October 28, 2021 at 8:01 a.m.
Fugle, Schneider share Hodag gridders' Mathisson Award
Fugle, Schneider share Hodag gridders' Mathisson Award
Joe Fugle and Joe Schneider shared the Maurice "Moose" Mathisson Award given to the team's most outstanding senior. Fugle was also named the team's lineman of the year, while the team also honored Cole Lehman and AJ Bergman during an awards banquet at Cabaret Cove.
The four may not have had the best statistics, or played the most prolific roles on the team, but head coach Aaron Kraemer said the awards presented on Sunday were as much about the players' impact off the field as their performances on it.
"The only awards we give out in our program are merit-based, character-based awards," he said. "The reason we give these awards out is because we've seen an extreme change or we've seen and extreme amount of leadership from these players. These are people who have earned these awards through their character, through their merit, through their heart and the things that they do that are intangible."
Those traits factor into the Moose Mathisson Award, which Kraemer brought back to the program this year following a long hiatus. It took the place of what the team previously called the Hodag award, given to the senior player or players who most embody the program's pillars of honor, discipline and sacrifice.
Fugle, who also received individual academic all-state honors from the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association on Monday, was an anchor on an offensive line that paved the way for more than 2,700 yards and 30 touchdowns on the ground in the Hodags' 8-2 campaign. He also started at outside linebacker and finished the season tied for third on the team in total tackles (38).
Beyond that, Kraemer added that Fugle has been consistently the top seller for the Hodag Gridiron Club's football card fundraiser - which he stated topped $20,000 in sales this year.
"He knew what every single player on the offensive side of the ball would do an any given play and he was forced into that action with new players playing next to him all season long," Kraemer said. "He's a guy that become someone I can not only count on, but in moments of difficulty, he's one of the only people I can count on. I love his heart and the way he plays football."
Schneider was penciled into prominent roles for the Hodags this year, both at safety and in the backfield rotation with fellow seniors Cayden Neri and Caleb Olcikas. Schneider never got that chance, however, as a knee injury suffered during the team's preseason scrimmage sidelined him for the remainder of the season. However, Kraemer credited Schneider for remaining engaged with the program, despite his injury.
"We didn't have a opportunity to see him play football, but he is a guy that constantly still helped build our program and move it forward," Kraemer said. "Without his dedication and hard work, he would not be back to go on to bigger and better things moving forward. He's an amazing young man who I care for a great deal, who I missed a great deal this year and someone expect big things from as he moves on in his life."
Lehman, who started at inside linebacker opposite fellow senior Chad Hunt, finished second on the team to Hunt in both total tackles (44) and tackles for loss (5). Thrust into duty in last year's regular season finale against Medford after Walker Hartman went down with a knee injury, Kraemer presented Lehman with the Transformer Award for his growth into one of the key positions on a Hodag defense that allowed 8.8 points per game this season.
"It's undeniable how he's changed in not only his physique, but his character," Kraemer said. "At the end of last season, he had to step in for Walker (Hartman) and he knew he was going to be a really strong part of our team this season, and he took that opportunity to transform himself."
Bergman, undersized for a nose guard at 6-foot and 165 pounds, still managed to cause disruption against much bigger offensive linemen. In presenting the Triple H Award, Kraemer pointed out Bergman's work ethic and his role in one of the biggest plays of the year for the Hodag defense. Bergman's backfield penetration helped cause a fumble that Neri recovered and returned for a touchdown in the Hodags' 28-14 win Sept. 17 at Medford.
"This guy embodies hustle, heart, hit," Kraemer said. "He's been hit hard himself in his life. He's dealt with a lot of adversity, but he's somebody that when I saw him the first day, I couldn't help but smile that he was there, because he's somebody that's a constant work-hard, effort, shut-my-mouth and do what's expected-type person."
Because the banquet was held only two days following the team's 13-7 loss to Baraboo in the WIAA Division 3 Level 1 playoffs, Kraemer said plenty of accolades for some of the team's standouts were yet to come. All-Great Northern Conference voting was set to take place Wednesday night, with All-District and, potentially, All-State awards from the WFCA to follow.
"We feel like those players, they earn their honors throughout the state and we let other coaches from other programs speak to what they've seen from our players," he said. "I know we have a possible defensive player of the year in the conference. I know we have a possible offensive player of the year in the conference, and I know we have several all-region and all-state type players. And I know it means more than some award that's voted on by their teammates."
Kraemer took another opportunity to thank a senior class that won 22 games over the past three seasons - by far the most in any three-year span for the Hodag football program since the early 1970s. The Hodags have finished runner-up in the GNC each of the last two seasons, after finishing no better than fourth in its first 10 years in the conference.
"This has been an amazing year, one that makes me very sad to finish," Kraemer said. "I know that there are some people that are disappointed with the way things ended, and I know I'm disappointed in the way things ended but, in order to have a program change and transform in three years the way these seniors led it, that takes a special class. That takes a special group. These guys are going to leave a lasting legacy in the program, not only one that shows the successes of the wins and the losses, but what this group is capable of as young men."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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