August 22, 2022 at 2:44 p.m.
Growing pains
Jablonski, Hatchets run over Hodags in opener
Growing pains
Tomahawk's Tyler Jablonski ran for two touchdowns, the Hodag offense was held to just 137 yards of offense and the Hatchets walked out of Mike Webster Stadium with a 27-13 victory in the 2022 season opener.
The Hatchets scored 17 unanswered points after Rhinelander tied the game on a 79-yard kick return by Brendon Eckrich to open the second half. Tomahawk wore down the Hodags with its option ground game and was able to capitalize on field position much of the night.
It was an eye-opener for a Hodag team picked to finish third in the Great Northern Conference by both the area media and WisSports.net.
"I said there are no losses, there are just lessons. Tonight we learned a big one," Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer said. "I'm not discouraged. Half the teams in the state are 0-1 right now. It's about how you respond from this."
After Tomahawk's Mason Evans fumbled early in the third quarter, the Hodags rolled the dice, calling a fake punt on fourth-and-2 from their own 29. The Hodags were stopped short and Jablonski gave the Hatches the lead for good on a 14-yard run three plays later.
From there an offensive three-and-out and a short punt led to another quick scoring drive. The Hatchets needed only four plays to march 45 yards, capped off by Evans with a six-yard run. Heck, in his first start at quarterback, threw an interception on the next possession that Addison Peissig returned to the Hodag 18. William Tombs kicked a 29-yard field goal after the Hatchets went three-and-out, giving Tomahawk a 24-7 lead just a minute into the fourth quarter.
Both teams struggled to find traction offensively in a scoreless first quarter, getting nothing on their first four possessions. Finally, Tomahawk hit on a successful combination in the second quarter, driving 60 yards on eight plays before Jablonski, a returning first-team All-Northwoods Conference quarterback, took it in from 28 yards with 3:33 remaining in the half.
"I think defensively we played really well in the first half and they found a weakness and they exploited it. We did the best we could to try to bounce back and take it away and did a pretty nice job of it," Kraemer said.
Tomahawk kept using that formula as Jablonski rushed for 170 yards on the night while the Hatchets two fullbacks, Logan Seymour and Caleb Dickens combined to rush for 94 yards.
"They were running a trap follow and they were doing a good job getting bodies on bodies, kick out our (outside linebacker) and he wasn't able to fold back inside," Kraemer explained. "It was a 2-on-2 game and when we have young guys in the middle that are learning and Jablonski's a really, really good player, we just didn't get the hits on him we needed."
Yet, Rhinelander found itself down only seven at halftime, and tied just 17 seconds into the second half as Eckrich found a seam in the middle of Tomahawk's kick return team. It was Rhinelander's first kick-return touchdown since 2019, when Caleb Olcikas returned a kick 85 yards for a score against Antigo in the Bell Game.
"The momentum coming out of halftime on the kick return was awesome," Kraemer said. "Eckrich had a great return. The blocks were excellent, a couple of broken tackles, which we talked about early and we're right back in it."
Rhinelander's offense, which went back to a pistol spread concept this year under first-year offensive coordinator Luke Roberts, struggled much of the night. The team had just 36 yards of offense and three first downs through its first eight possessions.
The Hodags finally found success on the ground early in the fourth quarter, driving 55 yards on seven plays before Heck took it in from six yards out to cut the lead to 24-13. After Tombs added a 37-yard field goal, Rhinelander marched down the field again but Kyrle Vanney couldn't hold on to a fourth-and-1 pass from Heck with 2:04 remaining, extinguishing the Hodags' comeback bid.
"When they realized what they were able to accomplish, they started to have a little bit of belief in what they could do and they started to move the ball well," Kraemer said.
Heck was 11 of 22 passing for 71 yards and two interceptions in his first start. He had a jump ball for Eckrich intercepted by Brayden Larson late in the first half. The second pick came when he overshot Kaleb Winter on a crossing route in the middle of the field.
"James is a young quarterback. This is his first game tonight as a varsity quarterback. He's going to continue to learn. I have 100% faith he's going to get it figured out," Kraemer said. "Offensively, it's just about trusting the process. We've got to make sure we do the things we are strong in and continue to work on those things, shorten the playbook down a little bit, make sure our guys are prepared to do the things they know how to do right, right."
Heck ended the night as the team's leading rusher, carrying eight times for 40 yards. Payton Campbell, in his first start at tailback, was held to 30 yards on 16 carries and added four catches for 24 yards. Eckrich caught four passes for 49 yards.
Friday marked only the second time that the Hodags have lost back-to-back games under Kraemer. The team dropped back-to-back games to Mosinee and Merrill late in the 2019 season. The team has not lost three in a row since 2018 and will try to avoid that distinction this Friday night at Denmark, which lost its opener to Appleton Xavier Friday night, 7-6.
"This is where we're at. The response has to be positive," Kraemer said. "The response has to start tonight. We have to lick our wounds a little bit, figure out where we went wrong, not pout and complain, watch the film (Saturday) and then, Sunday, it's a brand new week. That's the most important thing."
"I think there's only up from here. I'm upset we lost, but I'm not discouraged. I think were going to continue to work hard in practice and, next week, we'll be ready to play Denmark."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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