Galva Wildcats Football: 2026 Schedule and Results (8-Man)
Latest result — Week 3, Friday September 4: lost 62-22 at West Central. Now 1-2. Next: Ridgewood at home, Friday September 11, 6:00.
2026: 1-2 · Coach: Zach Anderson · League: Illinois 8-Man Football Association · Enrollment: 138
Two seasons ago Galva went 0-9. The season before that, 0-9. Last year they made the playoffs.
The turnaround
Zach Anderson took over a programme that had lost eighteen straight across 2023 and 2024, and had gone 1-7 the year before that.
In 2025 the Wildcats went 5-5, 5-4 in conference, and qualified for the I8FA playoffs — losing 52-6 in the first round to South Fork/Edinburg/Morrisonville, but getting there at all.
That is the sharpest one-season improvement of any programme this site covers.
2026 so far
- Aug 21 — lost at Milledgeville 28-22
- Aug 28 — beat St. Anne/Donovan 22-14 at home
- Sept 4 — lost at West Central 62-22. Sixty-two conceded in Biggsville against a Heat side that is now 3-0 in eight-man.
2026 schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Time | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21 | at Milledgeville | Away | 7:00 | L 28-22 |
| Aug 28 | St. Anne/Donovan | Home | 6:00 | W 22-14 |
| Sept 4 | at West Central | Biggsville | 7:00 | — |
| Sept 11 | Ridgewood | Home | 6:00 | — |
| Sept 18 | Bushnell-Prairie City | Home | 7:00 | — |
| Sept 25 | at West Prairie/Southeastern | Away | 7:00 | — |
| Oct 9 | at Peoria Heights | Away | 7:00 | — |
| Oct 16 | at Milford/Cissna Park | Away | 7:00 | — |
| Oct 23 | Flanagan/Cornell/Woodland | Home | 7:00 | — |
Note the 6:00 p.m. kickoffs — unusual around here, and used for both Galva home games against fellow eight-man sides.
The local eight-man triangle
Three schools this site covers play eight-man football, and all three play each other:
- Sept 4 — Galva at West Central
- Sept 11 — Ridgewood at Galva
- Oct 9 — West Central at Ridgewood
The Galva-West Central game on September 4 is the first of them, and West Central is 2-0.
A Swedish town in Henry County
Galva was founded in 1854 by Swedish immigrants from nearby Bishop Hill, and named for Gävle, Sweden — still its sister city. Roughly 80 percent of residents claim Scandinavian ancestry.
Population 2,470. Three rail lines once served the town; the California Zephyr and Southwest Chief still pass through without stopping. There is a Black Hawk College campus here.
The trophy cabinet
No IHSA team state championships. Two individual state champions: Ryan Preston in the 110-metre high hurdles in 1993, and Peyton Sopiars in the Class 1A triple jump in 2018, at 45 feet three-quarters of an inch.
The dance and drill team is the most decorated programme in the school — five state Production titles under the Illinois Drill Team Association, in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008, plus a Musical Theatre title in 2010.
Notable alumni
Rich Falk played professional basketball and was head coach at Northwestern from 1978 to 1986, later serving as Big Ten associate commissioner.
Galva also produced Rollin Kirby, who won the Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning three times.
Volleyball, 2026
1-1 — lost at home to Henry-Senachwine, won at DePue.
Where the season goes from here
Galva’s schedule turns local in September. They travel to West Central on the 4th, then host Ridgewood on the 11th — the two other eight-man programmes in this coverage area, in consecutive weeks.
West Central is 2-0 and won the I8FA state title in 2022. Ridgewood played in the 2023 final. Those two Fridays will tell us a great deal about whether last year’s playoff berth was a floor or a ceiling.
Note also that Galva finishes with three of its last four on the road.
The eighteen-game losing run
To understand what Zach Anderson has done, it is worth stating plainly what he inherited.
| Season | Record |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 1-7 |
| 2023 | 0-9 |
| 2024 | 0-9 |
| 2025 | 5-5, I8FA playoffs |
Eighteen consecutive defeats across two seasons, then a five-win year and a postseason berth. The playoff game itself was a 52-6 defeat to South Fork/Edinburg/Morrisonville, but getting there at all was the point.
The dance team
The most decorated programme at Galva High School does not play a ball sport.
The dance and drill team won five state Production titles under the Illinois Drill Team Association — in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008 — and added a Musical Theatre title in 2010.
Against that, the school’s athletic state champions are two individuals: Ryan Preston in the 110-metre high hurdles in 1993, and Peyton Sopiars in the Class 1A triple jump in 2018, at 45 feet and three-quarters of an inch.
What else they field
Boys: baseball, basketball, cross country, football and track. Girls: basketball, softball, track and volleyball. No wrestling, golf or soccer.
Volleyball opened 2026 at 1-1 — a three-set home loss to Henry-Senachwine, then a straight-sets win at DePue.
What else is on the schedule
Galva’s non-conference dates bookend the season: Milledgeville in Week 1, then Milford/Cissna Park on October 16 and Flanagan/Cornell/Woodland at home to finish on October 23 — the same FCW side that West Central beat 32-12 in a storm-suspended opener.
The Wildcats have four home games in 2026, two of them at the unusual 6:00 p.m. start.
The 8-man format, briefly
If you have never been to an eight-man game, it is worth knowing what you are watching. The field is 40 yards wide rather than 53, the game runs on the same clock, and with three fewer bodies a side the space opens up fast. Scores in the forties are routine.
The I8FA runs its own playoff structure with no connection to the IHSA brackets, which is why Galva, Ridgewood and West Central never appear on the pairings show in October.
It exists because schools this size — Galva enrolls 138 — can no longer reliably field eleven-man teams. It is not a lesser game. West Central won a state championship playing it in 2022, and Ridgewood reached a final the following year.
Galva has played eight-man since the format took hold in western Illinois, and the Wildcats’ own conference — grouped by MaxPreps for 2026 as the Central West — puts them alongside Bushnell-Prairie City, Peoria Heights, West Prairie/Southeastern, Ridgewood and West Central. It is, in effect, a small-school league drawn across five counties.
Send us results
Eight-man football gets a fraction of the coverage the eleven-man game does around here. If you have a score, a stat line or a photo, send it in — we post them as they come and correct errors the same day.
Records via MaxPreps and the IHSA; town history via public records.
