September 28, 2022 at 12:19 p.m.
Pigskin Preview Week 7: Rhinelander (1-5) and Medford (5-1)
Short-handed Hodags head to GNC co-leader Medford
Pigskin Preview Week 7: Rhinelander (1-5) and Medford (5-1)
Rhinelander now must face the other conference co-leader, on the road, and without a number of key players.
The Hodags face a monumental task as they head to Raider Field to take on Medford this evening. The Raiders pummeled Hayward 62-12 last week and are eager to remain perfect in GNC play in front of a showdown at Mosinee next Friday.
"For us, where we go from here, there's no other place to go but up from here," Hodag head coach Aaron Kraemer said. "We have to start crawling ourselves out of this hole and starting working back toward parity and toward being at the same level with these conference powerhouses. It takes a lot of hard work, grit and determination, but I told our guys this week, simply they have to charge on. The storm's not getting any brighter at this moment."
Rhinelander faces another high-scoring offense this week. The Raiders are second in the GNC in scoring offense at 46.3 points per game, but tops in total offense averaging 432.8 yards per game - and have done so on the legs of a power running game that's racking up more than 320 yards per contest in the league.
"This is a physical Medford team that we're going to see, one of the more physical teams we've seen so far this year and one of the more physical Medford teams I've seen in the past couple of years," Kraemer said. "It's one that we need to prepare for and get ourselves ready for."
Here are five storylines heading into the contest.
Trainer's room
Rhinelander will have to face this challenge without a number of key players. Owen Kurtz is highly doubtful to play tonight after sustaining a shoulder injury at the end of the first half of last week's loss against Mosinee. Furthermore, safety Truman Lamers sustained a thumb injury in the first half of the contest and also figures to be inactive tonight.
The Hodags suffered yet another blow on Tuesday as center Conner Jensen left practice with an apparent knee injury, leaving his status for tonight's game uncertain.
Add to that the continued absence of Payton Campbell (quad) and an ejection that will leave the Hodags without running back/outside linebacker Carter Krueger, and the team's depth will be severely tested tonight.
"It's going to be tough, when you have these guys out, but that's our job as coaches. We've got to figure out the puzzle pieces and put them together," Kraemer said.
No JV
Underscoring Rhinelander's depth issue, the team canceled its junior varsity game at Mosinee scheduled for this past Monday. That's partly due to injuries that have accumulated at that level, and partly because a number of underclassmen will be called upon to take on either starting or key reserve roles in tonight's varsity matchup.
"Those guys that didn't get to play in the JV game, what should be exciting is they'll have a week of practice and can prepare to play in the varsity game," Kraemer said adding that the decision to not play Monday's JV game weighed heavily on his mind all weekend. "The biggest issue is that you're playing against one of the conference powerhouses and this is a welcome to varsity football moment."
Plan D on O
Without Kurtz, Campbell and Krueger, Rhinelander will be missing three of its top five rushers so far this season. Expect senior Kaleb Winter to be the team's featured back again tonight, with a number of underclassmen in reserve.
"It's a bunch of sophomores, really, other than Kaleb Winter who's been running the football for us," Kraemer said. "Kaleb's taken a heavy load defensively and is already dinged up. (From there) it's a bunch of sophomores that are going to come in and show their worth."
Winter (head) left in the second half of last Friday's loss, as did linemen Reid Schultz (stinger) and Sam Balge (thigh), but Kraemer said all are three in line to play tonight. The team did receive a bit of good news on the injury front as sophomore running back and linebacker Tyler Chariton (knee) is expected back for the first time since Week 3.
Additionally, the Hodags will likely lean on junior James Heck more in the passing game. Heck has improved over the last two weeks, completing 55% of his passes for 241 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Ground and pound
Medford's rushing attack looks much like it has in the past under head coach Ted Wilson, with the team utilizing both a three-back I-formation and single wing formation with a direct snap to the running back as the base to its ground game.
Whereas last week Rhinelander had to match up against the two top receivers in the GNC - Davin Stoffel and Keagan Jirschele - this week the team faces the two top running backs in the GNC. Tukker Schreiner has rushed for 743 yards and 10 touchdowns so far this year while his running mate, Peyton Gilles, has 528 yards and six scores. Both are averaging more than 7.9 yards per carry.
"It's a meat grinder for us this week. It's going to be one-foot splits and they're coming at us as hard as they possibly can, grinding for three yards and a cloud of dust and hoping one will pop," Kraemer said. "And when they pop for Medford, they pop and they pop big."
Kraemer said, much like last year when Rhinelander kept Medford's ground game in check and defeated the Raiders 28-14, the key will be for the defensive front to muddy things up for Medford at the point of attack and to get the running backs moving laterally, instead of vertically.
The major difference for Medford's offense this year compared to last year is the threat of a vertical passing attack. Quarterback Logan Baumgartner, who missed much of last year with a knee injury, has thrown for 599 yards and nine touchdowns so far this year, and has done so on only 53 attempts.
"Baumgartner's a good player and he can throw the ball a long way," Kraemer said. "When you add that to a running game that's already stout with some big running backs and big linemen, they're a scary team to play against."
Tucker Kraemer (7 catches, 225 yards, 3 TDs) and Charlie Kleist (7 catches, 169 yards, 4 TDs) are the top threats in the passing game.
Bring the heat
Historically, Medford has not been afraid to bring pressure and play man coverage on the outside. That appears to be the M.O. of the Raider defense again this year. Kleist is the team's leading tackler with 36 stops from his safety position, followed by linebackers Alex Dittrich (35 tackles) and Logan Kawa (31 tackles).
"We've got to try to keep them honest by running the football, but they're a man-solid defense and we've got to take our shots deep and our receivers have to make plays," Kraemer said. "You saw it in the later parts of the game last week - Kyrle Vanney coming up with a touchdown. We feel like we have some athletes on the outside that can matchup with their guys in the secondary. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to take shots."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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