September 12, 2022 at 8:00 a.m.
Hodags fend off Hayward, earn first win of season
Hodags fend off Hayward, earn first win of season
Rhinelander thwarted Hayward six times on fourth down, generated three turnovers and rode a pair of Payton Campbell first-half touchdown runs to a 14-0 victory at Lundberg Field.
Hayward had the ball inside the Hodags' 20 on four separate occasions in the game, including a first-and-goal from the 1 in the first half, but the defense answered the bell each time as Rhinelander posted its first shutout since a 42-0 win over Merrill in Week 8 of last season.
More importantly, following an 0-3 start, the Hodags find themselves back in the win column and with momentum heading into this Thursday's 88th playing of the Bell Game at Antigo.
"Tonight, we fought. Every single moment of the game we fought," Hodag head coach Aaron Kraemer said. "They got us down several times in the red zone, we shut them down. We moved the ball well tonight, put it in the end zone a couple of times, got a couple of big plays when we needed them and that's what happens."
It wasn't easy down the stretch as Rhinelander tried to nurse a two-score lead to the finish line. The Hodags had to overcome negative sudden-change plays on three straight offensive possessions.
Hayward drove 12 plays following a James Heck interception, aided by two drive-extending Rhinelander penalties, and got down to the Hodag 17 just before the end of the third quarter. From there, the Hurricanes went backward on a couple of run plays and quarterback Alex Depew threw incomplete to Gannon Mohr on fourth-and-15 to give Rhinelander the football back.
Heck was intercepted again four plays later and Hayward returned the ball to the Rhinelander 22, but Domanic Thorstensen dropped Brock Chucka for a loss on a first-down loss. After back-to-back incompletions, Landon Bates sacked Depew on a fourth-down scramble to give the Hodags the ball back with 7:56 remaining
Rhinelander took just over four minutes off the clock from there and elected to punt on fourth-and-6 from the Hayward 40 in an effort to pin the Hurricanes deep in their own territory. Then, disaster struck again as a high snap sent Bates scrambling back to his own 32 to recover, where his knee hit, giving the Hurricanes one more chance with a short field.
Depew hit Xzavier Stojek on a third-down pass over the middle down to the 7 before Rhinelander's defense answered one final time. Bates, blitzing off the edge, strip-sacked Depew and recovered the loose ball at the 15 yard line with 3:24 remaining.
"When they got down toward the end zone, our guys just buckled in," Kraemer said. "This is a budding defense. They're getting their legs underneath them and they keep playing together the way that they are, it's going to be a scary one. Carter Krueger played a helluva game. Owen Kurtz played a helluva game. Finn (Tulowitzky) did, our linebackers, they flowed and our secondary came to the football all night long. They had a couple big plays. We shored them up and everything worked out in the end."
Rhinelander finally salted the game away after that, with Heck hitting Sam Schoppe on a third-down rollout for a 12-yard pickup and a first down that allowed the Hodags to run out the clock.
The Hodags took the lead on their second possession of the game, overcoming a string of penalties that made it second-and-goal from the 26. Heck hit Tulowitzky over the middle down to the 12 before Campbell found the edge on a third-down toss and carried it in for the score.
Hayward got down to the 1 on its next possession, but Kendall Miller was dropped for a loss on first-and-goal and Depew was sacked on second down. That was followed by two incomplete passes that kept the Hurricanes out of the end zone.
Later in the second quarter, after Truman Lamers intercepted Depew on an underthrown pass, the Hodags called a fake punt on fourth and 3 from their own 46. Heck took it on a direct snap to the upback and carried six yards for the first down. Heck then hit a wide open Zach Germain down to the 5 on the next play before Campbell carried it in to give Rhinelander a 14-0 lead with 1:08 remaining in the opening half.
"We faked it because we felt comfortable with it. We've been working on it quite a bit and James did a good job finishing the run," Kraemer said. "Then, the catch, the ball was in the air forever and your heart just stops when it's up there. You look down there's Zach Germain and you're like, 'Oh, my goodness, is he going to take his opportunity?' He did and I'm so proud of him. Great play, set up a five-yard touchdown run by Payton. They finished and that's what we needed to do."
Penalty problems
Both fourth downs that Hayward converted were due to Rhinelander penalties - once in the first half on an offsides on fourth-and-3, and another in the third quarter on a defensive holding call that negated a fourth down sack.
Rhinelander was penalized a season-high 13 times for 102 yards in the contest, and it was a mixed bag of personal fouls, holds and procedure infractions.
"We've got to shore up the false starts, make sure we take care of the holding penalties," Kraemer said.
Diversifying the offense
Campbell was Rhinelander's bell cow for a second straight week, with 28 touches Friday after having 34 the week prior against Ashland. He finished with 86 yards on 27 carries and had a catch for five yards.
Hayward's defense started to key heavily on the junior tailback late in the first half. Heck had 43 yards on eight carries and Carter Krueger added two carries for 13 yards. Heck was also 4 of 10 passing for 74 yards with a pair of interceptions as the Hodags looked to diversify the playbook a bit after reverting back to the pistol pro-style offense during Week 3's loss to the Oredockers.
Hayward hemmed in
Rhinelander allowed season lows in total yards (155) and rushing yards (13), and sacked Depew five times in the contest.
Depew, a 6-4 sophomore, was 14 of 31 passing for 142 yards and an interception, hitting Mohr four times for 52 yards. Chucka led Hayward on the ground with 34 yards on eight carries.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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