September 13, 2017 at 2:14 p.m.
Rekindling the Robin rivalry
Hodags to host Antigo looking to snap 10-year Bell Game drought
Rekindling the Robin rivalry
The Red Robins have won the Gene Shepard Bell Trophy each of the last 10 years - tied for the second-longest winning streak in the 83-year-old series. Rhinelander coach Chris Ferge said his players did not need much more motivation than that this week in practice as the Hodags prepare to try to win the Bell for the first time since 2006.
"As coaches we can really worry about Xs and Os this week and the kids really worry about the everything else," he said. "They're so fortunate to have a game like this every year where they get 1,000 people to come see a game that's a regular season game. When I played, you had to be in the playoffs to have something like that happen. It's just tremendous to see both communities come here to cheer their teams on."
Perhaps a rivalry game is exactly what the Hodags need to take their minds off a stinging 36-7 loss last week at Medford in which they were outgained on the ground 389-0.
"We didn't spent a lot of time diagnosing that," Ferge said. "It was pretty obvious to us that we were not playing pretty good football. We were not playing good football at the point of attack and that's going to be the focus this week against Antigo."
Ferge said the team planned to use all of the full contact time allowed by the WIAA in practice this week to prepare for another physical opponent, and that the team would spend more time in full 11-on-11 sessions working on how to defend the main staples of Antigo's double-wing rushing attack.
Unlike Medford, which leaned on primarily two ball carriers and liked to use formation to give itself more blockers at the point of attack, Antigo has up to four players who could likely get the ball on any given down and uses more misdirection to take advantage of over-pursuing defenses.
In last week's 47-8 victory over Lakeland, the Red Robins rushed the ball 47 times for 369 yards, and had three players - Korbin Krueger, Jericho Kelly and Adam Schmidt - all carry the ball 10 times or more. Kruger and Kelly each rushed for a pair of scores. Quarterback Matt Winter added six carries for 37 yards and two scores, and was 4 of 7 through the air for 93 yards.
"They're very good at what they do," Ferge said of Antigo's offense. "They still love their kick out lead play. That's their bread and butter. It's been that way forever. They have a counter off of that. They can pass out of that. They're going to keep us on our toes for sure and we have to be able to see all of those plays out of that same formation, or those same three formations, and be ready for everything."
Rhinelander was limited to 89 yards of offense, all through the air, in last week's loss at Medford. The majority of those yards came in the fourth quarter against Medford's reserves.
The Hodags ran more trips packages - with three receivers to one side of the formation - and used more pre-snap motion than in weeks past. Ferge hinted the team may streamline the offensive package this week.
"I think we're going to have a key set of formations that we're going to really use and make sure that we're really solid in those formations," he said.
But Friday's game is about much more than Xs and Os. Aside from any potential playoff contest, this will likely be the biggest game either team plays this season. Ferge said he expects large contingents from both communities to be on hand Friday night and noted that winning the game can be a source of pride and bragging rights the entire year.
"Thanksgiving's better, Christmas is better, Easter's better, Fourth of July is better, every single day is better (if you win this game)," he said. "For them, for the kids, it's like one of their top 10 memories they could ever have and they need to do everything they possibly can to win that game."
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Mike Webster Stadium.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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