Medford rolls over Hodags 43-13

MEDFORD — The Rhinelander High School football team ran into a red and white buzzsaw Thursday night. 

The Hodags had no answer for Paxton Rothmeier and Medford’s run game. The Raiders racked up 448 yards of offense — all on the ground — and defeated the Hodags 43-13 at Raider Field.

Rothmeier had 311 of those yards and four touchdowns as he took over the lead in the race for the state rushing title. Evan Wilkins added another 107 yards and two scores as the Raiders — as they have with every other team in the GNC — had their way with the Hodags. 

The result clinched a share of the Great Northern Conference title for Medford while dropping Rhinelander to 1-5 in the league, all but mathematically eliminating the Hodags from playoff contention.

“They’re a physical team. They’re well-coached. You knew what you were getting coming in,” Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer said. “We had some really nice things, some really good plays. We had some really good defensive plays in the middle of the first half. We got the ball in some opportune places. We had some good kick returns that set us up in good spots, but it was just about execution. They execute well and they do a really nice job.”

It was the Rothmeier show for the Raiders early and often on Thursday. His first run of the night went for 40 yards and set the tone for the evening. He capped off Medford’s opening possession with a 12-yard score, carried the ball all six plays on a drive that resulted in Medford’s second touchdown early in the second quarter and added a 60-yard score that helped Medford build a 30-0 lead at halftime. 

Rothmeier put the cherry on top on the opening play of the second half, with one more house call from 63 yards that moved him to No. 1 in the state in rushing yards (1,785) and second in rushing touchdowns (24) pending the rest of Week 8’s play. 

“Some of those plays he had some really nice holes to run through. The offensive line did an amazing job for them opening up holes, especially on the big runs,” Kraemer said.

Wilkins added a score from six yards out in the final minute of the opening half and busted off a long run of 57 that put the Raiders up 43-0 with 7:40 left in the third. 

    Rhinelander’s Zach Germain is tackled by Medford’s Evan Paul during the second quarter of a GNC football game at Medford Thursday, Oct. 10. (Matt Frey/Star News)
  

Rhinelander did have some success later in the contest, albeit against some of the Raiders’ reserves. Tyler Chariton scored from four yards out late in the third quarter and Sam Zwaard notched his third rushing score of the year on a 22-yard run late in the fourth. 

The Hodags finished the night with a season-low 170 yards of offense, most of which came in its last two drives. Truman Lamers completed 5 of 12 passes for 70 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Zwaard led the Hodags with 37 yards while Chariton added 30 on the ground and caught a 29-yard screen pass. 

Trainer’s room

The odds were stacked against Rhinelander from the start, faced with a short week and a long list of injuries. Rhinelander was without its top two rushers — Cyrus Leisure (knee) and Logan Schwinger (ankle). The Hodags also played without two-way lineman Caden Sieker (shoulder) and linebacker Mathias Fugle (knee), among others who had been previously sidelined with injuries.

“We had five seniors out tonight. That’s hard to look over and see those guys standing on the sideline and be willing to give you all. They did that,” Kraemer said. 

The injuries tested Rhinelander’s depth. Josh Willoughby, Logan Leonard and Ryley Hull got their first varsity carries of the season in the contest and the Hodags had a number of underclassmen spelling starters who were pressed into starting both ways. 

“The guys that are playing, they’re giving everything they’ve got, but they’re playing a lot of snaps because we’re really light. I’m really proud of the way our sophomores and juniors that play on JV stepped up tonight,” he said. 

Missed opportunity

Rhinelander struggled on offense early in the game, going 3-and-out on its first three drives, but was still somewhat within shouting distance thanks to a defensive stand inside the 10 on Medford’s second drive of the game. 

The Hodags finally found traction on their fourth drive but, as it has much of the season, struggled to score in the red zone. Rhinelander thought it had finally bucked that trend when, on fourth-and-goal from the 6, the team ran a double reverse that got receiver Rowan Wiczek into the end zone — but the play was nullified by a chop block penalty. Lamers was sacked on the next play, giving the Raiders the ball at the 40. Rothmeier scored on the following snap turning what could have been a 14-7 deficit into a 22-0 hole.

“The big thing is you can’t make mistakes against teams like this. You have to execute every single play to beat a really, really good team,” Kraemer said.

Second-half success

Rhinelander had negative net rushing yards until late in the third quarter. The Hodags finally got moving as Lamers found Wiczek for 12 yards on third and 10 and Chariton added a 13-yard run on third and 4. 

Lamers hit tight end Evan Shoeder for 26 yards to get Rhinelander down to the Medford 4 and Chariton punched it in from there for his first career varsity touchdown — and an important one for the senior who missed the first six games of this season due to a leg injury suffered during the second week of the preseason. 

“Tyler’s a special player and it sucked we had to have him out so early in the season,” Kraemer said. “It was an injury during a tackling drill that just set us back ...  He’s someone who could be doing a lot more for us but, because of the injury, it kind of set him back. I’m happy he got into the end zone. That’s a great feeling for him, as a senior, getting in. I’m hoping he has a few more before the end of it.”

The Hodags turned the ball over to the backups midway through their final drive. Chandler Servent scrambled for 23 yards on third and 14, keeping the drive alive and setting up Zwaard for a 22-yard score two plays later. 

Conference implications

Medford won at least a share of its seventh conference title as a member of the GNC and its first since 2020, when it defeated Rhinelander in the final week of the regular season in a de facto conference title game.

Medford can win the title outright with a victory at Mosinee this Friday. Doing so would likely secure a high seed for the Raiders in the WIAA Division 3 tournament. Kraemer said Medford has a team capable of making a deep run as it looks to advance beyond the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

“I’m hoping they play really well in the playoffs and the represent our conference in a great light. They certainly can. That team is very good,” he said. 

The finale

For all intents and purposes, Thursday’s loss ended Rhinelander’s playoff chances. Going into Week 8 WisSports.net projected six teams with 3-4 conference records would be left out of the WIAA tournament. 

Rhinelander could somehow still be alive if it beats Merrill at home this Friday night and there are a number of upsets that get all the 3-4s in and leave a few spots open for teams with 2-5 conference records, but it would take a myriad of outcomes beyond the Hodags’ control to make it into the playoffs. 

Kraemer said he had accepted Rhinelander’s likely postseason fate and will treat Friday night’s game against the Bluejays as a chance to celebrate this year’s seniors while trying to build some momentum going into the offseason. 

“For us it really is just ending on a positive note and doing what we can to set the offseason in the right direction,” he said. “We know we’re not going to get in, so there’s nothing to lose. Let’s just play our best game, have our seniors play their best game, let’s have them go out on a high and lead the underclassmen into the offseason with a big win.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].