Offense steals show during Green & White day

The Rhinelander High School football team showcased its version of the Wing-T offense publicly for the first time on Saturday and, as advertised during preseason camp, it’s a lot more than a ground and pound attack.

    Truman Lamers rolls out to pass during Rhinelander High School football’s Green and White practice at Mike Webster Stadium Saturday, Aug. 5. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodags opened it up through the air. Junior quarterback Truman Lamers passed for four touchdowns and sophomore Chandler Servent added another during a roughly two-hour intra-squad practice at Mike Webster Stadium. 

After several years of running a pro-style, I-formation offense, the move to the Wing-T seems to be going well. 

Head coach Aaron Kraemer mentioned the team is ahead of where he figured to be in terms of installing the offseason after one week of fall practice. 

“I really do believe its been the best first week that I’ve had in my five years here,” he said. “Kids are focused. I think there’s a little bit of a chip on our shoulder after last season. Guys are ready. They look sharp on offense. Defensively, it’s pretty much the same as last year where and they’ve picked it up and put it down.”

Squads on Saturday where split up a bit differently than in years past with the majority of the returning varsity players on the green squad and underclassmen on the white. That showed up on the field as the green squad scored five times against the white, while holding the white team to only one score. 

Kraemer said part of the reason the team switched to the Wing-T is to make the offense less predictable and to get more skill players involved. That was readily apparent as, in the green team’s 25 offensive plays, 11 different players touched the ball. 

The Green offense came alive after getting held out of the end zone on its first offensive possession, scoring on five straight times after that. 

Lamers found senior Landon Bates for a 16-yard score on a swing route and then had a 27-yard scamper that set up a two-yard plunge from quarterback-turned-running back James Heck. Lamers added three more touchdown tosses in the first session. He had an 18-yard hookup with Zach Germain before hitting senior Payton Campbell twice for scores. They connected on 40-yard deep pass off a wheel route and then Campbell scampered for 48 yards on a screen on the Green team’s final offensive snap. 

Germain got behind the defense for a 40-yard score from Servent, the only touchdown the white side could muster. 

The team finished with red zone and third-down scenarios. Sam Schoppe scored on a nine-yard run and Lamers added a one-yard score on a quarterback sneak. 

In all, Lamers was 9 of 14 for 145 yards, according to unofficial numbers kept by the River News. He also had a practice-best 30 yards on seven carries. Schoppe matched Lamers’ 30-yard total on four carries and Campbell finished the day with 112 total yards (88 receiving, 24 rushing) on just four touches.

“It sets up perfectly for what we want to do. We want to be 60/40, 50/50 (run vs. pass). You saw our trick plays, counters and wraparound draws. Those are things that are going to give teams nightmares,” Kraemer said. “Our guys on the outside are good players and they deserve to get the football. My job is to get all five skill players the ball and then utilize our quarterback in the run game too. You saw that all today, almost all of it.”

Above all else, Kraemer said Saturday’s practice was about ending the first week of practice with some competition. 

“We talk about our team being a pyramid and the players from the bottom have to push that pyramid up and they did this week,” he said. “Our sophomores turned some heads. There were three or four guys on the sophomore class that I’m like, ‘Whoa, they could be playing on Friday nights.’ I’m proud of that. Then our senior and junior group took to the call. The one thing I will say about our seniors is that they’ve done a good job bonding with the junior group — and I’m not sure we’ve had that the last couple years. They’ve done a real nice job doing that and you saw that competitiveness today.”

The Hodags get to put on all the pads this week and will have some full-contact time leading up to Friday night’s scrimmage against Antigo, Crandon and Shawano at Mike Webster Stadium. 

“The scrimmage is always the culminating event of the summer,” Kraemer said. “All we’re looking to do next week is sharpen up everything we put in this week. We have one more family (of plays) we’re going to put in, running-wise. Other than that, we’re prepared for Friday. We’re ready to go.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].