Hodag football kicks off summer program

Last Thursday marked exactly two months until the start of practice for the 2024 high school football season and the Rhinelander Hodags began their preseason preparation in earnest.

The team held a mini-camp Thursday at Mike Webster Stadium, using one of the allotted five coaching contact days allowed during the summer. The other four will be spent during the team’s camp in July. 

In the interim, between 7-on-7 league, lifting and open fields, the team will have several chances this summer to get better as it looks to improve upon last year’s 5-5 record and return trip to the WIAA playoffs. 

    Caden Sieker wraps up a tackling dummy during a defensive drill as part of an RHS football mini-camp at Mike Webster Stadium, Thursday, June 6. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Roughly 60 kids, mostly returning players, were on hand for Thursday’s camp. Hodag football coach Aaron Kraemer said he expects closer to 80 to 90 kids come the start of practice in August. The primary focus for Thursday’s non-padded session was simply to get players re-acclimated to the Hodags’ offensive and defensive schemes. 

“There’s opportunities for these guys to get better and that’s why this day is so important,” Kraemer said. “We have to make sure, when they leave this place, we have the basics down so they can understand what we’re trying to do, gain a little bit of excitement for the football season as we prepare, and that’s the big thing. They have a lot of opportunities to get better during the summer, but we only get five true work days. With this being one of them, we’ve got to make sure we utilize it to the best.” 

Kraemer said the task should be easier this year as the team begins its second year in the pistol variant of the Wing-T offense. The biggest wrinkle Thursday was that the team did not run out of the pistol. Kraemer said learning how to play from under center is an insurance policy to prevent the snap issues the team had last year at Mosinee, when starter Kaeden Piller — who has now graduated — was a scratch due to illness.

“Last year against Mosinee, that was something that I never want to have to live through again,” Kraemer said. “We’re going to start under center today, work into the pistol. We want to be in the pistol. It makes us a little bit more dynamic, but we’ll start under today, offensively and put in a few more wrinkles because we’ll be able to speed it up a little bit.”

Kraemer also said the team intends to utilize more dropback play action in the passing game, as opposed to the rollout concepts it employed last year. 

To that end, the Hodags installed a couple of base plays on Thursday and also went over its route combinations for when the Northwoods 7-on-7 Passing League kicks off this Thursday in Eagle River. 

On the defensive end, the team went through its base alignment and coverage principles of its Hodag Hybrid scheme, which can be a 3-4 or a 4-4 based on the opposing personnel on offense. Aside from some minor tweaks, the scheme remains relatively unchanged from last year. Kraemer said the goal for Thursday was to make sure it could run its base defensive coverage during 7-on-7. 

“I don’t ever like playing junk coverage in 7-on-7. I like making sure our guys are communicating like they would in a game,” he said. “That’s important, defensively to get the shell and formation recognition down.”

The Northwoods 7-on-7 League will run every Thursday between June 13 and July 18, with the exception of July 4. The location will alternate between Northland Pines, Lakeland and Rhinelander. Additionally, the team is slated to take part in the Wisconsin 7 on 7 state championships Saturday, June 23, hosted by UW-Oshkosh. 

Thursday’s roughly three-hour practice included individual and team sessions for both the offense and the defense. Even with an emphasis on getting ready for 7-on-7, Kraemer said it was a key day for his offensive and defensive linemen.

“For our linemen, it’s about building camaraderie and building their skills that they can work on during the summer, so they can gain some drills they can do on their own, come out here and work together,” he said. “I think this group is going to be one of our tightest-knit. I’m sure they’re going to work together all summer on the things they need to work on and build as the summer goes on.”

On the defensive side, the team began the process of figuring out who will take the role of hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end last held by James Heck, who served as a key communicator for the unit last year. 

“He was kind of the guy that ran the defense and lined us up last year. I think we have a couple of guys that can fill that spot, but that’s a big hole to fill,” Kraemer said. 

The Hodags got off to a hot start last year, beginning the year 4-0 prior to a shutout loss to rival Antigo in the Bell Game. Rhinelander won only one of its final five regular season games, a 7-0 win at Merrill in Week 8 that allowed the team to become playoff eligible. Rhinelander bowed out of the playoffs in Level 1 with a 56-6 loss at Onalaska. 

The Hodags are slated to return six players who received All-Great Northern Conference recognition last fall. 

Rhinelander will kick off the 2024 season at home against Ashland Friday, Aug. 23. That game is now a non-conference contest as Ashland and Hayward both move from the Great Northern Conference to the Heart O’North this year. They have been replaced in the GNC by Tomahawk and Wausau East.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].

    Quarterback Truman Lamers prepares to throw a pass during an RHS football a mini-camp at Mike Webster Stadium, Thursday, June 6. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

    Logan Schwinger, right, blocks teammate Tyler Chariton during an RHS football a mini-camp at Mike Webster Stadium, Thursday, June 6. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

    Linemen, from left to right, Bo Stott, Landon Webster and Travis Trickey engage in a three-way tug-of-war in a drill during an RHS football a mini-camp at Mike Webster Stadium, Thursday, June 6. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

    Zach Germain works on his break off the snap in a defensive back drill during an RHS football a mini-camp at Mike Webster Stadium, Thursday, June 6. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)