Football: Hodags’ scrimmage cut short by weather

CRANDON — The Rhinelander High School football team tried to get in a dress rehearsal Friday prior to the start of the regular season. The Hodags were midway through their second act when Mother Nature called an audible.

A pair of pop-up storm cells suspended and, eventually, canceled a five-team scrimmage at Crandon. The Hodag varsity unit was able to get roughly 30 offensive snaps and 40 defensive plays in before heavy rain and thunderstorms ended things for good a little more than two hours after the scrimmage began.

After hosting Crandon, Shawano and Antigo last year, the Hodags allowed Crandon to take the reins this year. That was a decision coach Aaron Kraemer rued afterward, given that thunderstorms would not have been an issue inside the Hodag Dome. 

“That’s the big thing, because it could have been prevented when you have a climate-controlled area that you can go into and we chose not to do that,” he said.

While Kraemer said the scrimmage was still productive, especially on the offensive side of the ball, those who lost out the most were the underclassmen who were shorted two sessions of football. 

“It’s a bummer. I wish I would have been able to see those guys play,” Kraemer said. “You’re to the point where you need to evaluate which guys can contribute on Friday to play special teams, which guys are true JV players, which guys are JV/varsity. We just didn’t get that opportunity.”

    Rhinelander’s Dolan O’Malley (54), Sam Schoppe (11) and Cyrus Leisure (37) pursue a Crandon ball carrier during a football scrimmage in Crandon Friday, Aug. 16. The Hodag defense struggled against the run on Friday, allowing 8.9 yards per carry and five touchdowns on 29 running plays. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Offensively, the Hodags moved the football well, especially in their opening session against Wittenberg-Birnamwood. The Hodags racked 130 yards through the air and another 86 rushing. But Rhinelander struggled on the defensive side of the ball, especially in the run game where they allowed 8.9 yards per carry combined between Wittenberg-Birnamwood and Crandon.

“I think, offensively, we accomplished some things we wanted to accomplish,” Kraemer said. “I thought that we missed a few assignments that created a little bit of penetration and congestion, but our running backs were able to get through those spaces. I don’t think we had a lot of negative plays pretty much all day. 

“Defensively, I think we need to work on our aggression, our physicality at the point of attack. I was a little upset with how we started against Crandon. All of those things are things that are easily fixed.”

The Hodags and Chargers ended up knotted up at three touchdowns each during their scrimmage. Rhinelander got on the board first on a nine-yard run by senior Logan Schwinger and were driving inside the 10 at the end of their first 10-play stint. 

Rhinelander scored on back-to-back plays in the second offensive stint against Wittenberg-Birnamwood. Senior Sam Schoppe plunged in from nine yards out on a fourth-and-1 play. With the ball reset on the Charger 40, senior quarterback Truman Lamers went over the top to tight end Bo Stott for a score. 

The passing game was especially efficient for the Hodags. Lamers unofficially finished 8 of 8 passing with 112 yards and a touchdown while backup Chandler Servent was 2 of 3 for 18 yards. Stott and Cyrus Leisure caught three passes each. 

“A lot of things to be excited about, a lot of plays to be excited about. I thought that Bo Stott had a nice day,” Kraemer said. “Our wings, Ben Olson, Cyrus, Sam Zwaard, had nice days. Truman was pretty efficient throwing the football today, too. Offensively, I was pleased, especially against Wittenberg, what we were able to accomplish.

    Rhinelander’s Cyrus Leisure carries the football during a football scrimmage against Wittenberg-Birnamwood in Crandon Friday, Aug. 16. Leisure was Rhinelander’s leading rusher in the scrimmage, totaling 28 yards on five carries. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

The Hodags were thin at tailback after both Tyler Chariton (ankle) and Myles Eagleson (concussion protocol) were dinged up in practice during the week. Schwinger and Schoppe moved from wings to tailback. Schwinger had 19 yards on four carries while Schoppe had two carries for seven yards. Leisure led the wingbacks, with 28 yards on five carries. 

Rhinelander’s defense struggled Friday, especially on the ground. It only took four plays for the Chargers to find the end zone on their first offensive session. They scored twice in their second session — a two-yard quarterback keeper on a read option play and then a 34-yard scamper that was littered with missed tackles by the Hodag defense. 

The struggles carried into the Crandon scrimmage as the Cardinals broke a 40-yard run on the first play of the session and added scores of 27 and 15 yards later in the going. 

“Defensively, we’ve got to tackle. We’ve got to do the fundamental things right,” Kraemer said. “I think we’re lined up correctly. I think we’re playing OK off the ball, but we’ve got to tackle. We’ve got to rip through blocks and we’ve got to make plays defensively.”

Sophomore Ryley Hull had the biggest highlight defensively for Rhinelander as he intercepted a pass deep over the middle in the Wittenberg scrimmage. The Hodags’ passing defense was OK, allowing 47 yards on 4 of 10 passing with a touchdown and an interception. 

“He’s had an impressive camp. It’s clear that he wants to play physically. It’s clear that he wants to play on Friday nights,” Kraemer said of Hull. “For him, it’s just learning and getting himself prepared, getting on special teams, making the bus. I think he’s going to do that. He’s fast. He’s physical. He was in the right place today and made a great play. That’s all you can ask for a young guy to rep in and make a play.”

The Hodags were midway through their first 10-play offensive session against Crandon when a thundercloud roared to the northwest of Crandon High School. That prompted a roughly 40-minute delay as the teams waited for the storm to pass. While the lighting vacated the area, heavy rain started right as Rhinelander resumed its offensive session and the Hodags did not make much traction in their final five plays. 

Rhinelander was about to get the football back after Crandon’s second offensive stint when the thunder roared again and, ultimately, ended the proceedings. The Hodags lost the opportunity to see Shawano in the final session of the day as a result. 

In addition to Chariton and Eagleson, Zach Germain and Andrew Eckrich did not suit up for the Hodags while dealing with injuries. 

The Hodags will host Ashland this Friday night to kick off the regular season. Kraemer said cleaning up procedure penalties and shoring up the defense will be primary focuses this week before the Hodags welcome the Oredockers to Mike Webster Stadium in a battle of former Great Northern Conference rivals.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].