November 5, 2018 at 12:17 p.m.
Team review: RHS football
Close games didn't translate to wins for Hodag gridders
Team review: RHS football
"We were in a lot of games and I won't stop telling everyone about that this season," he said. "I've been in seasons here where that hasn't been the case. That was refreshing and I was grateful, and I know the coaching staff was too, with the kids' effort all year long."
The Hodags can point to leading the Bell Game with less than a minute to go in the third quarter, the fact that three of their eight losses this season were by a margin of a touchdown or less and that none of their games featured a running clock in the second half.
What's more, the Hodags were outscored by only 89 points this season. That's 29 fewer points than a year ago, despite the Hodags winning two more games in 2017.
Ultimately, it was a few plays here or there that prevented a young Hodag squad, with only 10 seniors, from breaking through. Turnovers hampered bids to win games against Wausau East, Antigo and Merrill. That coupled with struggles on third and fourth down ultimately cost the Hodags some marks in the win column.
"There wasn't a lot of difference between first place and last," Ferge said regarding the parity in the GNC.
Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.
Millennial Martin
For the second time in as many years as Rhinelander's starter at tailback, junior Drake Martin eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau in only nine games. He finished with 1,168 yards and 13 touchdowns this year - both up from last year (1,122 yards, 8 TDs).
Martin also claimed the GNC rushing title with 861 yards in league play.
"I'm not surprised," Ferge said after Martin reached 1,000 yards on the season with a 45-yard touchdown run late in a Week 8 loss to Ashland. "He's doing a lot of great things right now with our line really wounded. He's definitely getting yards after contact and working hard ... He's a rock, a very, very solid player. What I really like is the maturity this year. He's not coming off the field. He's playing both sides. Last year, he couldn't handle that at all. This year, he's definitely staying on the field more and contributing that way as well."
Martin rushed for more than 100 yards five times this season, including a career-best 291-yard performance in a Week 6 loss to Mosinee.
Struggling offense
Despite Martin's exploits on the ground, the Hodags struggled offensively this season. The team averaged only 13.2 points per game, the lowest total in Ferge's five years at the helm. Yardage-wise, the team's 239.5 yards per game, while not gaudy, were the second-best total in the last five years, but down nearly 17 yards per game from a season ago.
First-year starter at quarterback Brock Lieder had some ups and downs. The senior completed only 39 percent of his passes, threw for 442 yards, one touchdowns and six interceptions. Lieder was the team's second-leading rusher with 191 yards, but was replaced by sophomore Quinn Lamers in the first quarter of a loss to Ashland after losing a fumble on a snap. It was his seventh turnover in a nine-quarter stretch.
Improving defense
Prior to the season, the Hodags spent time with the coaching staff at UW-Oshkosh fine-tuning the defensive side of the playbook and the results did show on the field.
Rhinelander allowed only 23.1 points per game this season, by far its best effort during Ferge's five seasons, while allowing under 320 yards per game.
The version of the 3-5-3 scheme relied heavily on the safety position, where junior Peyton Erikson was a stalwart. Despite missing a game due to injury, Erikson recorded a team-high 64 tackles.
The Hodags struggled against power running teams, however, allowing teams to rush for 5.6 yards per carry.
The 272-plus yards the Hodags allowed on the ground per game this season were the most the defense has allowed in the last five years.
Statbook
Some other interesting statistical notes and nuggets from the season:
• Martin touched the ball on 48.7 percent of Rhinelander's offensive snaps (217 carries, 11 receptions, 2 pass attempts), accounted for 57 percent of the offense (1,228 total yards from scrimmage) and 65.5 percent of the scoring (78 points).
• Though the Hodags completed only 52 passes this season, nine different players had at least one reception. Erikson (10 rec, 164 yards) and all-conference tight-end Connor Lund (6 rec, 100 yards) were the leading receivers.
• While Erikson led the team in tackles (64), seven different players had at least 40 tackles on the season, including Martin (45), Trevor Knapp (44), Walker Hartman (44), Lund (42), Isaiah Piosalan (41) and Sam Tjugum (40).
What's next
The Hodags got a glimpse of the future, at least in terms of the quarterback position, at the end of the year as Lamers took the helm for the last seven quarters plus of the season. Lamers finished the year 13 of 32 for 180 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions, and added a rushing touchdown in the finale at Lakeland.
"He's got a mind for football that basically what our coaches are thinking about plays, about turning points," Ferge said of Lamers during last month's team banquet. "He takes it very seriously. He's someone that, in my opinion, is unmatched when it comes to his mindset for playing the game. He knows it very, very well. It's not just because that he's smart. It's because he wants to know. I think that's the key with everything ... I'm very excited about him next year in that position."
In general, despite Rhinelander's 1-8 campaign, Ferge said he's optimistic for the future, given that more than half of his varsity starters will return, including four all-conference recipients - Martin, Erikson, Knapp and Lund.
Rhinelander's JV and JV2 teams posted winning records this fall, and every school in the GNC needs only to look at this year's conference champion Ashland to see how quickly a school can turn its program around.
"The people and the talent is there," Ferge said. "It's there for us to be very good next year. It's all about what we do every day."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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