Raider runaway: Medford trounces Rhinelander 42-12 on homecoming

A Medford team that had struggled through the first seven weeks of the season looked like the Medford of old on Friday night, and the Rhinelander Hodags were powerless to stop it. 

The Raiders rushed for 275 yards, scored on six of their first eight possessions and cruised to a 42-12 win over the Hodags on homecoming night at Mike Webster Stadium.

The Hodags were down defensive linemen Caden Sieker and Travis Trickey due to injuries, and had a difficult time slowing Medford down in the running game. Carson Ingersoll rushed for 110 yards and four touchdowns, Will Wojcik added another 103 yards and a score on the ground and the Raiders averaged nearly 6.9 yards per carry in the contest. 

While the Raiders (3-5, 3-3 Great Northern) excelled offensively, the Hodags (3-5, 2-4) struggled. Rhinelander made it to Medford’s half of the field on all eight of its possessions, but had only a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns against the Raider reserves to show for their efforts. 

“As the game went on, they started to wear us out defensively and offensively, we didn’t help,” Hodag head coach Aaron Kraemer said. “I mean, we put them in positions in field position battle that they were able to win early on in the first half.” 

Medford set the tone early. The Raiders took the opening drive 50 yards on 11 plays, capped off by an Ingersoll three-yard score on fourth and 2. Wojcik had a home run shot on the Raiders’ next drive, taking a toss around right end for 68 yards to give Medford a 16-0 lead after just eight minutes. 

Medford tacked on two more scores in the final five minutes of the first half. Axel Brushaber caught a 10-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Dylan Frey with 4:58 remaining before the break and Ingersoll broke off a 46-yard run that gave Medford a 30-0 lead at halftime. 

Things went from bad to worse for the Hodags to start the second half as Ryley Hull fumbled the opening kickoff, and Medford recovered at the Rhinelander 20. Ingersoll scored on the next play to make it 36-0 and trigger the running-clock rule. The Hodags were forced to punt on their next drive, but Judson O’Malley bobbled the snap and was swarmed under at the Hodag 35. That resulted in a five-play Medford drive that ended with Ingersoll’s fourth and final touchdown of the night to make it 42-0 with 4:09 left in the third. 

“I said at halftime, we just have to come out, and we have to do something good to put our right foot forward,” Kraemer said. “Unfortunate how our second half began, but there’s nothing you could do about that. And I thought that offensively, we stood up after that and got the ball down the field well.”

Rhinelander found traction with a nine-play drive that ended with a seven-yard score from Ben Olson that put the Hodags on the board with 10:40 remaining. O’Malley blocked a punt on Medford’s next possession, setting the Hodags up at the Raider 15. Rhinelander cashed in two plays later as Evan Shoeder caught a 15-yard pass from Abe Gretzinger to account for the final margin.  

While the offense found traction late in the contest, Kraemer said, overall, the offense struggled against a Medford unit that came into the contest allowing more than 300 yards per game.

“I’m really, really, really upset about just some of the things that happened early on in the game, especially offensively. I thought we put ourselves in a difficult position, and we’re going to have to learn from those things this week, and we’re going to have to get better,” he said.

Injury report

    Rhinelander’s Myles Eagleson tackles Medford’s Axel Brushaber following a completion during the third quarter of a GNC football game at Mike Webster Stadium Friday, Oct. 10. Eagleson played his first game since Week 2 for the Hodags, returning from a wrist injury. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Neither Sieker nor Trickey were able to go with their shoulder injuries, leaving the Hodags thin up from against the Medford power running attack. Sam Zwaard also did not play in the second half after leaving the in the second half of the previous week’s loss at Mosinee under concussion protocol. 

Rhinelander attempted to adjust some personnel on the defense to slow down the Medford ground game, but was unable to do so. Kraemer commended those who filled in on defense, including senior Sam Caselton and starting offensive linemen Landon Webster and Parker McCone, but the end result was a second straight week in which the Hodags allowed at least 275 yards on the ground. 

“Any time you’re playing against a really good run team, not having your starting defensive tackle and a defensive end is really rough,” Kraemer said. “Unfortunately, I don’t know if we’re going to have them next week either. So it’s a big thing that we have to stand up. I mean, I know it’s cliché, but it is a next-man up mentality.”

Senior Myles Eagleson (wrist) played for the first time since Week 2 for the Hodags. He played on only the defensive side of the ball with a club on his right hand. 

Foiled again

After failing to cash in on chances early in a 41-14 loss at Merrill, it was more of the same Friday night for the Hodag offense. 

Rhinelander punted on its first two drives as negative plays after crossing midfield put it behind the chains. Gretzinger was intercepted twice in the first half, both times with the Hodags driving inside the Medford 40.

“Offensively, we have to be able to respond to that, and we didn’t tonight. I mean, we moved the football OK,” Kraemer said. “And much like last week, it’s just about not finishing or making a mistake, whether it’s a read or whether it’s a missed block or whatever it may be, just a mistake that puts it behind the sticks, and then we’re trying to fight back for it.” 

Statbook

Cyrus Leisure (knee) was back in the lineup after missing the final three quarters of the Mosinee game and led the Hodags with 81 yards rushing on 12 carries. Ben Olson had five carries for 30 yards.

Gretzinger finished the night 10 of 20 passing for 80 yards. Rowan Wiczek caught six passes for 58 yards in the contest. He also attempted his first rush and first pass of the year on a pair of gadget plays in the first half. His run on a jet sweep went for a 1-yard loss, and he threw incomplete to Gretzinger on a reverse pass.

Playoff implications

Medford came into the week 27th in the D3 playoff rankings and may have done enough with the win to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

Rhinelander, meanwhile, came into the week just outside the cutline in 33rd and did itself no favors. Furthermore, the loss to Medford helped the case of the team directly behind Rhinelander in the standings — Wausau East after the Lumberjacks defeated the Raiders in Week 7. 

Hope is not lost, however, as the Hodags will travel to Merrill (5-3) this coming Friday. While not guaranteed, there’s a good chance a win there would likely vault Rhinelander into the final top 32 and into the postseason.

“The new playoff system rewards beating teams that have beat other teams, and obviously they’re one of the better teams in our conference,” Kraemer said. “And so if you’re able to beat them, you’re going to get the Tier 1 points and the Tier 2 points that you need to get in. And I think that we will as long as we win next week.” 

Up next

Merrill comes in off a 24-3 loss at Tomahawk in a battle of two of the three GNC tri-leaders. Merrill is still mathematically alive to earn a share of the conference title, but would need a win against Rhinelander plus losses from Tomahawk (at Lakeland) and Mosinee (at Medford) to make that happen.

The Hodag defense will likely have its work cut out against a Merrill team that came into Friday night leading the GNC in rushing.

“Merrill is very, very much like what Medford is,” Kraemer said. “They want to run their beast formation up front, two tight ends and three backs, so we’re going to have to do the same thing we did this week in practice, but we have to make sure that we focus up and do it better this next week.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].