October 23, 2019 at 12:49 p.m.
The journey continues
Rhinelander treating playoff berth as a new beginning
The journey continues
With that success, Rhinelander earned only the third postseason berth in school history. But, if you ask head coach Aaron Kraemer, simply qualifying for the playoffs - which start Friday night at River Falls - is not enough. Rhinelander wants to do something it has never done before, win a playoff game.
"It's an exciting place to be and we're not satisfied," he said. "We're not done. We want to win. The kids are not going into this week - at least the way I can tell - feeling like this is it. They want to win and they want to keep going."
Tomorrow night's Level 1 opponent will be a challenge. River Falls comes in at 7-2, and co-champions of the Big Rivers Conference with a 6-1 league mark. The Wildcats are in the playoffs for the second year in a row, and the 11th time in school history.
Ever since the playoff matchups were determined this past Saturday, the Hodags have been on a crash course, learning everything they can about an unfamiliar opponent.
"They're an athletic team. They're a fast team. They're a physical team -one that probably, other than Medford, we probably haven't seen that type of physicality all season," Kraemer said. "But I will tell you we've learned from our mistakes against Medford and we've gotten better at this point of the season."
Here are five storylines to follow entering tomorrow night's game to be played at Smith Stadium at Ramer Field on the UW-River Falls campus.
"Big" competition
River Falls' enrollment of 1,038 students is the 65th largest among playoff qualifiers, meaning it is the largest school in Division 3. The Wildcats also have more depth than Rhinelander, with 64 players listed on the varsity roster and only four starters playing both ways.
That's a far cry from Rhinelander's 36-man roster with six two-way starters, and several others who see reps on both sides of the ball.
The Big Rivers Conference had six of its eight teams make the tournament - including Eau Claire Memorial and Chippewa Falls which were two of the last teams in despite having sub-.500 conference records.
"You look at the Big Rivers Conference and there's no doubt in my mind that it's one of the best conferences in the state," Kraemer said.
That played itself out in the seeding meeting for this Division 3 regional grouping - which has the second-best combined win-loss record of any regional grouping in any division statewide (55-17). Also, despite having four Great Northern Conference teams in the grouping, the conference's history of postseason struggles likely hurt its case in the seeding. Last year all four GNC playoff qualifiers were eliminated in Level 1 and, since 2014, the GNC is only 4-14 in playoff contests against opponents from other conferences.
"That's what we've been talking about this week that they don't respect us as a conference," Kraemer said. "They don't respect our conference champ. They don't respect us as the Great Northern Conference and it's time for us to stand up as a conference and start winning some of these first and second round games."
Running River
The Wildcats have the third-rated scoring offense in the Big River Conference, scoring 27 points per game. Much of that has come despite being without senior running back Seth Kohel since a Week 4 loss a Menomonie. Kohel still leads the team with 664 yards rushing despite missing the last five contests.
River Falls has been successful with a shotgun-style read option look. Junior running back Michael Krueger has picked up the slack in Kohel's absence, with 660 yards and 10 touchdowns on the year. The team has run plenty jet sweep as well with fellow junior Jaden Schwantz (60-383-2) motioning off the wing. Senior quarterback Peter Noreen (57-347-2) has developed in to the team's third rushing option.
"One thing that you can tell is against teams they feel they can outmatch, they're very plain and vanilla, but what they do they're very good at," Kraemer said. "I think they have a handful of plays they want to run at you. They misdirect you with motion. They misdirect you going back across formations, and they overload formations by they way they run their offense and their power football game."
Noreen has been efficient through the air, completing 64 percent of his passes for 759 yards, with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. Senior split end Payton Flood has been the top target with 19 catches for 323 yards and three touchdowns. Joe Stoffel, a 6-4, 240-pound tight end also has three touchdowns on 11 catches for 228 yards. Stoffel is rated as the No. 1 tight end in the Wisconsin senior class according to WisSports.net and has verbally committed to Division I-FCS North Dakota State.
The Wildcats feature a big, athletic offensive line, anchored by senior tackles Nate Otte (6-2, 290 lbs.) and Gabe Glaubitz (6-1, 245).
Stingy defense
The Hodags may have their work cut out for them against a stout River Falls front. The Wildcats come in with a strong defense that is allowing only 169.7 yards per game - and only 68.7 yards per game on the ground. River Falls boasts the No. 2 scoring defense in the Big Rivers at 13.1 points per game, behind only Menomonie (11.4).
River Falls runs a 4-3 defense which at times will bring an outside linebacker down to the line of scrimmage to create a five-man front. Middle linebacker Reilly Huppert (61) and Noreen, who plays safety on defense, (36) are the team's leading tacklers along with defensive end Connor Cardell (36).
"Defensively, I think they are very physical," Kraemer said. "They have a couple of D-I caliber athletes and kids that have already committed to different programs. But until you get out there and can gauge the physicality, you never really know what your opponents are like."
Meanwhile, Rhinelander has been trending downward when it comes to running the football over the last three games. Since rolling his ankle in the Week 7 loss at Mosinee, Drake Martin has averaged only 4.3 yards per carry. He was averaging 6.9 yards per carry prior to the injury.
Overall, Rhinelander is averaging 73 yards fewer per game on the ground in its last three contests (175.3) than it did in its first six (248.3).
"Offensively, we have to be more efficient, get more first downs and gain rhythm," Kraemer said.
Nothing to lose
Unlike the last two weeks, when the Hodags struggled as the favorite needing a win to get into the playoffs, the team is now playing the role of underdog. The winner of this game moves on to Level 2 to face either Medford or Hayward/Lac Courte Oreilles.
"Everyone is expecting River Falls to win and we know that there are times this year and times over the last five years that we've been in this position," Kraemer said. "It's time to relish this position and say, 'You know what, if people aren't expecting us to win, let's go out there and shock them.' That's something our team has been saying over the last couple of weeks, giving everyone a shock and doing things we've never done. This is one of those times that we have an opportunity to do that."
Rhinelander will not have history on its side in the contest. The last time the Hodags beat a Big Rivers opponent was in 2007 when the team played an extra game for non-playoff qualifiers at Rice Lake.
Enjoy the experience
If this is the finale for the RHS football team this season, the team is going to make it a memorable experience for the players.
The Hodags are slated to leave for River Falls early Friday morning and will receive a tour of UW-River Falls and its athletic facilities during the day. The team will then head back to its hotel in the afternoon before returning to UWRF for Friday night's contest.
"We are kind of making it an event but any time you travel four hours you should try to make it an event," Kraemer said. "That's not an easy trip for our kids, and not an easy trip for our coaching staff. It's going to be a weekend where we get down there, we don't have to rush back the next day. We can take our time, enjoy each other the day after."
The team will stay over Saturday to watch UWRF host the third-ranked team in NCAA Division III, UW-Whitewater.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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