September 5, 2017 at 8:49 a.m.
Sweet September
Hodags down Wausau East 28-14 to snap September skid
Sweet September
It was the first meeting between the squads since 2009 and the game had a bit of the feel of a Hodag contest from nearly a decade ago. Sophomore running back Drake Martin rushed for 214 yards and scored three touchdowns as Rhinelander snapped a nine-game losing streak and won its first game in the month of September since 2012.
"It felt like an old Valley game," Hodag coach Chris Ferge said. "It felt like a conference game, a home game. Our kids always play better at home. It was a special night for our program and I couldn't be more proud of our parents and our kids and our seniors. They deserve it and they played so well tonight."
Rhinelander took the lead for good on 54-yard run by Martin midway through the second quarter and the Hodags' defense stifled East most of the night, limiting the Lumberjacks to 197 yards of total offense.
"Our seniors answered the bell," Ferge said. "We asked certain guys to play man on some of their best players. Our defensive line made plays. Our secondary never gave them anything. Our linebackers filled and tackled well. Our safety never gave them a big play. They just played together. They ran the scheme that we called."
The game turned a couple of plays before Martin's long run. With East up 7-6 and driving, Alec Kurtz batted a screen pass in the air and intercepted it near the Hodag 40, one of three Rhinelander takeaways on the night.
"The quarterback started looking up in the air," Kurtz said, describing the play. "I looked up. There's a ball up there. I jump up for it and bring it down."
The Hodags stopped East's offense in a couple of ways. In the first half, Rhinelander put relentless pressure on junior quarterback Jack Kane. Alex Monk's sack-fumble of Kane on the game's opening possession gave the Hodags a short field and Martin cashed in six plays later from a yard out to give Rhinelander the lead.
Though the Hodags recorded only three sacks, they leveled a number of hits on Kane, who left the game with an apparent hand injury after East was turned away on fourth-and-goal from the 6 on the next-to-last play of the opening half.
Tailback Caleb Moses assumed the quarterbacking duties for East in the second half and a Lumberjack team that had been pass-happy through the first 2 1/2 games turned primarily into a running team.
But East's offense stumbled in the second half. Moses was 0-for-5 throwing with an interception as East gained only 56 yards after halftime.
"He's their best player on the field," Ferge said of Moses, who was the Lumberjack's leading rusher with 76 yards on 19 carries. "He's the guy. If they score, he has the big play, tremendous athlete. I was really proud that we didn't give him a big play pretty much all game. We tackled him. I said if we did that, we would win and our kids did it. We took away that No. 1 threat and that's the results."
Meanwhile, a normally pass-oriented Hodag offense kept pounding away at the East defense. As a result, Martin became Rhinelander's first 200-yard rusher since Connor Johnson rushed for 211 yards in a 30-6 win at Ashland in October 2013.
"I give credit to the line and the coaches for giving me the ball," a modest Martin said afterward. "I'm just glad we got the win."
"Great game, 200 yards rushing. He ran hard," Ferge said of Martin's performance. "He's the kind of kid that he'll take a hit, and take a hit and take a hit. He doesn't want to leave the field and he didn't let his teammates down. It was a great team effort and running the ball is something we need to have for our program."
Martin's third score came on a screen pass on fourth-and-goal from the 8 with 10:04 remaining to give Rhinelander a two-touchdown lead.
The Hodags looked to be in position to put the game away, back inside the Lumberjack 5 with less than five minutes to play, but East's Nathan Rodman stepped in front of a pass intended for Martin, intercepted it and returned it 96 yards to suddenly trim Rhinelander's lead to seven.
"We don't want anything to be too easy," Ferge quipped.
Rhinelander was able to laugh off the gaffe as Tyler Olson returned the ensuing kickoff inside the East 40 and quarterback Logan Freund took it from there, picking up a key first down on fourth-and-1 from the 30 before rushing for the game-clinching 10-yard score with two minutes to play.
The Hodags won despite struggles in the passing game. Freund was only 5 of 18 through the air for 94 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Kane was 5 of 15 for East for 79 yards and a pick before leaving the game at halftime.
TQ Tidwell logged East's only score, a nine-yard run at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter that gave the Lumberjacks, who snapped a 19-game losing streak of their last week against Southern Door, a one-point lead.
Now that Rhinelander's overall and September losing streaks are over, the Hodags will begin their Great Northern Conference slate looking to snap a 19-game skid in conference play that dates back to the final game of the 2013 season. Medford is first up for the Hodags this Friday night and the Raiders will likely have plenty of motivation after being upset on the road 22-21 at Lakeland in Week 3.
"It's always easier to prepare for a game after you win, no matter what," Ferge said. "Medford's going to be a great challenge for us. They've always been very tough. Playing them at their stadium is always tough, but we're excited."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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