Tempo key as Hodag football practice commences

From the typical first-day clerical items to an emphasis on sprinting in and out of drills, tempo and efficiency were the buzzwords Tuesday as the Rhinelander High School football team held its first official practice of the fall.

Some of that quickness came naturally, now that the team is more familiar with the playbook in the second year of a Pistol Wing-T offense. Still, moving quickly was a major point of emphasis and something sixth-year head coach Aaron Kraemer hopes will help the Hodags start fast, like they did last year when the team won its first four games.

“That’s big,” Kraemer said. “Offensively, that’s what we want to do. You saw it last year early on in the season. Our pace was a lot faster. When we started to doubt ourselves, we started to slow down. We want to keep that pace all season long, offensively.”

    Ben Olson carries the ball during Rhinelander High School football practice at Mike Webster Stadium Tuesday, Aug. 6. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Numbers are strong and there’s plenty of optimism for the Hodags, who went 5-5 last year and qualified for the WIAA playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons. The team brings back several starters from that squad as it looks to be competitive in what figures to be a fairly wide-open Great Northern Conference.

“I’m already excited about these guys,” Kraemer said. “I think it’s going to be a great season. I think our players, we’re just going to improve from where we were last year. Not disparaging the guys that left. They were excellent leaders and I’m going to miss them but, at the same time, they led this group and this group is starting to step up and lead themselves to be something pretty nice. I’m excited, even on day one.”

Because of those high numbers — nearly 70 strong between the sophomore, junior and senior classes — Kraemer said the opening week is primarily about getting repetitions and evaluating players. The squad was already split into green and white units during Tuesday’s opener, something that will continue all week leading into tomorrow’s Green vs. White intrasquad practice, which will highlight Hodag Football Family Day at Mike Webster Stadium.

    Truman Lamers throws a pass during Rhinelander High School football practice at Mike Webster Stadium Tuesday, Aug. 6. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

“The reason why is we felt like last year, we were getting a lot of varsity reps and not a lot of sophomore reps, not a lot of junior reps. I think we lost out on that,” Kraemer said. “As soon as guys started to fall and we started to get a little thin, it took a lot of learning. I think green and white’s going to help us evaluate our players a little more and, from there, be a little more successful.”

On the offensive side of the ball, the team got a bit of a head start installing the playbook during the team camp it held July 23-26. Kraemer said the team continued to add plays throughout this opening week.

“We want to put in our base runs on offense and the passes that come off of them, similar to what we did last year, so you’ll see similar things,” he said. “They understand a little bit more now, so they’re able to compute a little faster. They’re not walking to the line of scrimmage thinking about what they’re doing. They already know what they’re doing when they get there.”

    Bo Stott tackles a dummy during Rhinelander High School football practice at Mike Webster Stadium Tuesday, Aug. 6. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Defensively, Kraemer said much of the week has been spent fine-tuning the team’s base 3-4 look, which can evolve into a four-man front, based on how the offense aligns. 

“You saw it a little last year as we started to roll up into a 4-2-5 look, you saw a stack look every once in a while, but we’ll talk to our guys about when to line up in those looks and what we do out of that,” Kraemer said. “Defensively, it’s just about learning where you need to line up. That’s half the battle. (Assistant) coach (Taylor) Kloehn hit it on the head when we talked about the defense. If you’re a great defense, you can play base and you can be successful. It’s all about alignment, stance, key read and assignment. If you understand those four things, you’re going to play well.”

Practices have been 3 1/2 hours long all week, with a WIAA-mandated 30-minute break in the middle. That all leads up to the culmination of the opening week, the annual Green and White practice at Mike Webster Stadium. This year’s event will be primarily focused on the varsity and varsity reserve groups as they practice against one another in game-like conditions. In between sessions there will be fun competitions for families, such as the dad punt catch and the mother/son relay race. The Hodag Gridiron Club will also hold a 50/50 raffle and have raffle baskets to win, along with other activities.

Gates open at 9 a.m. on Saturday with the official practice getting under way at 10 a.m.

“It’s always a fun day. I think things are pared down from years past but, at the same time, it’s a great time to have our families out to see our end product at the end of the week, get them excited about the scrimmage the following week and then Ashland and the service game that day that first week of the season,” Kraemer said. 

Saturday’s practice will not be in full pads, as the WIAA does not allow full-padded, full-contact sessions until the second week of practice. Next week will culminate in a five-team scrimmage at Crandon Aug. 16 and the Hodags will open the regular season at home against Ashland Aug. 23.

Football is the first of the WIAA-sanctioned fall practices to get underway at RHS. The Hodag girls’ swimming and girls’ tennis teams will begin practice this coming Tuesday. Practice for RHS cross country, volleyball and boys’ soccer will begin Monday, Aug. 19.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].