August 29, 2022 at 8:13 a.m.
Done in by Denmark
Vikings vex Hodags in 42-0 shutout
Done in by Denmark
Rhinelander got run over Friday night. Denmark's dominant defense and big-play offense routed the Hodags 42-0 on the road. It marked the first time Rhinelander has dropped three straight games since Kraemer took over in 2019, the team's first 0-2 start to a season since 2017 and also the first time it has suffered a shutout since 2017.
"The message was we don't have to continue to feel like this," Kraemer said afterward. "We have the opportunity to look at what we did today, take the positives of what we did, wipe the negatives and learn from the mistakes that we made."
Unfortunately for the Hodags, the negatives were far more plentiful than the positives, starting from the opening kickoff when all-conference safety Kaleb Winter went down with an apparent knee injury and did not return to the game.
It only went downhill from there.
The Vikings scored twice, six seconds apart, on a pair of Rheis Johnson touchdowns in the first quarter. They blew the game open with three more touchdowns in the second quarter before turning it over to mainly the reserves in a running-clock second half.
Meanwhile the Hodag offense spun its wheels for a second straight week, held to only 129 yards in the contest.
Rhinelander actually dodged a bullet on Denmark's opening possession as Johnson fumbled the ball inside the 1 while cruising in for a score. The Hodags recovered in the end zone for a touchback. After a Hodag punt, Johnson made amends, carrying it in 36 yards for a score on a fourth-and-3 play.
Rhinelander botched the shotgun snap on the very next play. The Vikings pounced on the loose ball at the 1 and Johnson punched it in from there to give the Vikings a two-score lead.
Denmark scored another touchdown on fourth down early in the second quarter as quarterback Lucas Miller found running back DJ Vanlanen in the flat for a 22-yard catch-and run for a score. That started a string of three touchdowns on three straight offensive plays for the Vikings. Nolan Perry busted off an 80-yard run and, after the Hodags turned it over in their own territory on a mishandled snap on a punt, Miller hit Jonah Goetsch for a 25-yard score to make it 35-0.
"They play a physical brand of football, downhill brand of football, one that we're familiar with," Kraemer noted. "That's my favorite offense, a downhill, I-formation, power offense. Their coaches did a great job taking advantage of our over-playing the run and throwing the ball."
Perry added a three-yard scoring run to cap off the opening drive of the third quarter as the Vikings began filtering in its reserves.
Trainer's room
The night started bad, and only got worse, on the injury front for Rhinelander. After mishandling the opening kickoff, Winter recovered to pick up the ball at the two before he was sandwiched down at the 12 and remained on the turf. He did not return to the game.
"He's the face of our program right now and, when someone like that goes down, it's always difficult," Kraemer said.
The Hodags lost starting middle linebacker Landon Bates later in the first half with an injury. Reserve defensive tackle Reid Schultz went down in the second half and starting tailback Peyton Campbell went down late in the Hodags' final drive.
Kraemer said it was too soon the speculate on the severity of any of the injuries, but their impact was felt immediately.
"It's always hard to lose players, especially when you're already young at those positions, like middle linebacker," he said. "It's difficult to cope with that, but that doesn't excuse a lack of effort and doesn't excuse tackling high and a lackadaisical lack of fundamentals. That's on me and I'm going to do everything I can, our coaches are going to do everything they can, to make sure our players play better."
Flashes on offense
The Hodags managed nine first downs in the game and moved the ball at times, especially in the second half. Each of their final three drives advanced into Denmark territory before ending on downs.
Quarterback James Heck ended the night 10 of 21 for 62 yards with no turnovers. He finished with 30 net rushing yards, but had big carries of 27 and 26 yards during the game.
"Offensively, we got something going in the second half and, honestly, I felt we had a little more flow offensively today," Kraemer noted. "The scoreboard doesn't show that, but these kids are going to trust the process and we're going to continue to get better as the weeks go on."
Campbell added 52 yards on seven carries and three receptions for 39 yards before leaving in the fourth quarter. Brendon Eckrich caught four passes for 15 yards.
Tough runners
The Vikings nearly had two 100-rushers and needed only 22 carries to amass 221 yards. Johnson finished with 108 yards on 10 carries while Perry added 88 yards on only three rushes.
Miller, the North Eastern Conference's top passer in 2021, needed to throw only eight passes. He completed all of them for 52 yards and two scores.
It marked a first time a team scored more than 40 points on the Hodags since a 43-8 loss to River Falls in Level 1 of the 2019 WIAA playoffs.
"We need to get physical and tackle lower on the defensive side of the ball," Kraemer noted. "That's something we have to do and go back to the fundamentals of our defense, eyeing our guy and making the correct reads and then running and being physical to the football. We have to be able to do that."
Keep the faith
Despite all the struggles, Kraemer said he's trying to remain optimistic, especially considering that both losses have come in non-conference play. The rubber really begins to hit the road this coming Friday at home against Ashland and the Hodags' record within the GNC will be the major determining factor if they get back into the WIAA playoffs for a fourth straight year.
"We're a young team, so I'm still full of optimism," he said. "I'm still full of hope and belief that these guys are going to turn it around and we'll do what we need to do during conference play.
"We want to get out of the quicksand this week. We want to continue to stack positives and that's what I've been saying to those guys, stack the positives and just let the negative go and keep playing football because it's fun and it's what we're here to do."
Up next
The Hodags will face an Oredocker team that's also 0-2 after dropping a 34-6 decision to Hurley in non-conference play last Friday.
Rhinelander has won three straight games against the Oredockers.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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