October 21, 2020 at 11:56 a.m.
Hodag football to play Stratford Friday in replacement game
RHS-Lakeland football game off due to COVID case
Hodag football to play Stratford Friday in replacement game
Rhinelander High School late Thursday night found a replacement game for its Week 5 contest against Lakeland that was canceled due to a positive COVID-19 test within the Lakeland football team.
The Hodags will take on perennial small division powerhouse Stratford Friday night at Mike Webster Stadium.
RHS went through much of Thursday thinking it would not have a game after Lakeland canceled on Tuesday, but Stratford became available after Manawa had to cancel its scheduled game with the Tigers due to a positive COVID-19 test.
The newly-created matchup pits a pair of ranked teams. The Hodags (4-0) are No. 4 in Division 3 in this week's WisSports.net coaches poll. Stratford (3-1) is ranked fifth in Division 5.
Original story below
Friday's scheduled playing of the annual Northwoods Axe football game between Rhinelander and Lakeland has been canceled due to the coronavirus and, as of late Wednesday morning, the Hodags were scrambling to find someone else to play this evening in a Week 5 contest.
Word of the cancellation broke Tuesday night following the confirmation that a Lakeland varsity player had tested positive for COVID-19. Because of the number of teammates who had been in close contact with the player, the team is unable to play Friday night, or next week's scheduled game at Medford.
The situation was first made public on the Hodag Football Facebook page and confirmed Tuesday night through separate conversations the River News had with RHS head football coach Aaron Kraemer and AD Brian Paulson.
"I was contacted tonight and have been notified that Lakeland Union High School cannot play us on Friday night," Paulson said. "Right now we do not have a game Friday night."
Lakeland head coach Dan Barutha confirmed the situation to our sister paper, The Lakeland Times, Wednesday morning, stating that his team will be unable to meet in person again until Oct. 30.
In terms of proximity, Lakeland is Rhinelander's closest football rival. The two teams began playing for the Northwoods Axe Trophy in 2015, with Lakeland holding a 3-2 lead in the series.
"It sucks for our kids," Kraemer said. "They want to go and play Lakeland because that's the rivalry game that they expected and they wanted this week. The situation is always changing with the times we're living in. We're just going to have to take this as an opportunity to either get better without playing a game or to look for another game and play who we can play."
Barutha expressed frustration and disappointment over the situation.
"It is frustrating cause there's no one to blame. It is just what's going on," he said. "We don't know how it was contracted - work, family, someone else in the program. Our inability to decipher where it came from is frustrating ... I don't believe anyone put (themselves in a position) to jeopardize the season. I don't believe that they could knowingly contract something. I just don't see our guys being that selfish. I feel bad because however it happened, however it occurred, the program has to feel the repercussions."
Paulson immediately began the search for a new opponent.
The challenges are trying to find a team that is reasonably close - both in terms of enrollment and geography to play. While several games across the state have been canceled, the majority of teams that were affected and can still play have already found replacement games.
"There are other teams that are in this boat," Paulson said. "We'll do the best job we can (to find a replacement). In football, there's a lot of size differences in schools. There's more divisions for a reason. We will try to match up somebody the best we can, if available."
Even if the Hodags do find another opponent to play, a whole week of game planning and preparation will have gone out the window and Rhinelander will have to try to learn a different opponent on the fly. Still, given the choice, Kraemer said the team would prefer to play anyone it can find for Friday night.
"I think the kids deserve experiences," he said. "They deserve games. If I had my choice and my way, I'd like to play a team that's not in the GNC, if we had our chances to do that. I think it kind of gives us an opportunity to, quote-unquote, have a playoff game. This would be a playoff week anyway (in a normal season) and so that might be a way to attack this. I've heard of some other teams that are looking for games and we'll see what happens."
As of late Wednesday morning, it was not clear how the game would be treated in the GNC standings. Paulson said he would not rule out the possibility of trying to reschedule with Lakeland after the regular season ends Nov. 6 - assuming the teams are not involved in the WIAA's culminating football event.
Meanwhile, according to GNC statistician Gregg Scott, should Lakeland be unable to play Rhinelander, the conference would use the same procedure the WIAA is using in its football playoff database. It would credit Rhinelander with a forfeit conference victory while considering the game a no-contest for Lakeland.
Rhinelander would move to 5-0 in the GNC while Lakeland would remain 1-3. Scott noted a similar situation took place in boys' soccer when Northland Pines had to cancel a game this Monday scheduled against Mosinee.
The River News has sent GNC commissioner Scott Winch a message seeking clarification and is awaiting a response.
When the news first broke, there was some uncertain regarding the status of Rhinelander's scheduled Week 6 game at Hayward/Lac Courte Oreilles, which defeated Lakeland 14-6 last Friday in Minocqua.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Hayward AD Billy O'Brien sent an email to Paulson and Mosinee AD Kasey Smith indicating that at that point, "the Sawyer County Public Health has not given out any quarantine," and that the Hurricanes intend to play their Week 5 game at Mosinee and their Week 6 game against Rhinelander.
"As far as next week is concerned, I know that everything's kind of up in the air right now. We'll adjust as things adjust," Kraemer said Tuesday night. "It just matters, if we can, that we have an opportunity to play. If we can't do that, we'll just do the best we can to prepare for whatever's next."
All of this takes place as the virus continues to inundate the Northwoods. On Tuesday, the Oneida County Health Department confirmed its 1,000th case of COVID-19, and eighth death caused by the virus. Over the past couple of weeks, a number of Rhinelander players in multiple sports have been sidelined due to close contacts with COVID-positive persons and, on Tuesday night, the RHS volleyball team traveled to Ashland for a playoff game without head coach Jim Povolo or assistant Dan Wolter due to virus concerns.
"At this point, we're doing the best job we can to mitigate the risk, first of all," Paulson said. "Then, after we mitigate the risk, we're doing the best job to get the kids opportunities to participate."
The RHS volleyball and girls' tennis teams have concluded their fall seasons, while the RHS cross country team was scheduled to run its WIAA subsectional meet at Medford on Wednesday - postponed one day due to snow. The RHS boys' soccer team starts the playoffs on Saturday at home against Antigo while the Hodag football and girls' swim teams are scheduled to begin postseason action in November.
All six WIAA-sanctioned Rhinelander High School fall sports have completed at least 50% of their scheduled season, in terms of weeks participated and/or games played, and are therefore ineligible to opt out of the traditional fall season, and opt in to the alternate fall season. That season will run from March-May for schools that chose not to participate this fall due to the virus.
Lakeland Times sportswriter Brett LaBore contributed to this report.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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