August 21, 2017 at 2:28 p.m.
Plowed over by Prescott
Cardinals dominate second half, down Hodags 27-13 in opener
Plowed over by Prescott
Prescott racked up 290 yards rushing and scored a couple of late touchdowns to defeat the Hodags 27-13 Friday night at Laney Field in Prescott.
The Cardinals, who won their first game since October 2015, controlled the Hodags at the line of scrimmage and wore down Rhinelander in the second half. Prescott outgained Rhinelander 187-43 over the final two quarters and held the ball for more than 16 minutes in the second half.
Thin on depth and undersized up front, coach Chris Ferge said Rhinelander was simply outmuscled in the contest.
"It's a challenge for us with our numbers and our line," he said. "We're going to have to shuffle some kids over. We're going to have to have more kids play, depth-wise, in our
defensive line and offensive line to stay fresh. We'll make those adjustments. I didn't know that we'd need to do it this week but, apparently, it's definitely a glaring weakness."
Sophomore Joe Schulte rushed from 177 yards and three touchdowns for Prescott, including a two-yard dive on the game's opening possession as the Cardinals never trailed in the contest.
Rhinelander kept it close in the first half. Logan Freund scored on a quarterback sneak from a yard out with 1:05 left in the first quarter to tie the game. After Prescott's Jonah Anderson found Carson Stenroos for an 18-yard score on a busted play with 3:51 remaining in the second, the Hodags answered with their longest drive of the night, a 54-yard march that ended with a 17-yard run by sophomore tailback Drake Martin that pulled the Hodags within a point with 1:01 left in the half.
From that point on it was all Prescott.
The Cardinals had a couple of chances to extend the lead thwarted in the third quarter. Anderson was intercepted in the end zone by Tyler Olson on fourth and goal early in the period. Prescott got it back on one of three interceptions thrown by Freund on the night, but could not do anything with the prime field position, turning the ball over on downs from the Hodag 25.
The back-breaking drive finished midway through the fourth as the Cardinals marched deep into Rhinelander territory. Facing fourth-and-4 from the Hodag 14, Anderson handed off to Derek Rundquist, who shed an Alex Monk tackle attempt in the backfield and rushed down to the four-yard line. Schulte punched it in on the next play to give Prescott a touchdown lead.
"Their dive started to work in the second half and we definitely need to make those changes and we will," said Ferge, who is calling the defensive plays for the first time this season for the Hodags.
Both teams turned the ball over three times in the contest, but the Hodags missed a number of opportunities defensively as Prescott put the ball on the ground seven times.
"They were lucky," Ferge said. "Any time that ball's on the ground and they get it back on that ratio, that wasn't good enough. We work turnover drills all the time and a lot of time they were right in front of them. There wasn't a lot we could do in some of those situations."
Martin finished with 65 yards on 17 carries as the Hodags tried to establish the run early in the contest. The play calling shifted heavily to the pass in the second half as the Hodags fell further behind and the offensive line tired.
"We went entirely to pass in the second half and it was due to (the fact that) we didn't have the same offensive line that we needed to have to run the ball the way we wanted to," Ferge said. "We'll get there. We'll make those substitutions. We'll make it happen. We have to do that. We cannot just be throwing the ball."
Freund finished 10 of 27 through the air for 107 yards. He found fellow senior Reuben Guzik four times for 60 yards.
Rundquist and Joe Roosen each finished with 68 yards rushing for Prescott. Anderson was 4 of 12 through the air for 59 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Rhinelander defeated Prescott 27-8 in last year's season opener and the Cardinals languished to an 0-9 season. Ferge warned leading up to the game that Prescott was an improved team and his premonition proved to be correct.
"They have some good players but we also made some mistakes that put them right ahead," he said. "In my eyes, defensively and offensively, the plays were called, we just didn't execute. We were there to make those plays. Our guys are better than that. They know that. They're hungry and they're going to find away to make those plays going forward."
Rhinelander (0-1, 0-0 Great Northern) travels to Tomahawk this coming Friday. The Hatchets fell to Shiocton 24-0 in their opener.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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