Team Preview: RHS football

As Aaron Kraemer enters his sixth year at the helm of the Rhinelander High School football program, he sees his team finding its way back on the path to success. 

After going 22-7 over his first three seasons, the Hodags slipped by to 1-8 in 2022. Last year was better as Rhinelander went 5-5 and qualified for the WIAA postseason for the fourth time in five years — and just the sixth time in school history.

But the Hodags faded down the stretch with only one win in their last six games. As kickoff for 2024 nears, Kraemer said the team needs to continue to make small steps toward greatness.

“You’ve got to learn how to lose small. Once you lose small, you’ve got to learn how to win small and then you’ve got to learn how to win big,” Kraemer said. “I think we’re kind of in that middle area. We’ve played games that are really, really tight and now we have to learn how to win small and then, at the end of that, learn how to win big.”

The Hodags will take part in their final dress rehearsal prior to the opener today as they travel to Crandon for a five-team scrimmage. The Hodags do have a number of starters returning, including six all-conference honorees, but Kraemer said success in a Great Northern Conference full of parity will hinge on the ability of his team to execute the minute details.

“Late in the season, we lost that and some of that discipline our guys had early in the season, it’s like making your bed every day, brushing your teeth every day,” he said. “It’s easy to forget the small things and those things are going to be what take us to the next level.”

Offensively, the biggest question mark is how does the team grow in the second year of running a pistol-based variant of the Wing-T offense. The Hodags came out of the gate strong last year, averaging 25.5 points per game in their first four games, but scored only four touchdowns in their final six games. Overall, the Hodags averaged just under 218 yards per game, including 158.4 rushing yards a contest. 

Kraemer said the team is already much further along in terms of installing plays and formations this year as it becomes more familiar with the offense. He hopes that will lead to a more diverse call sheet on Friday nights to keep the defense guessing.

“We have a lot more formations in. We have the same base plays, but we can run them out of different formations to stretch the defense. We also feel we’re a little more dynamic on the edges,” he said.

    Tyler Chariton takes a handoff from quarterback Truman Lamers during the Rhinelander High School football team’s Green and White practice at Mike Webster Stadium Saturday, Aug. 10. Chariton is one of the leading candidates to start at tailback as the Hodags look to replace their top four rushers from 2023. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Senior Truman Lamers gets set to begin his second season as the starting quarterback for the Hodags. He showed some flashes last year, passing for 625 yards and four touchdowns, but was turnover prone. He threw 11 interceptions and also lost three fumbles. Kraemer said it will be key this year to establish Lamers as a dual threat who can make plays with his arm and his legs, especially outside the pocket. 

“He has a great command of the offense. He’s got valedictorian-type smarts. He’s a lot like his brother in that way but, at the same time, they see the game differently,” he said, referencing Lamers’s older brother, Quinn, who started at quarterback during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. “I think where Quinn was more cerebral, he knew how the defense moved, Truman is more of a dynamic play threat. He’s going to move outside the pocket and run. He gets out of the pocket and has the ball in his hands, he’s just like one of those wings.”

The Hodags still figure to be a run-first offense and the other major question will be who establishes themselves as the team’s primary ball carriers. The top four rushers from last season — James Heck, Landon Bates, Payton Campbell and Owen Kurtz — all graduated, leaving the backfield battle wide open.

Senior Logan Schwinger is the top returning rusher. He ran for 146 yards and a score, primarily in the first few games of the season. He figures to be in the mix as one of the team’s wingbacks. Fellow senior Sam Schoppe, and juniors Cyrus Leisure and Ben Olson are also jockeying for playing time there. Senior Tyler Chariton and junior Myles Eagleson are battling for the top tailback spot and may work in some sort of timeshare. 

“Tyler is that (power runner), but he has more wiggle. He finds creases,” Kraemer said. “If you’ve watched Myles Eagleson play … he’s set himself up in an amazing position. Now it’s about cashing in on that on Friday nights. You see him jump cut, see him move, he’s going to be a difficult guy to tackle.”

The Hodags also hope to put more pressure on the secondary this year, as they displayed last Saturday during their Green and White practice, with a number of tall targets at the wide receiver and tight end positions. 

Senior Zach Germain led the team with 131 receiving yards and a touchdown last year. He has been day-to-day thus far during fall camp due to a hamstring pull, but figures to be a deep threat when healthy. Bo Stott, a big-bodied tight end, returns after missing the final few games of last season with a knee injury. Junior Evan Shoeder, who caught two touchdowns during last Saturday’s practice, and senior Mathias Fugle are also vying for time there, while seniors Dominic Lehmann and Andrew Eckrich, and sophomore Rowan Wiczek will likely be called on to fill the void at split end while Germain works back to full strength. 

    Linemen Reid Schultz (71) and Dolan O’Malley (54) prepare to block during the Rhinelander High School football team’s Green and White practice at Mike Webster Stadium Saturday, Aug. 10. The two are returning starters on the offensive line, with O’Malley earning all-conference recognition in 2023. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The line features the lone returning all-conference player for the Hodags on the offensive side of the ball in senior guard Dolan O’Malley. Fellow senior Reid Schultz returns as well. Juniors Caden Sieker, Leander Sprecksel and Travis Trickey are vying for time as the other guard/tackle combo opposite O’Malley and Schultz. Sophomores Brock Sternitzky and Gage Anderson may also work into the rotation to spell the starters.

The biggest question on the line is at center where the Hodags graduated all-conference player Kaeden Piller. The quarterback-center exchange was a liability in a 42-0 loss at Mosinee last year with Piller out due to illness. Junior Landon Webster has emerged as the top candidate to fill that void.

“The big thing we did this summer is he had to get 100 snaps in a night,” Kraemer said of Webster. “He got home and on the football and snapped. When he came back here, you can see the consistency in his snaps. He’s another guy that understands the offense. He’s always asking questions and that’s what you want from your center. It’s a position where you’re really doing the same thing every time. You’ve got to protect your A gaps. That’s something he’s been able to do really well.”

Despite the Hodags’ struggles toward the end of last season, the team had a solid defensive unit that allowed just under 21 points and 250 yards per game. The Hodags return four all-conference players on that side of the ball, including Germain and Lamers in the secondary, Sieker on the defensive line and Schoppe at inside linebacker. 

The big question on that side of the ball is who will fill the void at the team’s “Hodag” position, a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker role that Heck starred in last year. Chariton, Fugle, O’Malley and Shoeder have seen time there and at the opposite outside linebacker position during camp. Kraemer said there’s also a possibility that Sieker could move there from the defensive line, especially against power running attacks. 

“We feel like we’ve got some pieces there. Maybe not the every down guy like James was, but we have some pieces there to fill that void,” Kraemer said.

Be it on the defensive line or at Hodag, Sieker figures to be a disrupter. He had four tackles for loss and two sacks among his 31 total stops a season ago. The other defensive line spots could be a platoon among a number of players also vying for time on the offensive line — Schultz, Trickey, Stott, Sprecksel and others. 

The Hodags were young at inside linebacker last year, but that now appears to be a position of strength with Schoppe and Schwinger returning in the middle. Schoppe had 46 tackles, a sack and made a playoff-clinching interception in last year’s 7-0 victory in Week 8 at Merrill. Schwinger had 38 stops, including five tackles for loss. Eagleson will likely work in to the rotation, spelling either of them at times.

“They read really well. They play together really well. They hit really well. Sam’s an extremely dynamic middle linebacker and he brings the force. The three of those guys work really, really well,” Kraemer said. 

Lamers and Germain were ball hawks last year, combining for five interceptions. Germain moves from corner to safety this year. It’s possible the two could be on the field at the same time, or could spell one another at the “Bandit” or strong safety position. 

“When Zach gets healthy, a lot of that is going to be him and Truman working in and out so I can get Truman to the sideline, talk to him on the offensive side of the ball. He’ll be a big piece defensively,” Kraemer noted.

Wiczek has seen time at the free safety spot in camp while those vying for the top corner spots include Lehmann, Eckrich, Olson and Leisure. 

On special teams, Chariton returns after earning first-team All-GNC honors at punter last year, with a 31.4-yard average and three punts inside the 20. The team must replace Bates at kicker. Kraemer said Eagleson has established himself on kickoffs, while the placekicking spot is still up for grabs. 

Lamers averaged 15.5 yards per punt return last year for the Hodags while Chariton and Eagleson averaged 20.3 and 12.2 yards per return, respectively, on kickoffs last year. 

How all of it adds up in the Great Northern Conference remains to be seen. Medford and Mosinee enter as preseason favorites, as usual, but both teams have question marks. Medford is young on the offensive and defensive lines while Mosinee is trying to replace quarterback Gavin Obremski and dynamic playmaker Keagen Jirschele. 

Beyond that, any team on any given day could have success in the GNC. Lakeland, Antigo and Rhinelander all made the playoffs last year. While Merrill went winless in 2023, the Bluejays figure to take a step up after fielding a starting lineup full of sophomores and juniors last year. 

Then there’s the matter of the new kids on the block in the GNC. Wausau East and Tomahawk join the league this year following the latest round of WIAA football conference realignment that shipped Ashland and Hayward to the Heart O’ North Conference.

“It’s going to be interesting to see where Tomahawk and Wausau East fit in,” Kraemer said. “I’ve been saying it all summer, the Reilly kids, both of them, they’re dynamic athletes, so it’s what positions do they play, what does Tomahawk look like? They have Jonah Dickens coming back. 

“Wausau East is a team that’s kind of a sleeping giant. They’re the largest team in the conference now, as far as enrollment. They’re playing in the GNC where they know they can have a little more success than in the Valley. And that’s not to slight them, the Valley’s a very difficult conference. I think they’ll be bolstered by that a little bit.”

Ultimately, the Hodags’ playoff fate may hinge on how they fare against their biggest rivals — Antigo and Lakeland. The Hodags went 6-0 against those two teams in Kraemer’s first three seasons, but have dropped four straight against them and will have to go on the road to win back their trophies. Rhinelander opens GNC play at Lakeland in the Northwoods Axe Game Sept. 3 and then will travel to Antigo Sept. 24 for the 90th playing of the Bell Game.

“It’s really any week, and that’s what we talked about earlier. You’ve got to learn how to win small. There are going to be a lot of close games,” Kraemer said. “Can a team knock off Mosinee or Medford? Can we win our two rivalry games and put ourselves in a position where, late in the season, we’re fighting for a conference championship? I think it’s all for our guys to decide, but I think those chances are they’re for us to make a push.”

Rhinelander will face its former GNC rivals, Ashland and Hayward, in non-conference play the first two weeks of the season. But first, the team looks to solidify some things today in a five-team scrimmage at Crandon. The team is set to play Crandon, Shawano and Wittenberg-Birnamwood in 30-play sessions today. While Antigo is also in attendance, Kraemer said the two rivals are unlikely to face each other.

Aside from staying healthy, Kraemer said the main goals will be to solidify the depth chart and execute the small details in the team’s first live action of the fall against a different school.

“Are we making less mistakes than we did last Saturday. Is our procedure penalty problem fixed, all of those problems we have to manage? Then it’s game-type reps — tackling and blocking at game speed,” he said. “That’s what we want to see. Hopefully those positions battles can solid themselves and we’re ready to go as soon as we get to Ashland.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected]. 

TEAM SCHEDULE

Date    Opponent    Time

8/16    at Crandon (Scrimmage)    11 a.m.

8/23    ASHLAND    7 p.m.

8/30    at Hayward    7 p.m.

9/6    at Lakeland* (Axe Game)    7 p.m.

9/13    WAUSAU EAST* 7 p.m.

9/20    at Tomahawk*    7 p.m.

9/27    at Antigo* (Bell Game)    7 p.m.

10/4    MOSINEE* (Homecoming)    7 p.m.

10/10    at Medford*    7 p.m.

10/18    MERRILL*    7 p.m.

10/25    WIAA Playoffs#    7 p.m.

* Conference Game  | HOME GAMES IN CAPS | # Based on advancement