Edgewood too much for Hodag football in playoff opener

MADISON — The Rhinelander High School football team made Madison Edgewood work for a playoff victory on Friday night but, ultimately, the top-seeded Crusaders wore down the underdog Hodags.

Quarterback Gannon Bagstad ran for 151 yards, threw for 77 and accounted for four total touchdowns as Edgewood defeated Rhinelander 35-7 at Breese Stevens Field.

As it had in the final three games of the regular season, Rhinelander had multiple chances to get on the scoreboard late in the first half and into the second, but was unable to do so until Evan Shoeder snagged a 17-yard pass from Abe Gretzinger early in the fourth quarter. By then, Edgewood had already scored 35 points and methodically wore down the Hodag defense, scoring on each of its first five possessions. 

Despite the loss, coach Aaron Kraemer said he appreciated the effort his squad put forth in a heavy underdog role.

“I’m just really proud of the seniors tonight. Obviously, it’s not the way that we wanted it to end. I think if we execute a little bit better offensively and we just dig in a little bit defensively, the score is a little bit closer and maybe we got a shot to win,” Kraemer said. “As a coach, I could not be more proud of these guys. And I’m really happy the way they stood up to the trip, stood up to this team. Obviously I’m disappointed that it’s all over, but at the same time, when you play some of your best football at the end of the year, you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”

The Hodags struggled to find traction offensive early, while Edgewood chipped away at the Hodag defense. Bagstad ran it in from five yards for the opening score of the game with 4:46 remaining in the first quarter, capping off a 10-play, 54-yard drive for the Crusaders. 

Bagstad hit Dylan Krantz for a 24-yard score and then Will Kelly for a 29-yard catch and run as Edgewood went ahead 21-0 with 1:40 left in the first half. 

Rhinelander drove down to the Edgewood 28 before the half, but was backed up by a couple of penalties and Rowan Wiczek was taken down at the 17 after picking up 26 yards on a fourth-down screen pass as time expired in the half.

The Hodags got a shot of adrenaline to start the third quarter as Edgewood muffed a pooch kick by Knox Fleming, and Rhinelander recovered at the Crusaders’ 38. However, the Hodags went four plays and out as Kranitz sacked Gretzinger on fourth and 8 — one of six times the Rhinelander junior was sacked in the contest. 

Edgewood responded with an eight-play drive that resulted in a four-yard score by Carter Soma and sent the game into running time with a three-yard run by Bagstad after the Crusaders capitalized on the Hodags’ lone turnover of the night — a missed exchange between Gretzinger and Cyrus Leisure on a handoff. 

“Things started to break down. And, you know, as the season goes on, you got a lot of guys playing both ways, second half, sometimes that will happen,” Kraemer said. “And just mental mistakes offensively and defensively, you know, they played a lot of football tonight.” 

Soma added 55 yards on the ground for Edgewood. Senior Ben Olson led the Hodags with 43 yards on 10 carries, Leisure had seven carries for 34 yards and Wiczek caught nine passes for 90 yards. Gretzinger finished the night with 128 yards on 14 of 22 passing. 

The game was halted for more than 10 minutes in the second quarter when Hodag senior Austin Sparling was injured after dropping a pass along the sideline and getting tackled by Edgewood’s Vincent Bautista. Kraemer stated that Sparling suffered a wrist injury on the play. Though Sparling eventually walked off the field under his own power, he was transported from the stadium via ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital for further treatment.

Afterward, Kraemer commended Sparling for coming out and making the most of his senior season.

“He was a guy that probably wasn’t even going to come out to play this year. Ben (Olson) called him when we were sitting at our first team camp during the summer and said, I told Austin, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’ And he came,” Kraemer said. “He had a lot of fun and he kicked (expletive) this year. He was really a great player, and he was kind of the fun guy, you know, you always saw him every single day smiling and doing what you expected of him.”

For Edgewood, the win was its first in postseason play since 2011 and set up a Level 2 date against Reedsburg this coming Friday. The Hodags, who qualified for the playoffs for the seventh time in school history, have still yet to make it out of the first round during a season that culminated in a true state championship game. Both of Rhinelander’s postseason wins came during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. 

Friday’s loss dropped Kramer’s record to 33-33 in seven seasons at Rhinelander and marked the first time that his career record has dipped to .500 or worse. Regardless, Kraemer said getting a taste of the playoffs for the fifth time in the last seven seasons will benefit the team moving forward.

“It’s all about getting here and having these experiences,” Kraemer said. “I think that the junior class, the sophomore class, the freshman class, they’re going to remember this experience and go on from it.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].