Pigskin Preview Week 3: Rhinelander at Ashland

It used to be that playoffs and Rhinelander football were terms that were seldom, if ever, paired together. Rhinelander made just two trips to the WIAA postseason prior to 2019.

The Hodags then had three straight winning seasons and playoff appearances from 2019-2021 before falling to make the postseason last year. 

Rhinelander’s quest to get back to the playoffs begins tonight as the Hodags hit the road to take on the Ashland Oredockers in the Great Northern Conference opener.

The Hodags will need to win at least four of their next seven games to clinch a spot in the tournament. Several teams with 3-4 conference records snuck into Level 1 last year, and the Hodags have some tiebreaking insurance thanks to non-conference wins over Tomahawk and Wausau East to open the season, but coach Aaron Kraemer said he wants to leave nothing to chance in terms of playoff eligibility. 

“Ultimately, we want to try to do our best to win four so we don’t have to leave it to any type of committee or wonder or worry. We’re just in,” he said.

Rhinelander and Hayward — next week’s opponent for the Hodags — are the only two GNC teams that made it through the non-conference schedule undefeated, though Medford had a statement win last week over previously No. 4 (D3) Onalaska. 

Kraemer said, after watching the last two weeks play out, he believes the conference is still as wide open as he thought it would be prior to the season and wants his team to be in position to take advantage.

“I think the conference is crying out for somebody to take it over,” he said. “We want to try to do the best we can to set ourselves up for those big matchups against Medford and Mosinee, but we know that every single game is going to present its own challenge, and every team can be the breakout team this year.” 

If nothing else, wins over Tomahawk and Wausau East to start the season have given the Hodags confidence entering the conference slate. 

“The kids are growing in confidence offensively and they know the offensive system is prepared for them to win,” Kraemer said. “Defensively, I think last week played wonders for us in terms of confidence in the game plan … I think they’re growing in the confidence that we’re putting them in positions to make big plays, using their strengths.”

The Hodags will look to build on that confidence against an Ashland team that comes in off home losses to Northwestern and Hurley to start the season.  

Though the Oredockers snuck into the playoffs with a 3-6 regular season record last year thanks to one-score wins over Rhinelander, Antigo and Hayward, they have not gotten much love in the preseason — picked to finish last in the GNC in the conference media poll and sixth according to WisSports.net.

Here are five storylines going into tonight’s game.

    Rhinelander’s Kaeden Piller prepares to snap the ball during the of a non-conference football game against Wausau East at Mike Webster Stadium Friday, Aug. 25. Though the Hodags have averaged more than 400 yards per game offensively in their first two contests, coach Aaron Kraemer said improving communication along the offensive line was a point of emphasis this week at practice. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Cleaning it up

While Rhinelander has won the first two games, there are plenty of things the team can do better. 

On the offensive side of the football there were still four procedural penalties in the Wausau East game, however Kraemer said the biggest point of emphasis this week has been up front with the communication on the offensive line. 

“We’re working at about a 50% proficiency rate right now up front with the way we’re communicating and the blocks that are happening, and our backs are making us look really good,” he said. “Once we get that figured out, offensively we’re going to roll even more.”

Defensively, Rhinelander is trying to eliminate the explosive play. Caden Werth’s 89-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter gave Wausau East life down 27-15 last week. Of the five touchdowns the Hodag defense has allowed this year, three have been 58 yards or longer — and two have been in excess of 85 yards. 

“We need to take care of the big play,” Kraemer said. “You look at Wausau East, they had two big plays that set up touchdowns — one a big play itself and another that set up a quarterback sneak. Against Tomahawk, it was two long touchdowns other than their methodical drive early on. That’s what we’ve focused on, big plays. Let’s take those big plays away.” 

Ground and pound

Ashland’s offense is not known for explosiveness, with a methodical ground game that includes Wing-T and Wishbone concepts. 

Ashland likes utilizing its wings as junior Andy Brandis (16 carries, 159 yards, TD) and senior Laken Villaverde (25-153, TD) have gotten the lion’s share of the yardage on the ground. Villaverde rushed for 65 yards on 14 carries in last year’s game against the Hodags. 

“They want to get the ball to the wings, the halfbacks,” he said. “They want to get them to the outside. What they’ll do is they utilize a veer approach and an option approach. They’ll hit you with the veer early. They’ll check your outside players, check to see if they’re doing their jobs and taking on the quarterback and the wing. As soon as you make the wrong decision up front or you try to do someone else’s job, they’ll hit you with a big option pitch. Those have been their big plays.” 

The Oredockers seldom pass the football. Quarterback Haydin LePlavy has thrown only five times on the year, though he did hit Brandis for a 31-yard touchdown brought Ashland within 22-14 of Hurley midway through the fourth quarter of last week’s game.  

Ashland defense

Similar to Wausau East last week, Ashland started in a 5-2/3-4 look with hybrid outside linebackers/defensive ends standing up at the line of scrimmage. 

That will likely be what the Hodags face tonight, though Ashland replaced a safety with another linebacker and played a 5-3 at times last week against Hurley’s packed-in Power-T formation. 

“It’s about getting into players, communicating, making sure we know where they’re coming because they like to pack the box,” Kraemer said. “They will have seen the Wausau East film and they’re going to want to pressure similarly to what Wausau East did. We have to communicate, get our eyes up and then get our bodies on people physically and move them out.” 

Despite committing numbers to the box, Ashland has been susceptible on the ground so far this year, averaging 295.5 allowed per game and 6.2 yards per carry. 

Owen Leask has been active defensively from his linebackers position and has already been credited with 36 tackles in two games. Villaverde, who received honorable mention in the GNC last year at linebacker, has 19 tackles in two games.

Hitting the road

Tonight marks Rhinelander’s longest road trip of the regular season, as it makes the roughly 2 1/4-hour drive to the south shore of Lake Superior. 

“That’s something they’re going to have to handle this week, the trip,” Kraemer said. “We’ve had a 15-minute trip and two home experiences with our scrimmage and our game (against Wausau East). They’re going to have to handle a trip, and thank goodness we’re not in school year so we don’t have to worry about that being another factor. The trip is a long one, 2 hours and 10 minutes, so how do you rest your body and make sure that you’re prepared when you walk off the bus?

“We need to start just as fast as we did against Wausau East, take the lead early and keep adding on to that.” 

A warm Weikal welcome

Kraemer said he enjoys going up to Weikal Field. He certainly has fond memories from his first two trips to Ashland as a head coach. Rhinelander won there 16-12 in 2019 to clinch a spot in the WIAA playoffs. A 36-18 win there in 2021 capped off an 8-1 regular season.

Additionally, it served as the scene of the first GNC victory over former head coach Chris Ferge when Kraemer served on staff as an offensive coordinator.

“I certainly do love the stadium and love the trip to Ashland,” he said. 

Rhinelander and Ashland have met every year since 2010, with the Hodags holding a 7-6 edge in the series. While Ashland is set to move to the Heart O’ North Conference next year in the latest round of WIAA football realignment, the Hodags intend to keep this matchup on the non-conference calendar going forward.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].