Depth at a premium for Hodag football entering season

With the start of fall practice just one week away, Rhinelander High School football coach Aaron Kraemer says he is emphasizing getting as many athletes as possible ready to play come week one.

That was seen in the way the Hodags divvied up their personnel and coaches during last week’s Hodag team camp, which concluded on Thursday. The 60-some players in attendance were essentially split into two even groups, with the upperclassmen practicing in one set and the underclassmen in another. 

That’s a departure from last year, where the freshmen were essentially in one segregated group with dedicated JV2 coaches. Kraemer said the change this year all comes down to a matter of making sure everyone gets more reps. 

“We felt like last year, when we had sophomores, juniors and seniors together, we had a lot of guys sitting around standing around,” he said. “And we didn’t have the reps being taken that were needed to be taken, and guys weren’t ready. When we did have injuries, guys weren’t ready to play because they weren’t getting the reps.”

On the varsity side, Rhinelander had six two-way starters last year for its season-opener against Ashland. The Hodags also had six two-way starters for their season finale against Merrill, however only three of them were two-way starters in both of those contests, as injuries and attrition took their toll during the year. 

    Landon Webster, left, works against Caden Sieker in a blocking drill during Hodag Football Team Camp at Mike Webster Stadium Monday, July 21. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Kraemer said, in a perfect world, Rhinelander would have no two-way starters come this year’s opener Aug. 22 at Ashland. That’s not say there won’t be any players who can or will play both sides of the ball at some point, rather it goes back to the emphasis on depth and ensuring the team is healthier once it gets into the heart of the Great Northern Conference season. 

“I made it very, very clear to my guys that I want to try to start 22 at the beginning,” he said. “And the reason why is because we’ve gone through a lot of pain and suffering mid-year. Every single year, we get to the home stretch when we need wins or we’re playing against rivals and we’re missing guys, because we’re injured. And the reason why is I think we’re overused, overtired and when that happens, fatigue sets in. Your brain starts to step back away from the small things it needs to do, your body needs to do, and you get hurt. You get put in compromised positions. 

“That wear and tear on the body is important, and so we need to make sure that we’re protecting our players and making sure that our guys are ready to play. I’ve been very clear with our seniors and juniors — you have to be ready to play. Every single person has to be ready to play, and they’re getting the reps that they need to be able to do that.”

Kraemer noted the added bonus, at the underclassmen level, it that it has allowed those players to get more position-specific coaching during camp. 

Though the Hodags are replacing five starters on offense from last year, Kraemer said his team’s further along than the past couple of seasons in its playbook install. Part of that is because it’s Rhinelander’s third year running a Wing-T based system and part of it can be chalked up to the few additional contact days the Hodags had this summer, with the WIAA loosening its limitations on summer contact. 

“We’re further ahead than we were the year before. Even though we’ve plugged new pieces in, guys have are stepped up and they’ve remembered things and they’re doing things the right way,” Kraemer said. 

    Abe Gretzinger throws a pass during Hodag Football Team Camp in the Hodag Dome Wednesday, July 23. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Kraemer noted that the team has spent additional time working on the passing game in contact days and 7-on-7 play. A pair of juniors — Abe Gretzinger and Rowan Wiczek — split the bulk of the reps at quarterback last week as the Hodags look the fill the role vacated after Truman Lamers graduated.

“I think we’ve done a great job completing passes. Our receivers are doing a good job going, getting (the ball). And so things have been good that way and the extra days of practice have helped us out. Now, would I’ve wanted everybody to be there all summer? Yeah, but are we picking it up faster than we did last year? Absolutely. I think it has a lot to do with that.”

The Hodags will need to replace six starters on the defensive side of the ball, and Kraemer said much of last week was focused on the team’s base 3-4 scheme.

“Defensively, it’s all about fundamentals. Defense is about alignment, stance, key read, assignment. I mean, so if you can align correctly, you can play well. If you can get in the correct stance and get the correct key read and just do your job defensively, it’s fine. So we’re doing a lot of base. We’re figuring out base and that’s looking good right now.” 

Rhinelander is looking to bounce back from an injury-plagued 3-6 campaign in which it dropped its final five games of the season to miss out on the WIAA playoffs for the second time in three seasons. The Hodags went 1-6 in the GNC last year and lost to all three of its closest rivals — Antigo, Lakeland and Tomahawk — in game that were decided by eight points or fewer. 

“We’ve done a lot of discussion about honor discipline, sacrifice, and those are the pillars of our program, that’s what we need to go back on,” Kraemer said. “I really do think that over the past couple of years, we’ve maybe gone away from that and not made that to centerpiece of our program, and reminded kids about what their purpose is and what our purpose is as a football program. We’ve really hit that hard this week, kids are understanding it and we’re growing as a team and as a unit.”

Last week’s camp represented the final offseason contact the Hodag coaches could have with their players. This week serves as a WIAA-mandated dead period for football teams prior to the beginning of practice Aug. 5. 

The Hodags will take part in a five-team scrimmage at Antigo Aug. 15 prior their Week 1 contest against the Oredockers. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].