October 14, 2020 at 12:24 p.m.
Pigskin Preview Week 4: Ashland (2-1) at Rhinelander (3-0)
Hodags, Oredockers to meet in battle of resurgent teams
Pigskin Preview Week 4: Ashland (2-1) at Rhinelander (3-0)
The Hodags have already matched last year's conference win total as they are off to their second consecutive 3-0 start. Ashland (2-1), the Cinderella champion of the GNC in 2018, appears to be back after a winless campaign in 2019 and rolls into Mike Webster Stadium tonight on the heels of back-to-back blowout victories.
Rhinelander had a blowout of its own last Friday night, routing Merrill 42-8 on the road. Coach Aaron Kraemer said it's all part of the process as the Hodags try to keep pace with defending conference champion Medford.
"I thought this week against Merrill was the teaching tape that we needed to see," he said. "Although the score line looked one-sided, there were a lot of things we need to work on. It was a great teaching tape for our kids to show them where we need to be and where we expect them to be.
"Each rung on the ladder, each step on the pyramid offers a different challenge. But if I look back at the first three weeks ,and looked at the way we performed as a team and where we are right now, I'd be very proud of it, in retrospect. But, I'm just as hungry as I've ever been as a coach right now to keep this thing going with our players."
Not many thought much of Ashland's chances going into this season, as they were picked to finish tied for last in the GNC Football Media Poll. Yet, through three weeks, the Oredockers are second in the conference in both points scored and points allowed, behind only Medford.
"This is a challenge that we are ready for, that we want and that is really going to show us and give us an opportunity to see where we stand," Kraemer said. "You look at the tops of the conference, in both offense and defense, you look at the records, it's us, it's Medford and it's Ashland. It gives us the opportunity to test our mettle against a team that is similar to a team we want to be."
Rhinelander has not been too shabby, either - ranking third in both points scored and points allowed. The offense, which sputtered through the first five quarters of the season, has taken off of late. Taking away the fourth quarter of the Merrill game, which was played with predominantly JV players with the outcome well in hand, Rhinelander has scored 10 touchdowns in the last six quarters.
"I feel like we're in a good spot. I feel that we're in a place where we have achieved what we've wanted to achieve so far," Kraemer said.
Here are five storylines entering tonight's contest.
Resurgent Oredockers
Ashland is two seasons removed from winning the Great Northern Conference title, but suffered through a winless 2019 campaign. Three games into the season, this year's squad looks more like the 2018 vintage.
The Oredockers lost their opener against a full-strength Merrill squad. Quarterback Caleb DeJong rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns as the Bluejays rallied in the fourth quarter for a 20-14 win.
Since then, Ashland has routed Hayward 41-14 and Lakeland 46-8 in a pair of home games. Lakeland turned the ball over four times in the second quarter of last week's contest, which Ashland parlayed into 25 points to turn the game into a rout.
A big reason for Ashland's resurgence is a senior-laden outfit, much like it had in 2018. This year's Oredockers boast 10 seniors starting on offense and nine seniors starting defensively.
"It's easy to forget they were conference champions a couple years ago and they had a team that was as good as any that I've seen in the GNC. They're not many steps away from that," Kraemer said. "A lot of the guys we saw on film last year are the same guys we see this year."
Medford Lite
If the end game of the 2020 season for the Hodags is to face Medford on Nov. 6 with a GNC title potentially in the balance, then Kraemer said tonight's game is the closest thing the Hodags will get to facing Medford until then.
That's because, Kraemer said, Ashland have a similar philosophy to Medford on both sides of the football.
"They play a similar defense and they run the football similarly to Medford," he said. "They want to attack you with flooding zones and bringing guys to areas that they believe you can't defend. They block one-on-one and they're as good of a one-on-one blocking team that we've seen so far. They've got a good offensive line. They've got good athletes. This is a good team and our players understand that.
"It's mano a mano this week. They're going to bring it. We need to step up to that challenge and do the best we can to neutralize them coming forward, and win the line of scrimmage."
Weapons on offense
The Hodags will face their toughest test on the ground since Antigo rushed for 290 yards in the opener. The Oredockers come in averaging 279 yards per game in their modified wishbone look.
Ashland has three backs - Parker Goodreau, Carter Brown and Jared Stricker - who are averaging at least 6.4 yards per carry so far. The three of them have combined to rush for 696 yards and 12 touchdowns in the first three games, led by Goodreau (51-343-5).
The Oredockers don't pass often, but have been effective when they have. Senior quarterback Jackson Bonneville completed all four of his pass attempts for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns last week against Lakeland. Bonneville threw for 85 yards and a score in last year's meeting against the Hodags.
"We're going to have to try to take away their inside run game and make them left-handed. It's similar task to Merrill last week, trusting each other when they want to run their option-type plays and rallying to the football when they want to get outside," Kraemer said. "And they can throw the football, which makes them a difficult team to defend. This is a great test for us this week."
Aggressive defense
The Oredockers utilize a 5-2 front and it's not uncommon to see all five down linemen, and sometimes more personnel, attacking the line of scrimmage at the snap.
The result is a stingy defense that allowed only 222 yards per game in its first two contest. Even last season, the Hodags amassed only 193 yards of offense against Ashland in their 16-12 victory.
"They're coming off the edges, just like Medford does," Kraemer said. "They want to play with their athletes in space and they're telling you, 'Our athletes are better than yours. You can try to run the football inside, but we're going to blitz you.' It's going to be a challenge for our offensive line this week - and one that we are ready for."
Linebackers Jared Stricker and Braden Stegmann have 49 and 42 tackles, respectively, through the first three games and have combined for 10 tackles for loss.
On the back end of the defense, cornerback Kevon Powell - who Hodag basketball fans will remember from a 31-point effort in Ashland's 95-91 playoff loss to Rhinelander last March - has a pair of interceptions.
Road warriors
Rhinelander's Mike Webster Stadium and Ashland's Weikal Field are separated by 119 miles. Conventional wisdom would dictate that a two-plus hour road trip would favor the home team, but that has not been the case in the Rhinelander-Ashland series. The road team has won each of the last four meetings and, since 2010, the home team is only 2-8. Rhinelander has beaten Ashland only once at home in that time, a 17-0 shutout back in 2010.
"It is a difficult road trip and I think sometimes the home team gets it in their mind to that, 'Oh, they have to travel, so we have the advantage.' That's not necessarily the case," Kraemer said. "They're a physical team that can play well at our home, but we need to defend our turf."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.