September 26, 2022 at 8:49 a.m.
Mosinee routs Hodags on homecoming
Mosinee routs Hodags on homecoming
The Indians scored three touchdowns in a 1-minute, 26-second span between the second and third quarters and raced by Rhinelander 50-8 on homecoming night at Mike Webster Stadium.
Gavin Obremski threw for three touchdowns, two of which were caught by Davin Stoffel. Keagan Jirschele had a touchdown passing, rushing and receiving as Mosinee rolled to 4-0 in the GNC.
"They're a really good team with great athletes and they did a great job tonight finishing plays," Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer said. "We talked all week about open field tackling, getting guys to the ground and staying on our feet and that just goes to show you, that athletic program that they have down there, what they do to train, they get their guys to believe in speed. Tonight, it showed."
Rhinelander has been decimated by injuries all season. Leading rusher Payton Campbell missed a second straight game with a leg injury and the Hodags suffered another major blow in the first half. All-conference junior Owen Kurtz left the game with a shoulder injury and did not return. Rhinelander had moved the lineman from left guard to fullback and he had 64 all-purpose yards at the time of his injury.
"I'm kind of speechless. Our guys are working their butts off in practice and it just seems like we can't catch a break with injuries right now," Kraemer said. "We thought we had a plan. We came in and were executing that plan. We walked down the field in the first drive and put ourselves in position to score and then, as the half progressed, we lose Owen Kurtz and lose a couple other guys to small injuries and, in the second half, it kind of snowballed."
Rhinelander was still in touch with Mosinee, trailing 20-0 and driving late in the first half. However, a bad snap put the Hodags into a third-and-16 hole at the Mosinee 33. After an incomplete pass, quarterback James Heck could not pick up a first down on a scramble, giving Mosinee the ball with 1:03 to play before the break.
From there Obremski hit Jirschele for a 68-yard score on the very next play. Kurtz then fumbled trying for extra yardage on the Rhinelander's following offensive snap. It went from bad to worse from there as Kurtz and Finn Tulowitzsky collided trying to bring down Obremski on a scramble, with Kurtz leaving the game. Afterward, his family confirmed to the River News that the injury was a dislocated left shoulder.
"Owen's a big, tough kid. With that shoulder injury we're hoping he can get it popped back in and come back next week and we can get him back to play against Medford," Kraemer said. "We're definitely going to need him against a team that runs the football as effectively as they do. We're hoping. That's all we can do."
Mosinee then added insult to injury as Obremski hit Stoffel for a 23-yard score with 14 seconds left before the break to make it 34-0. The Indians drove 65 yards on three plays to open the second half, culminating in a Blake Nichols 11-yard touchdown run.
Mosinee added one more score with a number of the starters still in the game as Barnes Bunkelman scored from 22 yards out to make it 50-0 late in the third quarter. Rhinelander scored on the opening play of the fourth quarter as Kyrle Vanney got behind the Mosinee secondary for a 64-yard pass from Heck.
"It was good for Kyrle. He did a nice job coming back to that football, playing body position, catching it and finishing in the end zone. He's a practice guy and I appreciate how hard he works at practice every single day to get better," Kraemer said. "I'm very proud of him. He's a great kid and he's done everything he needs to do to get better. I hope that that springboards him and he gets some confidence going into next game and he's able to tear the top off a man defense next game against Medford."
Quick strike
Mosinee's high-flying offense entered the game scoring 47.7 points per game in the GNC and lived up to the reputation Friday night, averaging 14.9 yards per play.
Mosinee racked up 447 yards on only 30 offensive snaps and held the ball for only 14 minutes, 36 seconds.
Obremski, who sat Mosinee's opening drive along with Stoffel and Bunkelman, passed for 179 yards and three scores. Jirschele took over at quarterback on the opening possession and hit Kolten Cherek for a 37-yard score. The junior also had two catches for 73 yards and four rushes for 76 yards.
All seven Mosinee touchdowns came on explosive plays - either runs of at least 10 yards or passes of at least 20 yards.
Back to the I
With the changes, the Hodag offense looked much more like its 2021 vintage, going under center in the I-formation.
Kurtz made an impact right away with a catch and run of 40 yards on a third-down pass that got Rhinelander to the Mosinee 30, but the drive stalled following an illegal procedure penalty and the Hodags eventually failed to convert on fourth and eight.
It was the latest evolution for the Hodag offense this year under first-year coordinator Luke Roberts. The team started the season in a pistol spread look, but went to a pro-style pistol with a fullback in Week 3 and then went under center in the I-formation for the first time on Friday.
"When things go to hell in a handbasket, you've got to try to get back to what you do and your identity," said Kraemer, who had called the offensive plays up until this season, when he took over the defensive play-calling duties. "That's my version of Hodag football and something we've seen over the last several years."
Kurtz finished with 24 yards on five carries and Heck carried eight times for 22 yards. Kaleb Winter, in his second start at tailback for the injured Campbell, was held to 13 yards on nine carries.
Heck finished 9 of 18 passing for 138 yards.
Chirpy and chippy
Mosinee's brand of in-your-face football resulted in a number of penalties, especially toward the end of the contest. Rhinelander's final drive - under a running clock with Mosinee ahead by more than 34 points - was more than six minutes long but contained only four plays, mainly because the officiating crew was busy trying to sort out dead ball fouls that happened on three of the plays.
Mosinee was penalized eight times for 85 yards, including a number of personal fouls. Rhinelander was flagged seven times for 57 yards.
"I'm a little disappointed with the way was played on both side," Kraemer said. "There's no excuse for all the penalties, all the unsportsmanlikes, all of that stuff. I'm glad that we weren't on the wrong side of it more than once or twice."
One of the occasions was significant however, as linebacker Carter Krueger was ejected for a personal foul away from the play on a long Obremski run. Video replays did not show what prompted the ejection.
"We're going to have to play without 10 (Krueger) next week with him being ejected," Kraemer said. "That's going to be rough. He's had a great season playing for us at Hodag (outside linebacker). Unfortunately, he saw red tonight, but we're going to have to figure out ways to fix that."
Medford ahead
Rhinelander may be jumping from the frying pan and into the fire this coming Friday night against Medford. The Raiders kept pace with the Indians with a 62-12 shellacking of Hayward on the road Friday night.
"Medford's a tough team, just like Mosinee," Kraemer said. "Tough one on homecoming, but we have nowhere to go from here except for forward. I told our guys we've just got to keep rolling on. We've got to keep believing that we can do it. We've got three more weeks. We've got to win at least two to have a shot to get to the playoffs and, obviously, three to get in. We've got to keep rolling."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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