October 3, 2022 at 7:33 a.m.
Hurting Hodags can't keep up with GNC-leading Raiders
Hurting Hodags can't keep up with GNC-leading Raiders
A wounded Hodag squad was no match Medford. The Raiders racked up 514 yards of offense - including 415 on the ground and blew out the Hodags 66-0 at Raider Field.
The Hodags lost starting center and defensive lineman Conner Jensen to a knee injury last Tuesday at practice. That came on top of injuries to fellow lineman Owen Kurtz (shoulder) and defensive back Truman Lamers (hand) in the previous week's loss to Mosinee, and other injuries that accumulated have accumulated during the season.
"I could sit here and say that I'm sour about losing some of our key players and I could lament about the fact that we didn't have three or four guys that I consider to be all-conference players this year, if situations were different, but nothing's going to change by complaining about it. We've just got to figure it out," Hodag head coach Aaron Kraemer said. "All I'm going to say is I'm proud of the way that our kids fought. I'm proud of the way that they came out and they had fun today. That's what our goal was, to get out here and do the best we possibly can and remember that it's a game of football."
Medford scored on the opening possession of the game and never looked back. In fact, the Raiders scored on all nine of their possessions as they led 24-0 after one quarter, 54-0 at the half and tacked on a couple of more touchdowns with the reserves in the second half.
Peyton Gilles had 140 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. He bookended Medford's first-half onslaught with a 38-yard touchdown run on the opening possession and a 26-yard score with 38 seconds left in the half.
In between, it was mainly the Logan Baumgartner show. The 6-6 Medford quarterback hit Tucker Kraemer for a 42-yard score to make it 16-0 with 4:53 left in the first. He then scored on his only two runs of the game - a 48-yarder on a keeper and a 30-yard scramble - to extend the lead to 30-0. After Tukker Schreiner scored from eight yards out midway through the second, Baumgartner came up with one more scoring play, a 15-yard pass to Charlie Kleist than game it 46-0 with 3:49 remaining until halftime.
"They played a physical brand of football," Aaron Kraemer said. "While the score was exactly what maybe some people expected, I was still pleased with the way we were continuing to fight. Medford's a good football team. It's going to be a really good game next week against Mosinee and I'd love to be a spectator for that one."
Medford and Mosinee, the conference's two heavyweights, have outscored Rhinelander by a combined 118-8 over the last two weeks and will meet in a de facto conference title game this Friday in Mosinee.
For Rhinelander, the last two weeks have been a crash course in dealing with copious amounts of adversity.
"The biggest thing they can learn is just not to quit and I think that's what we did tonight. We battled," Kraemer said. "You don't see it on the scoreboard. Those types of things aren't seen. They're intangible, but I think that's what it is. In every moment, you have to scratch and claw and do the best you possibly can to play as hard as you possibly can."
The Hodags managed just 115 yards of offense on the night, the majority of which came from junior quarterback James Heck who finished the night 13 of 27 passing for 97 yards with an interception.
Rhinelander had three drives move in Medford territory, but all three fizzled. The Hodags got to the Raider 44 on the opening drive, but misfired on a fourth-and-4 pass. The Hodags got to the 44 again on the opening drive of the second half, but Heck fumbled on a pitch attempt on an inside blitz by the Raiders, and Medford recovered. Rhinelander's last drive got down to the Medford 35, but a penalty negated what would have been a Finn Tulowitzky touchdown catch, and the clock expired with the Hodags facing third and 21.
Sophomore Sam Schoppe was Rhinelander's leading rusher with 17 yards on four carries. The fullback also had three catches for 39 yards. Receiver Brendon Eckrich also tallied 39 yards on six receptions.
Despite the laundry list of injuries, Kraemer said Friday that the team still planned to play Monday's junior varsity contest against the Raiders. Rhinelander canceled last Monday's JV game against Mosinee due to accumulating injuries.
The loss dropped Rhinelander to 1-6 overall and 1-4 in the GNC. Because Rhinelander will have a losing record in conference play, it can no longer clinch a WIAA playoff berth. However, if the Hodags win their last two games, they could get onto the bubble of teams at 3-4 in conference play that could make the playoffs if the WIAA's tournament field in the event the field of 224 teams is not already filled with teams above .500 in their respective conferences.
The Hodags' final home game is this Friday night against Merrill. Rhinelander closes the regular season at Lakeland Oct. 14.
"Mathematically, we're still alive for the playoffs, we've just got to win the last two games. Obviously, the last one means the most to us because it's for the Axe and there's a lot there with Lakeland, but Merrill too," Kraemer said. "Our seniors are going to have a lot to prove on senior night at their home field against Merrill."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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