August 16, 2017 at 11:59 a.m.
Media says Merrill first, Hodags last in GNC football
Media says Merrill first, Hodags last in GNC football
The Bluejays were the near unanimous choice to win the conference in the fifth annual GNC media poll released Tuesday. Merrill received six of the eight first-place votes in the survey, conducted by the Northwoods River News and The Lakeland Times.
Rhinelander, which has not won a Great Northern Conference game since October 2013, was on the other end of the voting. The Hodags were picked last on seven of the eight ballots cast.
Hodag coach Chris Ferge said he understands why his team finished last in the balloting, but said he and the team are not losing any sleep over the results.
"Until those numbers are reached, they're not going to give us that credit and that's fine," he said. "Our kids, I don't think, are looking at that stuff. I've never heard them talk about it. We don't talk about it. We only talk about who we're playing the first week."
The Hodags travel to Prescott in Week 1 and play three straight non-conference games before opening the conference slate Sept. 8 at Medford.
"We're worried about making ourselves better," Ferge said. "We've grown every year in ways that you just can't see and I'm excited about getting the results that everyone can see and rely on."
Of course, poll results mean very little on the field, as the Hodags almost proved in Week 4 last year. The Hodags nearly upset Merrill, which was tabbed by the media as co-favorite in the GNC a year ago. A potential go-ahead touchdown was taken off the board due to a procedure penalty with just over a minute remaining as the Hodags fell to the Bluejays 15-9 at Mike Webster Stadium.
But, with as much talent as Merrill returns, it's easy to see why the Bluejays enter as the conference favorite. Merrill returns 10 players who received all-GNC recognition last year, including first teamers QB Zach Mootz and defensive linemen Noah Polling and Braedon Dorn.
Antigo, under the direction of reigning conference coach of the year Tom Schofield, received the other two first-place votes and ended up second in the balloting. The Red Robins boast a 25-man senior class and split the conference title with Merrill and Medford last year.
The potential exists for Merrill and Antigo to settle the conference title debate on the field in the final week of the regular season as the Bluejays travel to Schofield Stadium to take on the Red Robins Oct. 13.
Medford is picked third in the survey, followed by Lakeland, Mosinee, Ashland and Rhinelander. Medford lost the conference's offensive and defensive players of the year - Conrad Bolz and Josh Thiede - to graduation.
Voters in this year's poll were Northwoods River News Sports Editor Jeremy Mayo, Lakeland Times Sports Reporter Nick Sabato, Ashland Daily Press Sports Editor Garett Greenwald, Antigo Daily Journal sportswriter Scott Walbeck, Star News Sports Editor Matt Frey, WHOH-FM (Rhinelander) play-by-play broadcaster Ben Meyer, WJMT-AM (Merrill) play-by-play broadcaster Matt Mattano and Great Northern Conference statistician Gregg Scott.
The conference season opens Friday, Sept. 1 with Antigo at Ashland, Mosinee at Merrill and Medford at Lakeland.
Rhinelander will host Wausau East in a non-conference game at Mike Webster Stadium that night. East, which has left the Valley Football Association to play an independent schedule, will face four of the seven GNC schools this fall.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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