Hodag gridders have ups and downs in preseason scrimmage

ANTIGO — Scrimmage day for the Rhinelander High School football team was about what one would expect. There were some flashes, there were some early-season mistakes and there was a chance to get ready before the ball goes in the air for real this coming Friday night.

Though no official score was kept, the Hodags split their three sessions in a five-team scrimmage Friday at Antigo. The Hodags and Wittenberg-Birnamwood had a touchdown apiece in the opening session, Rhinelander got the only score in a session against Crandon and Shawano scored on its final two offensive snaps to take the final session. 

“In the varsity sets, it was just about getting our first and second team in to see where we are strong, where maybe we have to accommodate a little bit with the way we practice,” Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer said.

    Rhinelander’s Abe Gretzinger throws a pass during a football scrimmage against Wittenberg-Birnamwood in Antigo Friday, Aug. 15. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Junior Abe Gretzinger had an up-and-down day in his first live action as the Hodags’ starting quarterback. He threw interceptions on three of his first 10 passes but came back to complete his final eight attempts as he finished the day 10 of 18 for 132 yards according to unoffical stats kept by the River News.

That included a string of three straight completions to tight end Evan Shoeder during the Crandon session, the last resulting in a two-yard score. He added a 38-yard pass to Rowan Wiczek late in the Crandon session and had a 22-yard completion to Shoeder on the next-to-last play against Shawano.

In all, Gretzinger completed passed to five different receivers. Wiczek finished with two catches for 60 yards while Shoeder had five catches for 48 yards.

“A lot of our receivers caught passes. Weston (Kibler) caught a pass. Ryley (Hull) caught a pass, Rowan caught a pass and Evan caught a pass,” Kraemer said. “We got the ball out quick, but some of the secondary reads were open too. So we got to go back, evaluate film with him. 

“We have to be patient because he’s learning. You know, he’s getting his first varsity reps today, and it’s not easy when you go from JV to varsity. There’s a speed difference. But, I thought he commanded the huddle well. I want him to be a little easier on himself as he’s learning. But proud of him.”

    Rhinelander’s Evan Shoeder looks to stiff-arm a Crandon defender during a football scrimmage in Antigo Friday, Aug. 15. Shoeder unofficially caught five passes for 48 yards and a touchdown in the scrimmage. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Two of Rhinelander’s top ball carriers from last year, Cyrus Leisure and Myles Eagleson, led the way on the ground on Friday. Eagleson carried seven times for 42 yards while Leisure had five carries for 31 yards and added a catch for 13 yards. While they had the bulk of the yardage, junior Josh Willoughby — splitting time at tailback with Eagleson — had both rushing touchdowns. Willoughby scored from two yards out on the final offensive play of the Wittenberg-Birnamwood session and added another two-yard score late in the session against Crandon. 

“As far as tailback is concerned, I like the way that Josh runs the football,” Kraemer noted. “It’s shoulders over toes and I’m finishing forward, and that’s kind of what we need. Myles is a little bit different back than him. He likes to pick his holes, juke and make a move — and he can do that really, really well. But when you need a yard, you need a guy to put his shoulders over his toes and run it, Josh has been doing a really nice job with that. So I’m proud of that, and I’m proud of the rotation we’ve had in the backfield.”

Defensively, the Hodags allowed 166 yards, all on the ground, during the three sessions. While there were 12 running plays that went for no gain or negative yardage, the Hodags allowed a trio of big running plays on the outside. The Chargers had a run of 32 yards that set up a 13-yard touchdown scamper along the edge. Shawano had a 32-yard run that set up a score four plays later. 

“I thought that offensively, it’s just about execution,” Kraemer said. “Our plays were there. It has been happening all week, just one or two things that we need to clean up before we’re ready next week. And then defensively, I thought we played really, really well. The only thing that happened with us is when plays broke out past three yards, we got to get that initial tackle down with that one guy that’s got to make it at the line or at the three-yard mark. So there were some big plays, defensively, given up. But, for the most part, it was stop, stop, stop, and then one big play that hurt us. So we got to eliminate that big play and make the tackle. We were there to make the play. We just got to finish that play.”

Eagleson had a disruptive day from his inside linebacker spot. He was unofficially credited with five tackles for loss and a forced fumble early in the Shawano session that resulted in the lone takeaway of the day by the Hodag defense. Shoeder recovered the fumble. 

One of the primary objectives of any preseason event is to get out of it healthy and it appeared that the Hodags did so for the most part. Leisure came up gingerly after making a tackle downfield late in the Shawano session but was seen walking under his own power afterward. 

With the scrimmage out of the away, attention shifts to the season opener this coming Friday night at Ashland. The Hodags beat the Oredockers 20-0 in last year’s opener in Rhinelander. 

“Ashland is always going to have a big team, as far as size. They got a big group. But I know that coach (Travis) Larson’s going to have them ready,” Kraemer said. “For us, it’s about shoring up the tackling, making sure we get guys down on the first hit on with the first player — not counting on the rally, make the play on your own. And then the next thing offensively, it’s just about execution. We have to take what the defense gives us and be willing to throw it when we need to, and run the ball hard.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].