Raising ‘Cane

One year ago, the Rhinelander High School football team celebrated what turned out to be its only win of the season, beating Hayward in a 14-0 slugfest. 

The two teams went toe-to-toe again Friday night. Once again, Rhinelander came out on top but this win felt much different. 

Owen Kurtz scored a pair of touchdowns and the Hodags defense put the clamps on Hayward’s spread attack in a 13-7 win over the Hurricanes at Mike Webster Stadium. Kurtz’s 8-yard score midway through the third quarter proved to be the game winner as the Hodags moved to 4-0 on the year and handed the Hurricanes their first lost of 2023.

“It feels great, coming back from last season going 1-8, being injured,” Kurtz said after the game. “It feels great to come back and start beating these teams again like we knew we could have last year.”

The Hurricanes limited Rhinelander to 218 hard-earned yards of offense and kept the game close despite Rhinelander marching into Hayward territory on eight of its 10 possessions. 

“They are a classy team,” Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer said. “I think film sometimes is a misnomer. That was exactly what we saw this week. I miscalculated their size, miscalculated their speed. They’re a really, really good football team.”

That showed early in the game, as the Hodags lost a fumble in Hayward territory, had to punt from midfield and failed to convert on a fourth-and-9 play from the Hurricanes 25. 

Hayward marched down the field 75 yards on seven plays from there, capped off by a 34-yard catch and run for a score by Cade Schlapper off a throw from junior quarterback Alex Depew.

“They came out right away, hit hard. They kind of shocked us a little bit when they hit that touchdown first but we knew we could do it,” Kurtz said.

Ultimately, the Hodags needed short fields to score their two touchdowns, and got them thanks to a pair of 3-and-outs by the defense followed by two key special teams plays.  

Hayward took over from its own 6 after Micah Bacon intercepted Truman Lamers on a deep shot, but the Hurricanes went 3-and-out, were forced to punt and Lamers returned it 18 yards to the Hayward 25. 

Rhinelander was nearly stifled in plus-territory again, but Lamers found tight end Bo Stott for 13 yards down to the 9, converting on fourth-and-7, and Kurtz punched it in from a yard out three plays later to tie the game at 7 with 44 seconds remaining in the half. 

    Rhinelander’s Owen Kurtz rushes past Hayward’s Hunter Lyons for a touchdown during the third quarter of a GNC football game at Mike Webster Stadium Friday, Sept. 8. Kurtz scored both of Rhinelander’s touchdowns in a 13-7 victory. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The turning point of the game happened following another 3-and-out midway through the third quarter. Bacon, who also served as the Hurricanes’ punter, had to scramble in desperation after the snap one-hopped to him in the face of a Hodag rush. Payton Campbell took him to the ground at the 18. That ultimately set up Kurtz’s go-ahead score five plays later. The 235-pound tailback found nothing up the middle on his second-and-goal run, but was able to bounce off of left end and into the end zone.

“They were blocking the edge and I saw it open up and I took it,” Kurtz said.

Rhinelander’s defense held Hayward to three more three-and-outs after that and James Heck picked up a first down on a fourth-and-2 run with just over two minutes remaining that allowed the Hodags to run out the clock and become the only GNC school to reach 4-0.

“It’s everybody doing their job. That’s why we’re 4-0 and why we were able to win a game like this, because of this group leading,” Kraemer said.

    Rhinelander’s Zach Germain is tackled by Hayward’s Cade Schlapper after intercepting a pass to start the third quarter of a GNC football game at Mike Webster Stadium Friday, Sept. 8. The Hodags held the Hurricanes to minus 17-yards and no first downs in the second half of Friday’s game. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Dominating defense

Hayward went absolutely nowhere in the second half. In five drives the Hodag defense held Hayward without a first down, limited the Hurricanes to minus-17 yards of offense and added an interception as Zach Germain stepped in front of a Depew pass intended for Schlapper on the opening play of the third quarter. 

Depew, Hayward’s leading rusher through three games, was held to 14 yards on six carries. After hitting his first six passes of the game, Depew went 1 for 9 the rest of the night and threw for 71 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Though Rhinelander did not officially record a sack, a heavy pass rush made for a long night for the Hurricanes’ quarterback.

“They worked and worked and worked to make sure we got to the quarterback and put somebody in his face,” Kraemer said. “I guarantee you he’s feeling the hits tonight. After that performance by the D-line and Sam Schoppe, who was kind of our insert blitzer, because of them we were successful getting the ball to the ground and pressuring the quarterback.”

After splitting reps through the first three games, Hayward did not bring in sophomore quarterback Keegan Walsh until its final offensive possession. He threw a pair of incompletions with the Hurricanes backed up inside their own 10.

“The pass wasn’t as effective. The last drive, the first time we saw No. 17 (Walsh) come out, we knew that it was maybe desperation time,” Kraemer said.

Bringing the heat

Kraemer credited special teams coach Rich Luedke for dialing up the punt rush at times against Hayward, exploiting what the Hodags perceived to be a weakness for the Hurricanes. That pressure helped create the two big special teams plays that set up Hodag touchdowns.

“We saw it on film that they had a lollipop snap, so we went after it a little bit today, and it paid dividends for us,” Kraemer said. “That’s all coach Rich, coach (Steve) Zangl, them seeing it, talking about it and then convincing me to run the block.”

Statbook

Campbell led Rhinelander with 83 yards on nine carries while Bates had 48 yards rushing and another 20 receiving. Heck finished with 35 yards on 11 carries and Kurtz overcame a fumble on the game’s opening drive to rush nine times for 23 yards and both of the Hodags’ touchdowns. 

Lamers finished the night 3 of 8 passing for 46 yards and the Hodags followed a formula that has worked well on offense this year. Rhinelander went 6 of 13 on third down, 2 of 3 on fourth down and possessed the football for 34 minutes, 7 seconds. 

Service night

A number of veterans and police and emergency personnel were on hand and honored by the team during its Service Appreciation night. The night included a team meal with those distinguished guests. They were honored in a pregame ceremony that included the presentation of colors and a 21-gun salute by the Northwoods Honor Guard. 

“That 21-gun salute, the color guard, the escort, all the community members coming to eat with us, we’ve never done that at service night,” Kraemer said. “We’ve had service night and we’ve done our best to welcome the community in and thank them for what they do but not like this. This was an absolutely class-A performance and this is what you want high school football to be.”

Additionally, the Hodags sold patriotic red, white and blue T-shirts with proceeds going to Camp Ryan Adams, established in the memory of the Hodag football alum and Wisconsin Army National Guard sergeant who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009.

“I didn’t get a chance to meet him but every single thing I hear about the guy, he exemplified class, he exemplified our Hodag Way, the way we want it to be run,” Kraemer said. “We hope that he’s somewhere watching us and he’s proud of what we’re able to accomplish tonight and proud of us as a whole.”

Bell Game ahead

The Hodags will take their 4-0 record into the 89th playing of the Bell Game as they look to win the Bell back from Antigo after last year’s 26-14 defeat in Antigo. 

“We want to win the Bell, but we know that Antigo is going to pull out all the stops,” Kraemer said. “For us, what we need to so is understand that this is just a conference game but, at the same time, we know the heavy weight of the Bell Game, Antigo coming here to our field. We know what happened last year and we feel what happened last year and I hope our guys have a chip on their shoulder and they’re hungry this week to take it to them.”

The Robins will come in 2-2 after shutting out Merrill 28-0 on Friday night. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].