November 9, 2020 at 8:01 a.m.
Destiny denied
Medford runs past Rhinelander for the GNC title
Destiny denied
Medford's ground game was too much for the Hodags to overcome. Emett Grunwald rushed for 155 yards and three scores, and the Raiders racked up 345 yards rushing overall in a 24-7 victory in the Great Northern Conference championship game at Mike Webster Stadium.
The Hodags were looking to snap a 31-year conference title drought but instead the Raiders left Rhinelander celebrating their sixth GNC title in the last nine years.
"It's bittersweet to me to be at this point, to be 6-1 ... To be this close and feel things slip away from your grasp hurts a lot," RHS football coach Aaron Kraemer said afterward. "They gave everything they possibly could have tonight. That's a tough team, Medford. We knew they were going to bring it and they're back-to-back conference champions for a reason. We fought as hard as we've ever fought against that team."
Rhinelander took a 7-6 lead on the first play of the second quarter as Quinn Lamers hit Caleb Olcikas for a 70-yard catch and run, but it turned out to be the defining play of the game for a different reason. Senior H-back and linebacker Walker Hartman went down with an apparent left knee injury while blocking away from the play and did not return to the game.
With Rhinelander minus its second-leading tackler and one of its best run-stoppers, the Raiders went to work pounding away at the interior of the Hodag defense. Medford answered the Hodags score with a 17-play, 80-yard drive to get the lead back with 4:14 remaining in the half and methodically wore the Hodags down as the game progressed.
"They changed their game plan once they saw Walker go out," Kraemer said. "Instead of going out to the outside on their sweep in the single wing, they ran the triple I and they knew that's where they could attack us. They saw where he was. They audibled to it and they ran right to the side where Walker vacated.
"That definitely changed the game for us, but the guys that stepped up in Walker's place, they fought their butts off."
Rhinelander moved the ball decently against Medford's top-ranked defense, but had little to show for its efforts, failing to convert three times on fourth down inside Medford's 25 throughout the game.
Cayden Neri, back in the Rhinelander lineup after missing the better part of three games due to an ankle injury, was stopped on fourth-and-4 from the 18 on Rhinelander's opening drive of the second half. Four plays later, Grunwald busted off a 57-yard run to make it 18-7 Medford and the Raiders clinched it with a 13-play, 91-yard drive in the fourth quarter, capped off by a 12-yard run by Grunwald.
The Hodags had 226 yards of offense, most of it from the right arm of Lamers, who was 10 of 20 for 162 yards with a touchdown and an interception that occurred on a Hail Mary pass attempt on the final play of the first half. Towne caught three passes for 58 yards for Rhinelander.
Rhinelander could not get things going on the ground against a Medford team that came in allowing only 47 rushing yards per game in five GNC contests.
The Hodags weren't able to do much better, rushing for 63 yards as a team. Rhinelander's streak of six straight games with a 100-yard rusher was snapped as Olcikas led the way with 39 yards on 10 carries.
"We couldn't get the ball moving up front," Kraemer said. "When Walker went out, our blocking back, it was difficult to get things moving, but I thought our guys stepped up."
Aiden Gardner added 90 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries for Medford and Peyton Kuhn had 67 yards on nine carries.
Kraemer said, despite the loss, the Hodags have a lot to be proud of in a season that saw the team open 6-0, rise to No. 2 in the WisSports.net coaches poll and No. 9 in the Associated Press medium school poll.
"I hope everyone in our community sees how hard our boys play. I hope everyone in our community picks our boys up because I could not be prouder to be their coach," Kraemer said. "I don't want this one thing to define what they think football was like their senior year. In my mind, they're champions. We had a rough night tonight, but such is life and such is sports. You're going to have rough times. It's how you respond to it and how you finish that really defines who you are."
Trainer's room
It remains to be seen if or how much time Hartman will miss. He walked off the field under his own power and had his left knee iced as he walked around on it on the sideline during the second quarter. However, he returned to the sideline on crutches after halftime. Kraemer said Hartman told him he "felt a pop" on the play.
"There was just an issue with it and it's better to be safe than sorry," Kraemer said. "I'm no medical expert, but we're going to plan to be without him next week and I know he's going to do whatever he can to help lead Cole Lehman and Joe (Fugle) and whoever's in that position for him, and we've got a pretty good second linebacker too in Chad (Hunt) and I'm proud of the way he's played. He'll step up next week too."
Conner Jensen (hand) missed his second straight game for Rhinelander. Fugle moved from guard to center in his place and freshman Owen Kurtz made his first varsity start at right guard.
Deja vu
The start of Friday night's game was eerily familiar for the Hodags. After holding Medford to a 3-and-out on the game's first possession, Joe Schneider muffed the ensuing punt. Medford recovered and scored on a seven-yard run from Gardner three plays later to go up 6-0.
It was a mirror image of the start of last year's 39-14 loss at Medford when, after holding the Raiders to a 3-and-out, Peyton Erikson muffed a punt that set up the Raiders' first score.
Ball control
The Raiders ground game limited Rhinelander's offensive chances on the evening.
Medford ran 19 more plays than Rhinelander (62 to 43) and enjoyed an 8-minute, 24-second edge in time of possession.
Medford had three scoring drives of 80 yards or more during the game and had two drives of 13 plays or more.
Postseason
The Hodags will be home for the WIAA culminating event, drawing the No. 1 seed in its four-team regional pod. Rhinelander (6-1) will host fourth-seeded Lakeland (2-3) next Friday night at Mike Webster Stadium. The winner of that game will take on the winner of second-seeded Wausau West (3-2) and third-seeded Mosinee (4-3) Nov. 20 in the final game of the season.
There will be no state champions crowned in football this year. Only 196 teams opted into the postseason. All 196 teams, regardless of record, got a spot into the six-division tournament field. The Hodags got the No. 1 seed through a new computerized formula that uses eight metrics to determine seeding.
For Rhinelander, it's another opportunity to play for the Northwoods Axe against Lakeland. The teams were originally scheduled to meet Oct. 23, but Lakeland canceled due to COVID-19 exposure within its team. The Hodags picked up a game against Stratford and defeated the Tigers 29-27.
Lakeland resumed practice from its COVID break a week ago and defeated Antigo 8-6 this past Friday in its first game in three weeks.
Friday night, prior to learning who his team would play, Kraemer called the upcoming tournament an opportunity to respond in the wake of losing the conference title.
"This next week is going to define who we are," he said. "This game did not define the 2020 Rhinelander Hodags. One loss does not define who we are. One bad decision, one mistake, doesn't define who we are. What defines who we are is the way we respond to the lows in life and how we rally together in tough times."
All six GNC schools participating in the culminating event - Hayward/Lac Courte Oreilles and Merrill both opted-out - are in Division 2. Medford drew a No. 1 seed in its four-team regional pod, but will have to take on Rice Lake, which defeated the Raiders 27-6 in a non-conference game two weeks ago. Ashland drew the third seed in that pod and will travel to New Richmond. Antigo received a third seed in its grouping and will play at Seymour this Friday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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