Pigskin Preview Week 7: Mosinee at Rhinelander

Following back-to-back one score defeats, the writing is on the wall for the Rhinelander High School football team. With three games remaining in the regular season, the Hodags need to win at least two of them to have a shot to make the WIAA playoffs. Given that one of those games comes on the road next Thursday at GNC-leading Medford, the math becomes very simple. 

It’s a must-win game tonight for the Hodags as they host Mosinee on homecoming night at Mike Webster Stadium. Though the Indians (4-2, 3-1 Great Northern) are the three-time defending conference champions, they’ve look vulnerable the last two weeks in an upset loss to Wausau East followed by a 28-14 win over Tomahawk in which they trailed by a touchdown at halftime.

The last two weeks have left Rhinelander no choice. The Hodags are backed into a corner and coach Aaron Kraemer said his team needs to make like Tom Petty this week — stand their ground and don’t back down. 

“There’s nowhere to back into. There’s nowhere to hide,” he said. “Now it’s simply, we need to stand up and we need to fight. I hope out guys come with that mentality this week, and I think that they will.” 

Kraemer said he knows how different the narrative could be around his team right now had things going a little differently last week at Antigo, the week prior at Tomahawk or back in Week 3 at Lakeland. He’s hoping that a 1-3 record in the GNC may cause some of the upcoming opponents to overlook the Hodags.

“We are less than 20 points away from being perfect. That’s kind of the feeling I have right now,” he said. “We’re a very good team and I think there are going to be teams coming out in the next three weeks that look at the 1-3 record in the conference and say, ‘Well, they’re down and out. We’re going to beat them this week.’ I think we’re going to surprise some people on the way through in the last three weeks.” 

While Mosinee lost to Wausau East 23-22 two weeks ago after failing on a two-point try with just over a minute to play in regulation, its only other loss on the season came back in Week 1 to the No. 2 team in Division 5, Stratford. Kraemer said he expect a fast, athletic team from Mosinee tonight.

“You can always expect that from a Mosinee team,” he said. “They’ve been physical in the past. They’ve been fast in the past and they are that this year. They have breakaway, track-style speed. That’s something we have expected from them since I’ve started as the head coach here.”

Here are five storylines to follow going into the contest. 

Close only counts …

It’s no stretch to argue that the Hodags are perhaps just a handful of plays away from being undefeated at this juncture and already locked into the WIAA playoffs. Rhinelander’s three losses are by a combined 19 points. 

“It’s both positive and a little bit discouraging,” Kraemer said. “You could be 6-0. That’s discouraging, the fact that we lost some close games, but it’s encouraging in a way that we’re right there. We are right there with the best teams in our conference. You look at how the conference has shaken out this year, there’s still a lot of play for.”

There are several common threads in the close games that Rhinelander lost. All three were on the road to teams that the Hodags share a rivalry with either via close proximity or a trophy. Rhinelander trailed at halftime in all three games and had a chance with the ball to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter. 

The other common threads have been mistakes and an inability to cash in on scoring chances. The Hodags failed to score twice in the red zone against Lakeland and three times against Tomahawk. Though Rhinelander was 3 for 4 in the red zone against Antigo, the one miss was a fumble in the third quarter and the Hodags were hurt in other areas. Rhinelander was penalized nine times for 88 yards in the game, including two pass interference calls that aided Antigo’s scoring drive to pull ahead 21-14 in the final seconds of the first half. 

Kraemer said his team must clean up the mistakes to win in tight ball games and noted that the team has worked on simulating late-game scenarios in practice this week with consequences for the side of the ball that ends up on the losing end.

“Make it as a competition in practice so we put that put that pressure on so that we’re prepared for the pressure on Friday nights,” he said. “I think we are prepared for that and I think our kids do believe, but you can train that into a team, too. That’s our goal this week, to put them in those pressure-type situations at practice so they’re prepared on Friday night.” 

Trainer’s room

The Hodags appear to be progressing on the injury front after last week, though Kraemer noted that quarterback Truman Lamers was likely to be limited in practice again as he continues to work through the shoulder/collarbone issue he sustained during the first quarter of the Sept. 20 loss at Tomahawk. 

Lamers was a game-time decision last week at quarterback, but ended up playing on both sides of the ball. 

“He came out relatively unscathed,” Kraemer said. “The difficult thing is when you put a lot of pressure on that AC joint and the shoulder and you’re throwing a lot, it can set you back and we’re right back where we were last week. We have to reevaluate with him and see where he’s at, but if I had money on it, I’d say he’s going to play and he’s going to give everything that he possibly has. I’m really proud of him for that.”

Caden Sieker and Reid Schultz are among those progressing after being limited to one side of the ball last week while playing through injury. Travis Trickey (hand) was also back in the lineup for the first time since Week 2. The Hodags were without Mathias Fugle, who was set to undergo further evaluation on his knee to determine how much more, if any, time he will miss. 

Regardless of whether Fugle’s able to go, the Hodags appear on track to get a boost in depth defensively with the return of senior linebacker Tyler Chariton, who has been sidelined since the second week of the preseason with a lower-leg injury. Kraemer said Monday that Chariton was in line to get snaps this week, at least on the defensive side of the ball. 

Another dual threat

    Mosinee’s Treve Stoffel throws a pass during a GNC football game against Lakeland in Mosinee Friday, Sept. 13. Stoffel has thrown for more than 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns on the season and is also Mosinee’s leading rusher with 376 yards and four scores. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

After going up against Antigo’s Colton Thomae last week, the Hodag defense faces another dual-threat quarterback this week in Mosinee junior Treve Stoffel — the son of Mosinee head coach Kyle Stoffel and younger brother of 2022 GNC offensive and defensive player of the year, Davin Stoffel. 

Treve Stoffel is one of the top passers in the GNC, coming in with a 100.8 passer rating with 1,205 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions through six games. Not only that, but he’s also Mosinee’s leading rusher with 376 yards and four scores on the year. 

“The quarterback’s very fast and when he gets the ball in his hands, he’s pretty dynamic,” Kraemer said. “When you look at him on film, you notice the breakaway speed and you notice him on the veer that he’s going to be a threat.”

From a running standpoint, Mosinee features a veer and option-style ground game, with the occasional jet sweep thrown in. Kraemer said it will be key for his defense to stay assignment sound against the option this week. 

But, Kraemer said, Mosinee forces defenses to pick their poison because of its balance. The Indians will look to run against a light box, and pass when and if the Hodags commit extra personnel to stop the run. They have a big target in the passing game with 6-1 senior Brady Lokken. He’s leading the team with 536 receiving yards and four touchdowns and is a versatile threat who, depending on the formation, can be an inline tight end or split out wide in Mosinee’s four-receiver looks.  

“He’s a guy that can not only play tight end, but he’s great out in space,” Kraemer said. “We’re going to have to be physical with him. We have to make sure we get him covered down when he is singled up, be aware of where he’s at.”

Mosinee has plenty of other weapons in the passing game as six different players have caught at least one touchdown pass on the year. 

Athletic defense

Mosinee comes in allowing 15.5 points and 236.5 yards per game. Kraemer said sees the edge players as the strength of the Mosinee defense, which will be a test for a Rhinelander offense that has found most of its success in the ground game off tackle. 

“We’ve been able to attack the edges really well this season with our jet sweeps and toss plays,” he said. “That’s something they’re going to notice on film. They’re going to put their corners on that this week. We’ve got to get bodies on them, get up underneath them and run.” 

Treve Stoffel has a team-high 70 tackles from his safety position and the majority of Mosinee’s top tacklers reside in the secondary and linebacking core of the team’s 4-3 look. Lokken his proven to be a disrupter at defensive end with a team-best eight tackles for loss on the season.

Learning from others

In order to beat Mosinee, Rhinelander is hoping to use some lessons from the Indians’ last two opponents. Tomahawk rushed for 336 yards against Mosinee last week, including 176 from Brayden Larson and 147 from Tiegen Sarazin. 

“Tomahawk had some success running in the center. We can do that too,” Kraemer said. “We feel pretty good about Myles (Eagleson). He had a pretty good week last week and has had a pretty good last couple of weeks.” 

Wausau East was opportunistic two weeks ago when it upset Mosinee. Iain Stahel returned the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and East didn’t have a turnover in the contest. Mosinee is even in the turnover department on the season, with 11 on both sides of the ball. The Indians have lost seven fumbles to far on the year.

“We’re going to have to make sure that if the ball’s on the ground, it’s our ball,” Kraemer said. “They do put the ball on the ground quite a bit. We’ve got to get the ball in those instances and be opportunistic and get extra offensive possessions from them.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].