Stand tall Saturday

MERRILL — Faced with the prospect of needing to keep Merrill out of the end zone with its playoff fate potentially in the balance, the Rhinelander High School defense delivered time and time again Saturday afternoon. 

The Hodags pitched a shutout, forced four turnovers and rode a Landon Bates late first-half touchdown to a 7-0 victory over the Bluejays.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Rhinelander (5-3, 3-3 Great Northern). More importantly, it put the Hodags one major step closer to returning to the WIAA playoffs for the fourth time in five years. While it will take a win against Lakeland this Friday night to guarantee a playoff berth, WisSports.net projects the vast majority of teams with three conference wins will get in and round out the tournament field of 224 qualifiers. 

“I think it was our heart,” senior defensive lineman Owen Kurtz said. “We knew going into this if we wanted to make it to the playoffs, we had to treat it as a playoff game. It was kind of our heart. We knew we wanted to flip the script from last year, get in there and beat them up on their homecoming.”

It was far from easy, however. Merrill outgained Rhinelander 178-135 in a defensive slugfest. Though the Bluejays crossed midfield on five of their eight possessions, they only marched into the red zone once and the Hodags got turnovers to end Merrill’s final three chances to tie or take the lead.

“Defensively, these boys played really hard. They had a lot of plays and long drives but every single time we stepped up when we absolutely needed to,” Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer said of holding off a winless Merrill team. “That’s a tougher team than people give them credit for. They’re getting healthier right now … Hat’s off to them. They played a helluva game. We’ve got to figure it out offensively, especially next week against Lakeland.”

Merrill was stopped on fourth-and-2 from midfield with 3:29 left to go in the first half, which ultimately set up the only scoring drive of the day. Bates hauled in a 22-yard catch in the flat to get Rhinelander into the red zone and scored four plays later on a two-yard rush off left end with 1:14 remaining in the second.

    Rhinelander’s Landon Bates tries to escape a tackle attempt by Merrill’s Brody Lange during the second quarter of a GNC football game at Merrill Saturday, Oct. 7. Bates rushed for the game’s lone touchdown as the Hodags won, 7-0. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

“Really, really happy for Landon scoring his first varsity touchdown,” Kraemer said. “It’s something he talked about in the locker room today, ‘I need to get in.’ He finished really strong to get into the end zone.”

The Hodag offense, which has struggled over the last month, went back into neutral in the second half — held to only 34 yards and two first downs. It was up to the Hodag defense to deliver — and deliver it did.

Merrill was stopped on fourth and 3 from the 22 and fourth and 5 from the 26 on back-to-back drives, and had a chance in Rhinelander territory again midway through the fourth, but a low snap led to a fumble that Truman Lamers recovered at the Hodag 33 with 6:57 remaining. 

Rhinelander took more than three minutes off the clock from there, driving to the Merrill 24 before stalling out on downs. Merrill got the ball back with 3:50 remaining and nearly had a chance to tie it. Aiden Lonsdorf streaked free down the sideline as quarterback Jacob Schmeltzer scrambled to his right. Schmeltzer’s off-balance attempt was underthrown and intercepted by Kyrle Vanney with 1:51 left. 

Though the Hodags went 3-and-out, and the Bluejays spent all three of their timeouts, a 47-yard punt by Tyler Chariton forced Merrill to have to go 90 yards in 1:21. The Bluejay drive never left the ground, however, as safety Owen Ives jarred the ball away from Lonsdorf on a slant route and Sam Schoppe intercepted the deflected pass to seal it with 1:04 to play.

    Rhinelander’s Sam’s Schoppe reacts to a deflected ball after teammate Owen Ives, prone, knocks a pass away from Merrill’s Aiden Lonsdorf during the fourth quarter of a GNC football game at Merrill Saturday, Oct. 7. Schoppe made an interception on the play, sealing the Hodags’ 7-0 victory. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

“Kyrle making that pick on the second to last drive. That was huge,” Kraemer said. “Then Owen, he had tough day. I think he was getting a little bit frustrated by some of the calls, some of the things that the refs were saying to him. It was kind of getting into his head a little bit but I told him, ‘Just stop. This is what E + R = O is all about. You can’t control what happened five plays ago or 10 plays ago.’ What he did is he went out and made the game-winning play, big hit on the receiver on a slant and Schoppe was fortunate to be standing right there make the play for us.”

While Saturday’s win did not guarantee a trip to the playoffs, it clinched a winning regular season for the Hodags — the fourth in Kraemer’s five years a the helm.

“It feels good to get back on the winning side of a season,” he said of the team bouncing back from a 1-8 campaign in 2022. “Last year was rough and, I love those seniors from last year and we had a rough year, but these guys, they believe that they can do it, and that’s what’s set us apart this year. They’ve done a nice job.”

Under center

Rhinelander tweaked its Wing-T offense on Saturday, going under center for the first time this season. Kraemer said the change was made to try to get the running game going.

“It just changes the backfield motion a little bit,” he said. “You saw a little bit of rocket toss today and stuff off of that toss, which was successful early in the game.”

Even then, the results were hit or miss for the Hodag offense. James Heck led the way with 35 yards on 10 carries. Payton Campbell had 34 yards on six carries and Tyler Chariton had 32 yards on seven carries. Lamers finished the day just 1 of 7 passing, but recorded a turnover-free game for the first time since a Week 2 win against Wausau East.

Meanwhile, Kraemer commended sophomore Landon Webster for his effort filling in at left guard with Reid Schultz out of Saturday’s game due to an undisclosed condition that caused him to leave the previous week’s game against Medford at halftime.

“The offensive line communicated really well,” Kraemer said. “In this offense, when you’re missing a guard, it’s tough to keep that communication going, because our guards make the calls. Landon Webster stepped in today and did an excellent job. The rest of the guys, they rallied around him. He’s a young kid who runs his feet and blocks well.” 

Third phase

Chariton punted four times in the second half, averaging more than 41 yards per kick. He got the final punt away amidst an all-out punt block attempt by the Bluejays and had two other punts that traveled 45 yards or greater.

“He had some amazing punts today. The last one was into the wind, which is something to be said,” Kraemer said. “They didn’t have anybody back on that last play. Maybe it’s a mistake not having somebody back to catch the ball and keep it from rolling, but we took advantage of that and Tyler, he did his job today.” 

You get no points

Saturday’s game marked the sixth time that Merrill (0-8, 0-6 Great Northern) has been shut out this season.

The closest the Bluejays came to scoring was on its opening drive, reaching the Hodag 15 as part of a 13-play march. A false start penalty put Merrill behind the chains and Schmeltzer eventually threw an interception in the end zone on fourth and 8. 

It continued a historically-bad season for the Bluejay offense within the GNC. While 178 yards on Saturday moved Merrill (125.7 yards per game) ahead of Northland Pines’ 2008 season (118.7 yards per game) for the worst in conference history, the Bluejays would need to score 32 points or more this Friday against Mosinee to avoid finishing as the lowest scoring offense in league history. 

Bubble watch

According to WisSports.net, 161 spots in the WIAA playoff field of 224 have been clinched by teams that have at least four conference wins through eight weeks of the season. That leaves 63 spots available for 109 teams entering Friday’s regular season finale. 

Rhinelander is one of 52 teams on the good side of the bubble, with three conference wins. Another 57 teams sit with two conference wins and must win next week to have any hope of making the postseason. 

The Hodags would have a much more restful night this coming Friday if they defeat Lakeland to clinch a playoff berth. That will be easier said than done against a Lakeland team that has won four straight games and made it to the playoffs with a 20-11 win over Hayward on Friday.

“Next week, we have to do everything we can to beat Lakeland to get automatically in, and also for seeding, for all-conference awards, all of those things. You win and you get above Lakeland and you have a lot more leverage going into the playoffs,” Kraemer said. “It’s our homecoming, it’s our senior night. It’s on our field and it’s our opportunity to win the game. We have to go and take it.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].