October 10, 2018 at 12:42 p.m.
Pigskin preview: Rhinelander at Lakeland
Axe game between Rhinelander and Lakeland to close 2018 football season
Pigskin preview: Rhinelander at Lakeland
However, what can't be explained on paper is the close rivalry between the schools that will surely add some spice to the season finale.
Oh, and the fact that a trophy is up for grabs for the winner doesn't hurt either.
Rhinelander and Lakeland will play the fourth installment of the Northwoods Axe Game, presented by The Northwoods River News and The Lakeland Times. The trophy game may not have the long-term cache of the Bell Game rivalry between Rhinelander and Antigo, but the teams' close proximity - both geographically and in talent - have made the Axe Game very entertaining over the last three years.
"The kids are definitely going to compete and get after it," Rhinelander coach Chris Ferge said.
"I expect it to be close, no matter what."
The old saying is familiarity breeds contempt, and these two teams are very familiar with one another. Both teams take part in the same 7-on-7 passing league in the summer and Lakeland came to Rhinelander's scrimmage back in August. What's more, Rhinelander has more game film on Lakeland than any other team it has played this year, because of the way the GNC schedule played out. Lakeland played every one of Rhinelander's conference opponents the week before the Hodags did.
Ferge said the teams are so familiar with each other, "it's like we've already played twice this season."
"We've been watching them, and watching them and watching them," he said. "Because of the game we had on a Thursday, we even went and watched them on a Friday in Medford. I've seen them in person. I saw them at our scrimmage, saw them at 7-on-7 all summer. We're very familiar with each other. The players all know each other, the coaches all know each other. They're aren't going to be many surprises when we play them."
Here are five storylines to watch heading into Friday's game.
QB situation
The big question for Rhinelander is who will start tomorrow night at quarterback.
Senior Brock Lieder has started all eight games, but he was benched and replaced by sophomore Quinn Lamers in the first quarter last week. The move came after Lieder lost a fumble on the Hodags' second offensive possession. It was Lieder's seventh turnover in nine quarters dating back to a home loss to Mosinee.
Lamers didn't fare much better in the turnover department, throwing a pair of interceptions the rest of the way. Ferge said it has been open competition between the two so far this week in practice as they have split reps with the varsity offense.
Ideally, Ferge said he would like to make a decision about his starter prior to this afternoon's walkthrough, but we may not know the winner up the battle up until pregame warmups Friday night.
"Sometimes kids can make things difficult and then we'll take another day to see who wins the competition," he said. "However it works out, I know that both guys are going to compete and both guys are going to be OK with their roles and help the team with whatever role they are given."
Practice problems
Ferge said persistent rain Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have complicated the quarterback picture and made practice, in general, a challenge.
"The weather this week is going to be a real problem, looking at record rainfall all week, (in terms of) trying to throw the ball and see where we're at with that, but also checking out the meshes between quarterback and running back and making sure we like what we see," he said.
Explosive offense
There's no such quarterback battle in Lakeland, though backup Austin Wanty threw for 330 yards and five touchdowns while filling in for an injured Michael Ouimette in a Week 6 win over Merrill.
Ouimette, a junior, is the starter and is at the controls of the most prolific passing offense in the GNC. Ouimette has completed nearly 61 percent of his passes this year and has thrown for an even 1,200 yards in seven contests with 16 touchdowns and only six interceptions.
Of course, it helps Ouimette to have two of the most dangerous receivers in the GNC at his disposal in seniors Jake Rexroade and Ray Rentmeester, who have combined to catch 90 passes on the season. Rexroade has 54 grabs for 821 yards and 11 touchdowns while Rentmeester has caught 36 passes for 420 yards and six scores.
Ferge said the objective in containing Lakeland's passing game is to try to make it one-dimensional.
"They really hurt you with their screen game," he said. "If you give them free passes that they compete on a regular basis, that's something that they really take advantage of and get going. If we stop the screen game, or can limit their screen game, then they're basically looking like a big play offense where they throw the ball deep, which is a much harder pass to complete."
Junior Zach Rice leads Lakeland's running game, with 312 yards and a touchdown on the season.
Improving defense
A big part of Lakeland's woes last year, aside from an injury-depleted roster, stemmed from a historically bad defense. Lakeland allowed 42.8 points and 453.2 yards per game in the GNC last year, among the worst marks all-time in conference history.
That defense has shown signs of improvement this year, as it enters the game sixth in the league in scoring (29.4 PAPG) and total (355.0 YAPG) defense, slightly ahead of Rhinelander in both categories. Last week, the T-Birds stood tall on a number of occasions on fourth down in the second half as it held off Marquette, Mich., 20-14.
"They're a bend-but-don't-break type of defense," Ferge said. "They know what they're doing and they're going to have to stop the run. They're going to load up the box against (running back) Drake (Martin). I think that's what they're going to try to do. We've got to have some other options that we can attack so we're not just handing to Drake and depending on him. Our offensive line has got to block very, very well. They've got a couple of defensive linemen that are very good and only go one way that we have to make sure that we handle."
Down to the wire
Ever since the Axe was thrown into the equation in 2015, every game between Rhinelander and Lakeland has been a barn-burner until the very end.
In 2015, Rhinelander was driving for a potential game-winning touchdown before it fumbled at the Lakeland 1-yard-line, allowing the T-Birds to hang on for a 20-16 win. A late Rhinelander interception sealed Lakeland's 20-14 win in 2016. The Hodags needed a Martin touchdown with less than three minutes to play to get a little breathing room and defeat Lakeland 49-34 a year ago.
Ferge said he expect more of the same on Friday.
"I think it's going to come down to the last play," he said. "I think the whole game is going to be tight. We're going to have to make plays offensively and defensively whenever we get the opportunity."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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