August 5, 2021 at 8:18 a.m.
Smoke screen: Air quality alert moves Hodag football practices indoors
Smoke screen: Air quality alert moves Hodag football practices indoors
Air pollution caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires that has drifted into Wisconsin forced the Hodags into the climate-controlled environment of the Hodag Dome both Tuesday and Wednesday. The call was made late in the morning both days as an Air Quality Advisory issued by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources remained in affect.
The advisory warned of particulate matter concentrations that were unhealthy for sensitive groups - including "anyone engaged in strenuous outdoor activities for a prolonged period of time."
Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer said he's aware the Hodags had a luxury hardly anyone else in the state have - being able to use an indoor facility that includes a full, regulation football field - and it was yet another instance where he was thankful for the new structure.
"This is one of those days where you're thankful to have an indoor facility," he said. "I know the kids would rather be outside, but it's really, really nice to have this facility to do things like this."
Otherwise, it was business as usual for the Hodags on Day 1. The three-hour practice was split evenly between offense and defense, with each session beginning with a classroom period before heading into the dome for individual and team drills.
Kraemer said the main points of emphasis this week are expanding what was discussed during the team's mid-July camp and installing the team's base offensive and defensive plays and formations.
"They have all the formations in from camp, which is vastly far ahead of where we've been in the past three years," he said. "I think that goes with common verbiage and a common system for these players for three straight years, which is good. So it's about learning that base play and being very good at that base play and then being able to switch it up and run the constraint off of that."
Turnout for opening day was strong for a team that has plenty of momentum after posting back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1973 and 1974. Kraemer said there were 48 players in attendance Tuesday - and that's excluding the freshman class which is more than 20 players strong. He described the mood as a nervous energy around camp as a number of players begin to adjust to new or enhanced roles.
"There's a lot of kids feeling each other out," he said. "There's a lot of kids looking to learn. Other than our senior group, we have a lot of learners right now, learning the speed of a varsity practice, learning from our coaches for the first time. Day 1, there's a lot of intensity, but right now it's like this buzz of intensity, rather than the hooting and hollering we saw during camp."
The team's opening classroom session began with a simple four-word question - "Who will we become?" This year's Hodags have big shoes to fill after last year's squad posted an 8-1 record, finished second in the Great Northern Conference and recorded the first two postseason victories in program history.
Kraemer said the identity of this year's squad will ultimately be molded by a senior class that is 13 strong - a number of whom contributed last year. That list includes all-conference running backs Cayden Neri and Caleb Olcikas, two-way all-conference lineman Joe Fugle, all-conference linebacker Chad Hunt and the two players vying to take over the starting quarterback position - Jacksen Smith and Joe Schneider.
"It's up to them to lead this group," Kraemer said. "A lot of that has to do with the way our seniors want to lead and the way they help pick up the younger kids as they come forward. Our junior class, they have a lot to learn. Some of those kids contributed last year, Conner Jensen and others, but we still have quite a few kids in that group that are going to have to be a part of this team in order to be successful, and other kids in that sophomore group that are going to have to push the juniors to make sure they're ready to play too."
Per WIAA acclimatization rules, the team trained with helmets, but no other padding in non-contact practices Tuesday and Wednesday. The team was allowed to put on the shoulder pads beginning yesterday and use limited contact. Those guidelines remain in effect through the end of the week and will include the Hodags' Green and White practice Saturday at Mike Webster Stadium.
Teams may begin padded practice on Monday leading up to a scrimmage at the end of next week. Rhinelander will host Northland Pines and Lakeland in a scrimmage next Friday and will kick off the regular season Aug. 20 at Tomahawk.
Meanwhile, the Hodags' search to find a Week 2 opponent continues after Wausau East announced last week it is abandoning its traditional 11-man varsity football season due to a lack of upperclassmen. So far, no replacement has been found.
No other 11-man football teams in Wisconsin are currently looking to fill a Week 2 open date, according to information complied by WisSports.net. Kraemer noted the team has even looked to Illinois and Michigan for options, but has yet to find a replacement. Playing a team from Minnesota is off the table because the MSHSL football season starts two weeks later than the WIAA's and Minnesota teams cannot play their first game until Sept. 2.
"Right now in Wisconsin, there isn't any teams (looking for a Week 2 game)," Kraemer said. "That's pretty straight forward for us. We can't do anything about it. I trust (RHS activities director Brian) Paulson to do what's right for our players. I know he's going to do that for us. All I'm going to do is do my job and coach, and make sure our guys are ready.
"We're just going to keep looking and do the best we can. If it comes down to it and we don't have a game, that's something we're going to have to navigate. We can't complain or worry about that. We just have to do the best we can with what we're given."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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