August 14, 2017 at 1:39 p.m.
Getting ready for action
Hodags make plays in four-team scrimmage
Getting ready for action
The Hodags outclassed Crandon, Northland Pines and Three Lakes in a four-team scrimmage at Northland Pines High School in Eagle River.
Rhinelander had plenty of highlights, with 12 touchdowns, including six during the varsity sessions, but at times it also looked like the Hodags' first full-contact action of the fall against a different school.
"There were some good things, but there were definitely some things that I'm eager to watch film and clean up," RHS football coach Chris Ferge said. "(We need to) figure out how we can coach things better and figure out how to give guys the reps they need so that we solidify defense and offense to make sure that we're ready to play a varsity football game next week."
Senior quarterback Logan Freund threw for 179 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another score. Senior receiver Reuben Guzik caught three touchdowns passes and sophomore running back Drake Martin had 76 yards and two scores on 12 carries.
Rhinelander's defense stiffened after giving up a touchdown in its opening drive of the scrimmage against Crandon. The Hodags allowed 152 yards in 60 total plays and generated a trio of turnovers. Linebacker Cole Spaulding led the way with eight tackles. Alec Kurtz made seven stops from the defensive line and Colton Krueger recorded 2 1/2 tackles for loss, including a pair of quarterback sacks.
The Hodags drove into the red zone in their opening drive against Crandon, before stalling out on downs, but Freund hit senior Cole Spaulding on a seam route for a 35-yard touchdown toward the end of the varsity offensive session. The Hodags added two more scores on the final two plays against Crandon with a number of reserves in the contest.
Sophomore quarterback Nathan Kempf found Chase Hunt on a 33-yard catch and run down to the Crandon 2, setting up a scoring run by Nick Kriesel on an end-around. Kempf then went over the top to Guzik for a 35-yard score to end the session.
Rhinelander's defense pitched a shutout against Northland Pines, with a little good fortune, after the Eagles fumbled the football at the Hodags 1. Freund found Guzik on a 15-yard screen pass for a score midway through Rhinelander's offensive session and the two hooked up again on a 35-yard post route for a score.
That third touchdown strike came one play after Freund made a costly turnover, throwing an interception on a desparation pass into the end zone as he tried to avoid a sack on second-and-goal. Guzik, meanwhile, bounced back after dropping the first two passes thrown in his direction Friday. Ferge said he wanted to see how his players battled through adversity throughout the day.
"We wanted to put them in positions where they were going to fail and see what they would do about it, make guys lead in positions they mayber weren't comfortable leading," he said. "We'll see it on film and I'm excited to coach next week to shore things up."
Kriesel opened the JV session against Pines with a 35-yard run through the middle of the Eagles' defense. Kempf hit Alex Monk on a 15-yard touchdown pass later in the session.
Freund scored on a 20-yard keeper against Three Lakes and Martin added scoring runs of 19 and 20 yards. Brock Lieder found Isiah Piosalan for a 25-yard score during the JV session and Kempf threw his third touchdown pass, a four-yard toss to Nick Schiek to end the day for the Rhinelander offense.
While, at times, the Hodags went with the split green and white squads it has used throughout camp, at times against Northland Pines and Three Lakes the team ran out its "black" unit, which included a number of the team's presumptive starters.
The unit included Freund taking snaps with Martin as his feature tailback. Guzik, Spaulding, Hunt, Lieder, Josh Francisco and Payton Erickson spent time in the receiver positions with two seniors who started at skill positions last year - Kurtz and Krueger - anchoring the offensive line.
The Hodags open the regular season this Friday at Prescott and Ferge said there's plenty to work on this week at practice.
"We've got to get more intensity," he said. "I want to make sure we get ready to play a football game, because we're nowhere near there yet and I'm sure everybody else isn't either. It's just the conditioning that has to happen and the intensity has to pick up."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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