August 8, 2022 at 8:37 a.m.
Hodag football caps off first week with Green & White Day
Hodag football caps off first week with Green & White Day
The 49-player varsity/JV roster was split equally into two teams which competed in a game-like scenarios in a pair of 20-minute sessions during the two-hour practice. The White squad got the day's only touchdown on an eight-yard pass from Truman Lamers to Jayden Fourt in the final play of the second session.
Overall, head coach Aaron Kraemer said he was impressed by the first week of practice with a relatively young squad, but not yet satisfied.
"I'm excited about where we're at both side of the football - both at the lines and the skill positions," he said. It's looking good. We're having a good camp. Every single day it seems like they've built on it and got better. The intensity has been really high all week, which has been what I'm most pleased about. But we've got to keep building next week."
The defense had the better of the sessions which, under WIAA regulations for the first week of practice, were conducted in helmets and upper pads and without full tackling.
The Green offense, led by junior quarterback James Heck, got one first down each on its first two possessions before stalling. The team finally broke into the red zone on their third drive as Heck found senior back Kaleb Winter for an 11-yard catch-and-run down to the 9, but the drive fizzled as junior linebacker Payton Campbell sacked Heck on second and goal and forced an incomplete pass with pressure on fourth down.
The Green defense generated the day's lone turnover. Lamers, a sophomore quarterback, had an underthrown deep ball intercepted by junior defensive back Kaden Vanney following backfield pressure on a blitz by senior Carter Krueger.
Like the Green team, the White offense finally moved the ball on the last of its three drives, beginning with a nice adjustment on a deep ball made by senior wide receiver Brenden Eckrich for a 29-yard completion down to the Green 25. A fourth-down defensive pass interference call kept the drive alive, Lamers kept it on a draw to convert the subsequent fourth-and-inches and then drilled Fourt in the back right corner of the end zone for a touchdown to end the session.
"Today we were flying around a little bit. This is the first time that we saw truly competitive tempo," Kraemer said. "Defensively, we're flying around. We're communicating the way we need to. I'm bringing the heat maybe a little bit more. I like that. I thought Payton Campbell did a good job getting to the quarterback today off some of those blitzes and our outside backers are doing a nice job of forcing everything back in. They've really had a good camp - Carter Krueger and Finn Tulowitzky kind of leading those guys on the outside.
"On the back half, Kaleb Winter and Brenden Eckrich, they're veteran players. They've worked really, really hard this offseason and they're doing a great job leading a young group in our middle linebackers, our safeties. We're young yet. We're trying to work some of that green-ness out and get to where we can be proud of."
What was evident in the practice was what figures to be a much more balanced offense for the Hodags this fall. Rhinelander ran the ball on 82.4% of its plays last season with the running back duo of Cayden Neri and Caleb Olckias combining for 86.1% of the team's total yards from scrimmage on 73.4% of the total offensive touches. On Saturday the balance was almost exactly even - 26 rushing plays to 25 pass plays. Thirteen different players registered either a catch or a run in the practice.
Heck went 8 of 14 passing for the Green team for 82 yards. Winter was his favorite target, catching six passes for 56 yards. Lamers was 6 of 11 for 65 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the White squad. He hit Eckrich three times for 41 yards. Krueger led the way on the ground for the Green team, carrying the ball seven times for 27 yards.
"You saw a different offense today, but we're still proud on the run game. That's how we're going to start it, run to pass," Kraemer said. "We have a lot of young guys on the defensive side of the football. You saw some big holes offensively and our offensive line has been doing a great job together, communicating, working hard."
Saturday's practice was part of a bigger overall celebration of the Hodag football program. The freshman and middle school teams took part in 7-on-7 drills between varsity sessions. There was a punt and catch contest featuring a few recent Hodag alumni and some fathers of parents in the program. A few players had the chance to team up with their mothers in a pass-catching relay race later in the day.
The event also featured raffles and concessions, as well as test drive opportunities courtesy of Rhinelander GM/Toyota, with proceeds benefitting the Hodag Gridiron Club.
Full pads come out for the second week of practice, with a few opportunities for full contact, heading into to Friday night's three-team scrimmage at Lakeland. The Hodags' non-conference season opener is Aug. 19 at home against Tomahawk.
"It's an opportunity to see a conference rival," Kraemer said. "I know that they always treat any time they meet us as the Super Bowl, because they want to beat us. We just want to make sure we execute, play our type of football and get to Week 1 and be ready for Tomahawk."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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