September 10, 2018 at 1:29 p.m.
Runaway Raiders
Medford pulls away late in 36-7 win over Hodags
Runaway Raiders
The Hodags (1-3, 0-1 Great Northern) found themselves down only 14-7 at halftime, despite being outgained 187-34 in the first half, thanks to a Drake Martin touchdown in the final seconds of the second quarter.
Medford (2-2, 2-0 Great Northern) found its legs in the second half, however, scoring on three of their first four possessions to put the game out of reach. For the second year in a row, the Raiders' running back duo of Ean Wilson and Garret Hill combined to rush for more than 300 yards on a Rhinelander defense that had not allowed more than 260 yards of offense to any team during the first three games of the season.
"At halftime we were all right," Rhinelander coach Chris Ferge said. "We were in the game, and I thought we were in the game almost all the way to the end of the fourth quarter and that's where it slipped a little bit."
The loss was Rhinelander's third in a row and closely mirrored last year's game in Medford, which the Raiders won 36-7. Medford finished with a 402-119 edge in total yards in the contest. Regardless, Ferge felt his team improved against a higher-caliber opponent on Friday against Medford, compared to its self-inflicted struggles in a 13-12 loss a week earlier at Wausau East.
"Our kids got better this week. We played for three out of four (quarters). We played better football than what we have, real football," he said. "We didn't quite get there. We're asking a lot of our guys. We're asking them to respond. I expect them to. They're young. They gave great effort last week. Our coaches are working very, very hard. This is not for a lack of effort. We're just short a guy on a couple of plays. We're right there. We want this and we're going to get back to work next week."
Running wild
Medford threw multiple formations at Rhinelander in the first half but settled in on their version of the Wildcat in the second half.
The Raiders used the single wing look almost exclusively in the second, with direct snaps to Wilson, Hill or third rushing option Payton Kuhn.
Wilson finished with 180 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, Hill had 23 carries for 122 yards and two scores and Kuhn added 75 yards on 11 carries.
Medford exerted its will on Rhinelander, especially in the second half, which Ferge said came down to a matter of depth.
"We've got to get more guys playing, that's the key," he said. "It's not that they wore us down. It's that they had more guys going one way than we did."
Tricky Raiders
Wilson scored on an eight-yard run to put Medford up 20-7 about a third of the way through the third quarter and then broke Rhinelander's back with a trick play early in the fourth.
Out of the Wildcat formation, Wilson took a direct snap, drifted back from his lead blockers and lofted a 29-yard pass to tight end Doug Way, who was uncovered at the goal line for an easy touchdown.
The trick play was Medford's only pass of the second half, and put the Raiders ahead 28-7 with 9:43 to go. Hill scored a touchdown and two-point conversion with 6:52 remaining to account for the final margin.
No offense
For the second straight year, Rhinelander mustered next-to-nothing against the Raiders offensively. Of their 119 total yards, 52 came on a drive late in the fourth quarter when Medford began to integrate some of its backups into the defensive rotation. That drive ended in an interception, as Josh Sullivan picked off a Brock Lieder pass to the back line of the end zone.
Lieder was only 5 of 14 through the air for 23 yards and threw two interceptions on the night. Martin did better against the Raiders than he did last year, when he was held to 18 yards on the ground, but was still limited to 58 yards on 19 carries.
"Offensively, we've got to take more shots," Ferge said. "We've got to do something with the ball. We didn't do anything with the ball offensively."
So-so special teams
Rhinelander's special teams had highlights and lowlights on Friday night.
On the plus side was an exchange late in the first half that set up Rhinelander's lone score.
Facing fourth-and-7 from their own 47, the Hodags punted and Martin executed a directional punt that rolled out of bounds at the Medford 9. The Rhinelander defense responded with a 3-and-out, and Peyton Erikson returned the ensuing punt 38 yards down to the Medford 4, setting up Martin's touchdown run two plays later.
Erikson then nearly took the second-half kickoff the distance, with only a shoestring tackle by Sullivan at the Rhinelander 40 preventing the Hodag junior from scoring the potential game-tying touchdown.
However, with the good came the bad. Martin did well to get a punt off in the first quarter after the snap sailed well over his head and forced him to kick from roughly 35 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Martin also had a punt partially blocked in the third quarter, setting Medford up at its own 49 for its first drive of the second half.
On the kickoff after Medford scored to make it 20-8, Josh Francisco made an ill-advised lateral attempt to Erikson that nearly resulted in a turnover. Rhinelander recovered the ball in a scrum at its own 18.
Up next
Rhinelander's next game needs little introduction as the Hodags travel to Schofield Stadium this Friday for the 84th playing of the Bell Game against archrival Antigo.
"Everything's on the line, always, with a rivalry game," Ferge said. "Our coaches are going to get our kids ready. We're going to get healthy and we're going to get back to work."
Antigo has won 11 straight Bell Games against the Hodags dating back to 2007 and blasted the Hodags 48-7 last year. However, the three-time defending GNC champs are struggling, and come into the contest at 1-3 overall. They needed 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to get their first win this past Friday, defeating Lakeland 28-13 in Minocqua.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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