Two Rivers has ruled the Eastern Wisconsin Conference in football for the last several years, winning back-to-back conference titles while going undefeated.
In 2024, The Raiders will compete in The Northeast Conference, which will be a step up in competition for Head Coach Kevin Shillcox and company.
Shillcox begins his 12th year as Head Coach, having taken Two Rivers to postseason play ten times.
The Raiders have advanced to Level Four twice under Shillcox and last year fell to now conference foe Luxemburg Casco in Level Three 24 to 21. Shillcox and his coaching staff also must find a way to replace Chase Matthias and Justin Klinker.
Matthias, now suiting up for Division Two Winona State in Minnesota, rushed for over 6,000 yards and more than 100 touchdowns as a Raider, plus was one of the most prolific linebackers in school history, recording over 100 tackles his junior and senior seasons.
In his senior season, Klinker threw for nearly 2,000 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just two interceptions while completing nearly 70 percent of his passes.
He’s now at UW-Whitewater, but despite those two key departures, Shillcox tells Seehafer Sports that he’s confident in this team’s athletes.
“We do bring back our five offensive linemen, including our tight end (Christian Pyles). Our line play should be really good on both sides of the ball as that is where it all starts, and I think we’re in good shape to give some new guys the ball.”
One of them will be junior Max Matthias. Chase’s younger brother is carving out his own niche, having rushed for nearly 500 yards and 6 touchdowns last season.
Max has excelled defensively, where he was named First Team All-EWC in 2023. He led the Raiders with 150 total tackles in 12 games. He says he’s excited to be the Raiders’ featured player in 2024.
“That’s what I did while I was growing up. I was always a running back and that’s where I shined. I love playing defense, too, but I’ll do what it takes to win and look forward to contributing on both sides of the ball.”
Shillcox says his junior class, led by Matthias, is deep and talented.
“They’re very talented across the board. They’re just all good kids, and we (coaches) are trying to figure out where to play them. We have a lot of quality talent, with kids fighting for spots. If they want to get on the field they’re going to have to compete because there’s a guy right next to him that’s just as good. That’s something we didn’t have as much of last year.”
They’ll need to be at their best every week in a tough Northeastern Conference that had Luxemburg Casco and Wrightstown compete for state titles, Xavier (of Appleton) reach Level Three of the playoffs, and Little Chute and Freedom consistently ranked in the top ten by both the media and coaches a year ago.
Shillcox says they’re ready for the challenge.
“We’ve always scouted these teams as they were potential playoff opponents in previous years. I have a great coaching staff that goes above and beyond. We’ve been together a long time, and we know what to expect from one another to put our kids in the best position to win.”
Junior Derek Klinker agrees with his Head Coach. (Shillcox)
“I’ll be excited to play every week. It’ll be like a playoff game every night, and that should prepare us to become battle-tested once post-season play begins.”
Two Rivers will scrimmage at Sheboygan South on August 16th and open the season against The Foxes on August 23rd at Fox Valley Lutheran in Appleton.
