January 5, 2022 at 1:18 p.m.
Hodag football seniors compete at halftime of Packers game
Hodag football seniors compete at halftime of Packers game
Jacksen Smith, Chad Hunt and Cayden Neri took part in the Packers' high school halftime passing contest in front of a sellout crowd as the Green Bay Packers defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 37-10.
The event is a staple at halftime of Packers games as three members from opposing high schools compete to see which group can complete the longest pass.
The three were informed by Hodag football head coach Aaron Kraemer about a month in advance that they had been selected by the Packers to compete in the contest.
"At first I just thought we were going to go out there and play catch on the field or something, but then I found out it was a kind of like a competition," Neri said. "It just made it a whole lot better."
The three athletes and Kraemer got to take in much of the game from the 300-level of the Lambeau Field seats before heading down to the field before halftime, and realizing a dream of walking out of the tunnel of one of the oldest and most venerable stadiums in the National Football League.
"We basically went down at halftime, it was kind of cool," Smith said. "Right before half we were right by the field and we saw the game going on. We had a field goal kick toward us. That was pretty cool."
Added Hunt, "It's crazy with all the fans there. Once you're on the field, it's so much bigger."
As for the contest, the Hodags were edged a couple of yards by Kohler/Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian. Smith hit Hunt for a shorter completion before going deep to Neri for a 43-yarder.
"Our strategy was to get an easy pass out of the way, so in case he dropped (the deeper pass), we'd have some yardage," Hunt said. "We got a shorter pass done first and then went for the long pass."
The 43-yarder was longer than either starting quarterback had in Sunday's game. Both Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and Minnesota's Sean Mannion, were credited with 30-yard passes.
The three said they wore regular sneakers and not cleats for the contest. Once they got onto the field, they realized why Lambeau Field is nicknamed "The Frozen Tundra."
"It was super slippery on my shoes. It wasn't like wet. I don't know how to explain it. It was weird," Neri said.
"It was really slick. It's no joke out there, The Frozen Tundra," Smith added.
The three seniors were keys in another strong season for the Hodag football team. Neri had 2,121 yards from scrimmage and 25 touchdowns on the season, Hunt led the Hodag with 56 tackles on the season, including 12 tackles for loss. Smith completed 60.5% of his passes for 686 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Now they have one more memory from their senior season, playing catch in front of nearly 78,000 fans at Lambeau Field.
"When I'm older, I'm going to be able to tell my kids I was in the middle of Lambeau, catching a ball," Neri said. "Not a lot of people get to do that."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.