September 12, 2018 at 1:51 p.m.
Bell Game beckons
Hodags look to end long losing streak to archrival Antigo in trophy game
Bell Game beckons
It hasn't been much of a rivalry of late, at least on the scoreboard, with Antigo taking the past 11 straight playings of the Bell Game by an average margin of victory of nearly 27 points.
Don't tell that to the teams, though. Rhinelander coach Chris Ferge knows how much this game means to not only the teams but both communities. For many of his younger players, Friday night at Schofield Stadium in Antigo will be "the biggest game they've ever played" the coach said.
"It's going to be a great night for football," he said. "It's going to be a packed house. It's something that gets me very excited as a coach, which is hard to do, and the kids really, really love it."
Both teams come into the contest at 1-3 on the season. Rhinelander has dropped three straight following a season opening 28-6 win over Prescott while Antigo finally broke into the win column last week, defeating Lakeland 28-13.
There's a lot of extra pomp and circumstance that goes into a long-standing rivalry game like this, but Ferge said the key - at least from the opening kickoff to the final snap - it to play it like any other game.
"We have to be physical, play the line of scrimmage square," he said, outlining the keys to tomorrow night's contest. "We have to hang onto our blocks longer. That's the most important thing, hanging on to the ball and stopping the run. Those are sure things. We have to make sure we're good with turnovers. That's what wins football games."
Here are some other keys to watch on Friday night:
Keep it simple
Anything that could have gone wrong for the Hodags last year did, as the Hodags were routed by the Robins 48-7.
Antigo's Jericho Kelly scored from 62 yards out on the game's second play from scrimmage and Antigo amassed a 42-0 lead by halftime before calling off the dogs.
After that game, Ferge said he felt that Antigo exploited Rhinelander's overeagerness to win back the Bell, and caught the Hodags trying to do too much.
In that vein, Ferge said the game plan for tomorrow night is to keep things simple on both sides of the ball.
"We can't ask them to do seven things," he said. "We've got to ask them to do one or two things, and that's what we've got to focus on, and hang our hat on that. We've got to be sharp in what we do and narrow our focus on what we do offensively, throwing the ball and being good at that. Then I believe we'll be very successful."
Vulnerable Robins?
Antigo does not come into tomorrow night's game looking like the near-consensus Great Northern Conference championship team manypundits thought they would be in the preseason.
The Robins are 1-3, and might have been 0-4 if not for a rash of special teams turnovers by Lakeland last week. Those miscues allowed the Robins to erase a 13-7 fourth-quarter deficit in Minocqua and come away with a 28-13 win.
Antigo has been sloppy in its four games so far this season, turning the ball over 10 times overall. Quarterback Nevin Cornelius has been particularly turnover-prone, with five interceptions and two lost fumbles so far this season. But Ferge said if anyone thinks Antigo is vulnerable heading into this game, they need to think twice.
"They're going to be at home, they going to be playing for the Bell and I think they're going to be very confident against us," he said. "I expect them to get better. I don't expect them to have 10 fumbled snaps. I expect them to give us their best game, just like we got from Medford. (Medford) didn't mistakes they made against Lakeland. I expect to see the best version of their team play. It's going to be a tough task but we're really excited about competing against them."
Counter-intuitive
This year's Antigo team, just like virtually any other Antigo team over the last half century-plus, is going to rely on the running game.
Unlike Medford, which used a power running game to rack up more than 400 yards of offense on the Hodags last week, Ferge said Antigo's rushing attack relies more on misdirection. In particular, he said the team runs the counter very well, meaning it will be key for the Hodag defense to keep its discipline and remain assignment sound.
"If you watch their backs, you'll get confused very quickly, because they do a lot of misdirection with their backs," he said. "You have to be very disciplined watching the line, staying on your side, staying in your gap and being very physical. Our kids are going to be working about that all week."
Dominic Smith and CJ Levis have been the 1-2 punch in the backfield for Antigo. Smith is averaging 7.0 yards per carry and has three touchdowns through the first four weeks of the season. Levis has averaged 5.1 yards per carry, but has yet to find the end zone.
Stretch the field
Rhinelander's offense was hemmed in by Medford last Friday. The Raiders held the Hodags to 119 yards of offense, 52 of which came in Rhinelander's last possession.
Medford keyed on junior running back Drake Martin, holding him to 58 yards on 19 carries. After the game, Ferge said his team needed to be more aggressive offensively. He elaborated on that this week, saying it's imperative for Rhinelander to stretch the field both vertically and horizontally to open up some running lanes for its all-conference tailback.
"We're going to have to take our shots, throwing wise, making sure we're bringing more guys to the point of attack and hitting the holes faster," he said. "We're going to have some different things we're going to do this week."
Bell Game facts
Friday's game is the 84th playing of the Bell Game, which was established in 1935 when sportswriters from the Rhinelander Daily News and the Antigo Daily Journal swapped trophy trade ideas. They eventually decided on a bell from the boat of a large sternwheeler boat that originally belonged to Gene Shepard - the creator of the Hodag myth.
Antigo is 54-27-2 in the rivalry and its current 11-year winning streak is the second-longest in series history, surpassed by only a 13-year stretch of Antigo dominance from 1961-1973. Rhinelander has won the Bell only three times this century - 2000, 2002 and 2006.
Last year's 48-7 win for Antigo tied for the sixth-largest margin of victory in the series. A 52-0 win for Antigo over Rhinelander in 1992 is the record holder.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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