November 2, 2020 at 8:18 a.m.
Avoiding the trap
Hodags overcome sluggish start to beat Hayward, set up GNC title tilt with Medford
Avoiding the trap
Quinn Lamers had two touchdowns each rushing and passing, Caleb Olcikas scored three times and the Hodags came alive after a slow start to defeat Hayward/Lac Courte Oreilles 42-6 at Lundberg Field.
Rhinelander moved to 6-0 in the GNC and will host fellow conference unbeaten Medford this coming Friday in the final week of the regular season with a championship in the balance.
"A great job tonight overall. There are things we need to work on, but we got our opportunity," coach Aaron Kraemer said afterward.
Ahead only 7-6 early in the second quarter following a start marred by a turnover, a fake punt gone awry and other sloppy play, the Hodags finally found their rhythm, scoring five times in six possessions to put the Hurricanes away.
The Hodag defense was opportunistic Friday night, forcing four Hayward turnovers. Rhinelander parlayed those miscues into 21 points. The defense also did well against adversity early in the game. The Hurricanes were in Rhinelander territory on each of their first four possessions - and started three of those drives on the plus side of the 50-yard line - but the Hodags limited the Hurricanes to only six points.
Still, things were far more uncomfortable than they needed to be for an undefeated Rhinelander squad against a one-win Hayward outfit. Olcikas fumbled on the game's opening drive and the Hurricanes' touchdown came on a short field after a gamble to fake a punt deep in Rhinelander's own territory backfired.
Kraemer admitted he was worried about his team overlooking Hayward with an eye toward next week's GNC title fight, and that those worries affected Rhinelander's play early in the contest.
"I take 100% blame for that because I didn't come today with a great attitude," he said. "I was nervous about the way this game could go. Our players played that way. As soon as I changed my mindset and told them, 'Let's just go and have fun,' they turned it around. It started in the second quarter."
The Hodags' responded to Hayward's lone touchdown - a 10-yard pass from Derrick Miller to Ayden Froemel - with an 11-play scoring drive capped off by a 1-yard run by Lamers that put Rhinelander ahead 14-6 with 5:02 remaining in the half. The teams traded turnovers after that, and then the Hodags' forced a three-and-out deep in Hayward territory to get one more shot before halftime. Rhinelander needed only 40 seconds to go 32 yards, capped off by a 10-yard pass from Lamers to Travis Towne with 32 seconds remaining to take a 21-6 lead at half.
Following another Hayward three-and-out, the Hodags embarked on a glacial 14-play, 68-yard drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock. Lamers finished it off with an eight-yard scamper to give Rhinelander a 28-6 lead with 2:27 remaining in the third.
The Hodag defense came up with interceptions on each of the next two Hayward drives, and the offense turned them into a pair of touchdowns by Olcikas - a 17-yard catch and a six-yard run - to put the game out of reach.
"I'm really proud of the way our guys responded. We just talked about having fun at halftime, doing the best we can," Kraemer said.
Olcikas kept Rhinelander's streak of 100-yard rushers alive as he amassed 135 yards on 29 carries. Lamers was an efficient 7 of 9 passing for 82 yards and added 40 rushing yards on seven carries.
Miller finished 10 of 19 for Hayward for 57 yards. Calvin Mansheim rushed six times for 52 yards as Rhinelander held the Hurricanes to 160 yards of total offense.
Hungry hippo
The Hodags resorted to some old school, smashmouth football to break the game open in the second half. Though the team still operated out of the pistol, it debuted what Kraemer called the team's "hippo" package featuring three running backs and two tight ends.
Rhinelander used the heavy formation exclusively on its scoring drive in the third quarter and called 16 consecutive running plays to start the second half.
"We wanted to prove something early," Kraemer said of the team's drive to start the third quarter. "We got down inside the 20 and I said to our guys, 'Listen, you've been here before and you haven't finished. Let's put them away now.' I think that was a back-breaker drive. We drove it down there, took eight or nine minutes - maybe even longer - to score. Then we got it back and did it again. Those types of drives are back-breaking for teams that are hanging around."
Picky defense
Jackson Labs secured two more interceptions to bring his GNC-leading total to six on the season. He picked off Miller in the first quarter and returned it 47 yards to the Hayward 27, which set up Rhinelander's first score - a two-yard run by Olcikas - six plays later.
Labs had another pick in the third quarter, intercepting halfback Cole Haack on a trick play, and Jacques Tulowitzky notched his first interception of the season, returning it 41 yards to the Hayward 25 in the fourth quarter.
Rhinelander's defense has now forced 16 turnovers through six games, including nine interceptions.
"Our defensive backs are ball hawks," Kraemer said. "They're going after them ever since week 1. Jackson had two in Week 1. He had two again tonight. Our defensive backs have played against teams and we've forced teams - other than the Hurricanes - to go to Plan B, to throw the ball around. We've gotten opportunities to take the ball away in the air. Tonight, it was simply Plan A for them and we got opportunities because they were throwing it so much. Our guys stepped up."
Special teams woes
The biggest area Kraemer said the Hodags need to clean up after Friday night's win is special teams. Rhinelander allowed a 51-yard kick return to Jonah Sande in the first quarter, had the fake punt go wrong due to a high snap and had two bad snaps on point after attempts.
"Special teams-wise, we've got to fix the kickoff game because we can't give teams the ball on the 30 yard-line three times in a row and expect to win and expect for our defense to keep a clean sheet. That was an issue early," Kraemer said.
Trainer's room
Starting center Conner Jensen (hand) missed Friday night's game and was replaced by junior Caleb Shefveland. The Hodags were without tailback Cayden Neri (ankle) for a second straight game, though Neri returned to practice last week and the team is hopeful he can return for this Friday's game against Medford.
Up next
Friday's matchup between the Hodags and Raiders will likely not be between the Nos. 2 and 3 teams in the D3 poll after the Raiders were upset on the road 27-6 Friday night at Rice Lake. The Raiders scheduled the game as a replacement for a contest against Lakeland that was canceled due to a case of COVID-19 on the Lakeland team. However, like Rhinelander was the week before when it was scheduled to play Lakeland, Medford was credited with a forfeit win in the GNC standings, giving the Raiders the odd record line of 5-1 overall, but 6-0 in the GNC.
That 6-0 conference record is all that matters for the Hodags. The winner of Friday night's showdown and Mike Webster will be 7-0 in conference play, and undisputed conference champs. If Rhinelander can pull it off, it would be the Hodags' first conference title since earning a share of the Wisconsin Valley Conference crown in 1989.
"Medford is a classy program themselves and coach (Ted) Wilson is going to have these kids ready to go next week," Kraemer said. "We've been talking about it since January. This is our opportunity to show what we can do against a big dog. Our guys sat in a room in January and we talked about what are goals were and it was beat Medford. It wasn't win the conference. It wasn't have nine or 10 All-GNC players. It was beat Medford. It wasn't beat Antigo. It wasn't beat Lakeland. It was beat Medford. This is what the guys wanted. We have the opportunity to take that next step. Our guys have accomplished everything that they've wanted to accomplish this season so far. Now it's just a culmination."
Hayward (1-5, 1-5 GNC) will host fellow 1-5 Merrill this coming Friday. The Bluejays gave up 460 passing yards in a 47-0 loss to Mosinee in Week 6.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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