11 color:AssocF from:1974 till:1985text:North Boone SHARK Conference
bar:11 color:AssocF from:1985 till:1989text: Big 8 Conference
bar:11 color:Full from:1989 till:1990 text:
bar:12 color:AssocF from:1974 till:1982text:South Beloit SHARK Conference
bar:12 color:AssocF from:1982 till:1985 text: Trailblazer Conference
bar:12 color:AssocF from:1985 till:1989 text: Independent
bar:12 color:Full from:1989 till:1990 text:
bar:13 color:AssocF from:1974 till:1989 text:Warren Northwest Illinois Conference
bar:13 color:AssocOS from:1989 till:1990 text:
bar:14 color:OtherC2 from:1974 till:1990text:Mt. Morris
bar:14 color:Full from:1990 till:1990 text:
bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:1974 till:1990text:Polo
bar:15 color:Full from:1990 till:1990 text:
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text:^"Northwest 8 Membership History"
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