The Suburban Six-Man Football League is a former high school football conference with its catchment in the Madison metropolitan area. Originating in 1939 and playing its last season in 1957, the conference's member schools were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
1939–1942
The Suburban Six-Man Football League was formed in 1939 as the Dane-Columbia Six-Man Football League by three small high schools in south central Wisconsin. All three schools played six-man football and belonged to conferences which either did not sponsor the sport (Cambria and Poynette of the Dual County Conference) or sponsored eleven-man football (Deerfield of the Madison Suburban Conference). Deerfield left for the 1940 football season to compete as an independent, with DeForest and Fox Lake taking their place in the newly renamed South Central Four. It wasn't until the 1941 football season that the conference would adopt the Suburban Six-Man Football League moniker. That season, membership increased from four to ten schools. Along with Deerfield's reentry into the conference, the Suburban Six-Man Football League accepted three members associated with the Tri-County League (Black Earth, Mazomanie and Waunakee), two from the State Line League (Belleville and Brooklyn) and Verona of the Madison Suburban Conference. Brooklyn left the conference in 1942 when they dropped football from their interscholastic athletic offerings, which along with Poynette's exit reduced membership to eight schools. Competition in the Suburban Six-Man Football League was suspended for the 1943 season amid gasoline rationing for the World War II effort.
1944–1950
The Suburban Six-Man Football League resumed play for the 1944 season, welcoming back all eight members from the 1942 season, along with Poynette (who last played in the conference in 1941) and newcomers Argyle, whose primary affiliation was with the State Line League. The league partitioned into Eastern and Western sections with the increase in membership: Eastern SectionWestern SectionCambriaArgyleDeerfieldBellevilleDeForestBlack EarthPoynetteMazomanieWaunakeeVerona This configuration was maintained for three seasons (1944-1946) before new conferences began to adopt six-man football and changed the league's makeup. Argyle and Belleville left to join the State Line League, and Cambria became Dual County Conference members for six-man football. Johnson Creek and Marshall took the place of the departing schools after competing as independents the year prior. For the 1948 season, Marshall declined to offer six-man football and Poynette left to become full members in the Dual County Conference. The 1949 season saw a significant turnover of member schools as four schools adopted eleven-man football and most joined their respective conferences. Mazomanie and Waunakee entered football competition in the Tri-County League, DeForest became football members of the Madison Suburban Conference and Verona competed as an independent for one season before joining the Madison Suburban Conference a year later. Marshall reinstated their six-man football team to bring membership to four schools for the 1949 season.
1950–1957
As member schools continued to adopt eleven-man football when they grew in enrollment size, the Suburban Six-Man Football League continued to see membership turnover for the remainder of their history. A fifth member joined the conference for the 1950 season (Hustisford), but membership decreased back to four schools for the 1951 season when Johnson Creek transitioned to eleven-man football and joined the Madison Suburban Conference. Norris Foundation in Mukwonago joined the league for the 1953 season, bringing the roster to five schools. The conference would compete in six-man football for one more season before moving to eight-man football in 1954, along with a name change to the Suburban Eight-Man Football League. Black Earth and Hustisford left the league after the 1954 football season, whittling the group to only three members. The Suburban Eight-Man Football League played for three more seasons after being disbanded following the 1957 football season. Deerfield and Marshall played in the Southern Regional Conference's final eight-man football season in 1958, and both schools went on to form the Southern Dairyland Conference with Johnson Creek and Palmyra for the 1959 season. Norris Foundation would become members of the Southern Dairyland in 1960 after playing the 1959 season as an independent.
Conference membership history SchoolLocationAffiliationMascotColorsSeasonsConference JoinedPrimary ConferenceCambriaCambria, WIPublicHilltoppers 1939–1946Dual CountyDual CountyDeerfieldDeerfield, WIPublicDemons 1939,. 1941–1957Southern RegionalMadison SuburbanPoynettePoynette, WIPublicIndians 1939–1941, 1944-1947Dual CountyDual CountyDeForestDeForest, WIPublicNorskies 1940–1948Madison SuburbanMadison SuburbanFox LakeFox Lake, WIPublicLakers 1940IndependentDual CountyBellevilleBelleville, WIPublicWildcats 1941–1946State LineState LineBrooklynBrooklyn, WIPublicHornets 1941Suspended football programState LineBlack EarthBlack Earth, WIPublicEarthmen 1941–1954Iowa CountyTri-CountyMazomanieMazomanie, WIPublicMidgets 1941–1948Tri-CountyTri-CountyVeronaVerona, WIPublicIndians 1941–1948IndependentMadison SuburbanWaunakeeWaunakee, WIPublicWarriors 1941–1948Tri-CountyTri-CountyArgyleArgyle, WIPublicOrioles 1944–1946State LineState LineJohnson CreekJohnson Creek, WIPublicBluejays 1947–1950Madison SuburbanMadison SuburbanMarshallMarshall, WIPublicCardinals 1947, 1949-1957Southern RegionalMadison SuburbanHustisfordHustisford, WIPublicFalcons 1950–1954Fox Valley Tri-CountyIndependentNorris FoundationMukwonago, WIPublic, AlternativeNors'men 1953–1957Southern RegionalSoutheastern Wisconsin
Membership timeline
List of conference champions SchoolQuantityYears DeForest41941, 1944, 1945, 1946 Mazomanie41945, 1946, 1947, 1948 Deerfield31942, 1952, 1955 Cambria21939, 1940 Johnson Creek21949, 1950 Marshall21956, 1957 Norris Foundation21953, 1954 Belleville11944 Hustisford11951 Argyle0 Black Earth0 Brooklyn0 Fox Lake0 Poynette0 Verona0 Waunakee0 References