October 16, 2017 at 12:58 p.m.
Exceeding Axe-pectations
Hodags outlast Lakeland 49-34, finish season with back-to-back wins
Exceeding Axe-pectations
Senior quarterback Logan Freund accounted for 292 yards of offense and six touchdowns, sophomore Drake Martin added another 210 on the ground and the Hodags outgunned the Lakeland T-Birds 49-34 at Mike Webster Stadium Friday night to win the Northwoods Axe for the first time and close the 2017 season on a high note.
The Hodags (3-6, 2-4 Great Northern), followed a victory at Ashland with their best offensive performance in recent memory, racking up 519 yards and 27 first downs. Lakeland's Tyler Carroll accounted for 335 yards and four scores but even he and the vaunted Lakeland offense could not keep up with the Hodags.
"Defensively, we made enough plays but our offense really carried that Axe tonight," said Hodag coach Chris Ferge, who defeated Lakeland for the first time in five tries. "Our seniors carried that Axe tonight. I'm proud of our team, proud of our program and this is the way it's always supposed to go at the end. It's a great day to be a Hodag again."
Rhinelander reveled in the success, grabbing the Axe from AD Brain Paulson after going through the handshake line. Senior captain Colton Krueger celebrated with it near the 30-yard line for a moment before he and his teammates sprinted to the north end zone and pretended to chop down the goal post.
"To end like that for my senior year is a huge accomplishment in my book," said cornerback Tyler Olson. "We didn't make playoffs. That was kind of a downer but, on the bright side, it was great to (get) these two wins. I'll always remember it."
Leading 28-18 heading to the fourth, the Hodags answered Lakeland punch for punch in a wild 37-point final quarter. Martin scored untouched from 14 yards out with 2:49 remaining and the Hodags finally sealed it when senior safety Reuben Guzik intercepted a Carroll pass with 1:32 to play.
"I saw the ball coming. My boy, Matthias Schneider, tipped it off and it was just a tip drill," Guzik said. "I grabbed it, saw open space and just thought, 'It's mine. It's my ball.'"
Up 28-12 midway through the third after turning Lakeland away in the red zone, the Hodag sideline and fans took a collective gasp when Freund slipped, fell and fumbled the football at the Lakeland 42. The T-Birds recovered the ball - their first turnover since Week 3 - and Freund stayed down on the ground for a minute after rolling his ankle.
Backup Brock Lieder began to warm up on the sidelines but it was going to take a lot more than a tweaked ankle to sideline Freund in his final high school game.
"There was no doubt I was coming back," Freund said. "These are my guys. I'm never going to stop, even if I'm hurt, I don't care. I'll come back out and play, no matter what."
That was the only dark spot in what was undoubtedly Freund's best night in a Hodag uniform. He completed 12 of 18 passes for 222 and five touchdowns. He added another 70 yards and a score on the ground.
"I'd just like to thank my teammates for balling tonight," Freund said. "Everyone came to play. No one gave up. They did it for us seniors. That's the greatest feeling I've ever had in my entire life."
Carroll marched the T-Birds 74 yards on 10 plays on the game's opening possession before finding Jake Rexroade for a one-yard touchdown pass. That proved to be Lakeland's only lead of the night against a Rhinelander offense that scored seven times in nine possessions and was a mind-boggling 13-of-15 on third down conversions.
Peyton Erikson broke off a 49-yard catch and run on the ensuing possession and ended the drive with an eight-yard catch from Freund. Following a Lakeland 3-and-out, the Hodags marched down the field again as Freund found a wide open Cole Spaulding in the flat for a 14-yard score to go up 14-6 midway through the second.
Carroll found Ray Rentmeester for a 23-yard score on a highlight-reel grab with 2:52 left in the half, but that left enough time for the Hodags to drive down before the break. Freund found Brad Comer for a 20-yard score to put the Hodags ahead 21-12 with 14 seconds remaining.
"The game plan was to run the ball, keep pounding the ball but we had options, the run-pass options were open and everything worked out for us tonight," Freund said.
It kept working in the third as Freund scored on a three-yard keeper on the opening drive of the second half. The teams traded touchdowns the rest of the way.
Freund found Reese Flores open in the end zone with 8:50 remaining and hit Sam Tjugum on a well executed play-action fake for a four-yard score with 5:49 left.
"We had some letdowns (defensively) but, ultimately, we carried through with our offense, we were able to keep score with them and I just felt our guys always believe that they had it and we took it home," Ferge said.
Martin needed only 88 yards to reach the 1,000-yard plateau on the season. He smashed that milestone by rushing for 166 yards alone following the halftime break. He became Rhinelander's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2008, when Austin Murphy rushed for 1,151 yards.
Tjugum was Rhinelander's leading receiver, with five catches for 78 yards. Six different Hodags caught passes in the contest.
Carroll finished 17 of 28 for 259 yards through the air for Lakeland. Rentmeester and Rexroade were by far his favorite targets, combining for 15 catches, 243 yards and two touchdowns. Carroll added another 76 yards and a score on the ground.
"Carroll did a phenomenal job tonight," Olson said. "It was very hard to cover against him and the pass game. No. 13 (Rentmeester), I don't know who he was but he was pretty dang good."
The win caps off a 3-6 campaign for the Hodags, their best mark since 2012 when they qualified for the WIAA playoffs. That was also the last time the Hodags won back-to-back conference games - when they beat Ashland and Lakeland in successive weeks.
Though the Hodags will bid farewell to a large senior class, the vibe entering the offseason is much different than what it was just two short weeks ago when the team was still mired in a four-year conference losing streak.
"Our program is growing. Our guys are believing and buying in. It's an exciting time," Ferge said.
Added Freund: "Big things will come for this program. I think the underclassmen have a great talent and the coaching staff keeps getting better and better. I think it's going to be good things for Rhinelander football."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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