Check out our new toy

Before you head out to a game tonight, take a spin around our Web site.

Specifically, go here: www.fdlreporter.com/preps.

It's called Preps Factory, and while we've had it all season, this is the first time we're letting you know about it. The six Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers in this area (Green Bay, Oshkosh, Appleton, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and yours truly) all use the same Internet-based computer program to enter information we receive from area football coaches on game nights. It used to be that each paper would enter this into their own system -- accessible only to those in the office -- and choose to publish as much as they wanted, when they wanted.

Now, you get it all. Every stat that is called by the coaches is saved and can be accessed from anywhere at anytime. There are rosters for every team in our coverage area, and, if you know how to press the right buttons, a game-by-game statistics log for every player in the area.

Check out the team page for Fond du Lac. The roster for Ripon. Or the box score from the Springs-WLA game. How about some receiving leaders?

With any new feature, it has its kinks, so keep clicking around to see all that's offered. Keep coming back. I beg of you.

Meanwhile, we're already at Week 5. There's only one team that can (almost) guarantee a playoff spot with a victory tonight and that team is Laconia, but even then, it's not a lock.

Of course, it's way too early to talk about playoffs. Just ask Jim Mora.