August 25, 2021 at 12:06 p.m.
Pigskin Preview Week 2: Milwaukee Riverside at Rhinelander
Hodags ready for home opener
Pigskin Preview Week 2: Milwaukee Riverside at Rhinelander
If anything has become apparent over the last year and a half, it's that football on a Friday night is no longer a given, For the better part of a month, the Hodags didn't know who, where or even if they would be playing this evening.
Things came together at the end of last week, and the Hodags were able to get Milwaukee Riverside for tonight's Week 2 contest. Both teams were looking for replacement opponents from when the schedule initially came out. Rhinelander was left with an open date after Wausau East folded its varsity program for this season due to low numbers. Riverside's calendar opened up when Milwaukee Washington was unable to play its scheduled Week 2 matchup.
After nearly having a Week 5 date canceled last year before finding a last-minute replacement in Stratford, Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer said he and his team appreciate every opportunity to play.
"We've adapted to live in this universe where things are not taken for granted, things are not given," he said. "You've kind of got to earn them and take things as they come. Last year, with Stratford, we learned that. You never take for granted that you're going to have an opponent. This week we're thankful that Milwaukee Riverside is going to come up and play us here."
Though the schools are separated by more than 220 miles, and Riverside's enrollment of more than 2,500 students is three times larger than Rhinelander's, it's not the first time the teams have crossed paths on the gridiron.
Tonight's game marks almost 11 years to the day of the teams' first encounter, with Riverside taking a 33-7 win over Rhinelander to open the 2010 season.
"We know it's a different opponent," Kraemer said. "We're excited about that, playing somebody we're not used to playing, somebody with a different perspective, a different area of the state. We're excited about that."
Things have changed quite a bit since that last meeting. Rhinelander comes in having won nine of its last 10 games, dating back to the start of last season, and trounced Tomahawk 32-0 last week. Riverside did not play at all - in either the fall or alternate fall last year - a decision made by the Milwaukee Public School system during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tigers' first game in 21 months was a rough one, falling 48-8 on the road at Pewaukee.
"It's really, really difficult when you have a pause and you have other issues happening within the area," Kraemer said. "My heart's out to them to keep moving the program. They've had such nice success. They're a proud program and we expect to meet a proud program this week."
Here are five storylines entering tonight's contest.
Eliminating the mistakes
For the Hodags, this is the final chance to iron out the wrinkles before the Great Northern Conference slate begins next Friday at home against Lakeland. Despite the one-sidedness of last week's score, there was plenty for Rhinelander to sort out.
Most of the flaws were on the offensive side of the football. Eight of Rhinelander's 11 penalties last week were due to false starts or illegal procedure. And there were a total of nine snaps that ended up on the ground in the contest - six under center, one out of the pistol and two on special teams plays.
Kraemer chalked the issues up to a number of factors, including the first varsity start for a number of players and the amount of A-gap pressure that Tomahawk put on starting center Conner Jensen. Kraemer said he was more concerned about how the team handles the miscues - with honor, discipline and sacrifice - than the miscues themselves.
"That's what we're focusing on this week," he said. "The other stuff, it's going to come with reps and with intent, but we want to make sure we're the best possible team together and that's what we're working on."
Shaking off the rust
Riverside did not look particularly sharp in its first game, either, especially on the offensive side of the football.
The Tigers turned it over twice on Saturday against Pewaukee - one of those being an interception return for a touchdown - and the team amassed only 69 yards of offense, all on the ground.
Riverside, which finished second in the Richardson Division of the Milwaukee City Conference in 2019 looked like a unit that has not played since then.
Kraemer said he can empathize with Riverside's plight, having going through a similar ordeal when the 2020 track and field season was lost to the pandemic.
"It's difficult, because you're dealing with basically two freshman classes, and you're dealing with a bunch of kids that haven't played," he said. "Blocking and tackling are obviously a lot more dangerous than sprinting and jumping as far as what could happen to your body and the level of injury that can happen in a football game. It's not easy. It's one of the hardest things you can do."
Tee'd off
Offensively, expect a run-first outfit out of the Tigers, who operate out of a Straight-T formation for the majority of their snaps. It's an offense predicated on misdirection, with three speedy backs. Junior Houston Brookshire was the most successful of the trio last week, averaging 6.9 yards per carry, and getting the Tigers' lone score.
Kraemer said he was a bit taken aback to see Riverside in more of an old-school offense, especially having run spread in previous seasons, but it will be a good tune-up for other run-based offenses Rhinelander will see in GNC play.
"The Tee is one of those offenses where there are a lot of backs, a lot of movement, a lot of things that happen. They do have some speed and they have some size in the middle."
Mekhi Green, the lone senior the Tigers stared on offense last week, got the lion's share of the carries, rushing 15 times for 29 yards. Junior Tobias Jewell was 0 for 4 passing, but did find Brookshire for a two-point conversion late in the contest.
Kraemer said he expects an improved Tigers' unit than what he saw on film leading up to the contest.
"They're going to right the wrongs from last week on film and there is going to be 20-to-30% or higher more of a success rate as they start to get things rolling and start to fix their problems," he said. "My mantra was let's take the bigger leap this week. Let's fix more problems than they fix so we can win this game."
There's the beef
The Hodags will have to deal with big fronts on both sides of the ball. The Tigers offensive line boast four starters who weigh at least 280 pounds. Defensively, tackles Malachi Jones and Daymian Thurmond check in at 380 and 300 pounds, respectively.
"For us, it's simply just executing and knowing those guys are in the middle, trying to at least move them or cover them up so they can't make plays, and then getting to the next level and making our blocks," Kraemer said. "We think our backs can rival their speed and athleticism. Cayden (Neri) and Caleb (Olcikas) are two special kids and we can't wait to unleash them the rest of the year."
The Tigers run out of a base 4-4 defense and, despite giving up 48 points, they held Pewaukee to 208 yards of offense. But the Pirates needed only 25 snaps to rack up their scores.
Fuller house
Tonight's game kicks off a three-week homestand for the Hodags, and Kraemer said he's eager to showcase his squad in front of the home crowd.
"We're really excited about what's coming up," he said. "We're really excited about playing in front of our fans. We know that football in this town is starting to turn around and people are starting to enjoy it again and rally around it."
After limited attendance all of last year, with vouchers required for entry, RHS is back to general admission for contests - which will be free this fall, the RHS Activities Department announced on its Facebook page last week. Face masks are recommended, but not required for district sporting events, the post stated.
Kraemer said the team looks forward to the opportunity to see more home fans in the stands this fall.
"I downplayed it last year when I said guys would come out and play regardless of who is in the stands. I don't buy that one bit," he said. "High school football is about the tradition. It's about the fans, Friday night lights and everything that goes with it."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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