Too much to handle: Lakeland rallies past Hodags in Axe Game

Abe Gretzinger threw for four touchdowns, the Hodags forced four turnovers and yet neither stat was enough to get the Northwoods Axe back inside the trophy case at Rhinelander High School for the first time in four years.

Justin Doud-Sero rushed for three touchdowns and Lakeland scored twice in the final 6:42 of regulation to beat the Hodags 43-32 last Friday night at Mike Webster Stadium. 

The game had a bit of everything. There were three touchdowns in the span of four plays during the third quarter, there was a defensive touchdown and even a safety. Unfortunately for Rhinelander, there was no victory over the rival T-Birds as the Hodags dropped to 1-2 and Lakeland improved to 3-0.

“I told the boys before the game, I said, it’s going to be won in the second half. And that’s what happened. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way,” Hodag coach Aaron Kraemer told WOBT AM/FM after the game.

    Rhinelander’s Rowan Wiczek catches a touchdown behind Lakeland’s Will Backhaus during the fourth quarter of a GNC football game a Mike Webster Stadium Friday, Sept. 5. Wiczek finished with seven catches for 113 yards and two scores in the Hodags’ 43-32 loss. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rowan Wiczek and Evan Shoeder each went over 100 yards receiving and caught a pair of touchdown passes for Rhinelander. Wiczek hauled in an 11-yard pass from Gretzinger with 8:55 remaining following a muffed Lakeland punt to give the Hodags a 32-29 lead. That proved to be not enough, however. 

Rhinelander thought it had the T-Birds stopped on the ensuing possession when Deklan McQuade underthrew Tyson Redman on a third-and-18 attempt. However, Ben Olson was flagged for defensive pass interference despite replay showing that Olson hardly made contact, if any at all, on Redman on the play. 

The T-Birds converted on the ensuing third-and-3 and, two plays later, sophomore Logan Burrows scored from 28 yards out for what proved to be the winning score. 

Rhinelander turned it over on downs on its next possession and Lakeland effectively ran out the clock from there, scoring the clinching touchdown from Doud-Sero from two yards out with 36 seconds to play. 

    Lakeland’s Tyson Redman falls while being pursued by Rhinelander’s Ben Olson on a pass route during the fourth quarter of a GNC football game a Mike Webster Stadium Friday, Sept. 5. Olson was flagged for pass interference on the play, keeping alive a drive that resulted in Lakeland’s go-ahead touchdown. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

“Upset about a pass interference call on Ben Olson late, which gave them (another chance),” Kraemer said. “The drive ended up in a touchdown after we were up, but you can’t really do anything about it. The refs are going to call a game that they want to and the way that they see it.”

Friday’s game was full of big plays from the onset. The Hodags scored on their second play from scrimmage as Gretzinger lateraled to Cyrus Leisure for a 54-yard run and the Hodags forced Lakeland turnovers on each of the first two possessions. 

Lakeland roared back, however, returning a punt to the Rhinelander 21 and scoring two plays later on Doud-Sero’s first touchdown of the night — this one from 13 yards — on the opening play of the second quarter. 

The T-Birds went ahead just two plays later as Evan Zoch jarred free a lateral from Olson, recovered the loose ball at the Rhinelander 20 and took it the rest of the way to make it 13-7.

Rhinelander responded with an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended on a 33-yard score from Gretzinger to Wiczek with 6:47 left in the half. After a Lakeland 3-and-out, Gretzinger found Shoeder from nine yards out to make it 20-13 with 1:34 before the break. That score held as Wiczek intercepted McQuade in the end zone in the final seconds. 

Lakeland tied it midway through the third on a 35-yard catch by Zoch, only to see Rhinelander retake the lead on the very next offensive snap as Gretzinger hit Shoeder for a 65-yard catch and run down the right sideline to make it 26-20.

McQuade scrambled for 55 yards on Lakeland’s next offensive snap before Doud-Sero put Lakeland up on a three-yard plunge with 5:13 to play in the third. 

A bad snap on a Rhinelander punt attempt went out the back of the end zone to give Lakeland a safety and a 29-26 lead late in the third quarter, but a pair of Rhinelander special teams plays helped set up the Hodags’ go-ahead score in the fourth. 

Rhinelander partially blocked a punt and returned it to the Lakeland 28 with 10:44 to play. Though Rhinelander went three-and-out, Lakeland muffed the ensuing punt and the Hodags recovered at the 11, setting up the go-ahead score to Wiczek. 

Gretzinger finished the night with 245 yards on 15 of 27 passing. It marked his second straight game throwing for more than 200 yards and multiple touchdowns with no interceptions. Wiczek had seven catches for 113 yards while Shoeder tallied six grabs for 102 yards. 

“Both of those guys, Rowan and Evan, they both are dynamic playmakers, and when they have an opportunity to go get the ball, they do it,” Kraemer said. “They did it tonight, really, really well. Early in the game, it was clear that they were going to give us the outside, just the edges on those types of plays. They were able to win on our out play. With that, then they started overplaying some of those routes and we were able to beat them deep.” 

    Rhinelander’s Sam Zwaard attempts to tackle Lakeland’s Evan Zoch during the first quarter of a GNC football game a Mike Webster Stadium Friday, Sept. 5. Zoch caught eight passes for 132 yards and a touchdown against Rhinelander. The Hodags have allowed 100-yard receivers in back-to-back games and face another efficient passing attack tonight at Wausau East. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

McQuade was 16 of 26 passing for Lakeland and found Zoch eight times for 132 yards. After not allowing a pass completing in their Week 1 loss at Ashland, the Hodags have now allowed 100-yard receivers in back-to-back games after Cade Schlapper had 143 yards on 10 grabs in Hayward’s 34-22 loss to Rhinelander in Week 2. 

“We have to either figure out, structurally, how we’re going to defend a receiver like Evan Zoch,” Kraemer said. “I mean, Evan Zoch was great for them tonight. So how are we going to defend a number one receiver that really is dynamic?”

Rhinelander became to first team to rush for more than 100 yards against Lakeland this season, compiling 101 yards on 30 carries. Leisure finished with 71 yards on 10 carries. Josh Willoughby, in his first game as the starting tailback in place of the injured Myles Eagleson (wrist), carried seven times for 25 yards. 

McQuade added 56 yards on the ground for Lakeland, Burrows had 11 carries for 49 yards and Doud-Sero had six carries for 23 yards. 

The 75 combined points were the most scored in a Rhinelander-Lakeland game since 2017 when Rhinelander won at Lakeland, 49-34

Wausau East tonight

Last Friday’s loss sets the stage for a pivotal Week 4 contest tonight at Wausau East in which both teams may need a win to get their season back on track. 

East, like Rhinelander, comes in 1-2 following a pair of close losses. The Lumberjacks fell to No. 5 (D3) La Crosse Logan 29-21 at Thom Field in Week 2 and lost to No. 6 (D5) Tomahawk 11-10 last week on a blocked 40-yard field goal as time expired. 

“It’s a great matchup,” Kraemer said. “It’s two teams that maybe are a little bit spurned by the losses — for us Week 1 and 3 and for them, Weeks 2 and 3. It’s a bounce back game for either one of us and we want to be on the right end of that.”

Though Tomahawk held East to 226 yards of offense last week, the Lumberjacks have a balanced attack behind junior quarterback Xander Klein. He has competed 70% of his passes for 512 yards with four touchdowns and an interception so far this season. Junior Henry Maahs (10 receptions, 222 yards, 4 TDs) and senior Kayden Meverden (9-123-0) have been his top targets so far this year. 

Senior tailback Iain Stahel is averaging 5.1 yards per carry as he’s racked up 247 yards and two touchdowns on the ground so far this season. Stahel had Wausau East’s only touchdown, an early 41-yard score, in last year’s 28-7 loss to Rhinelander. 

Klein, meanwhile, was more involved in the running game last week, rushing for a season-high 30 yards on 10 carries. 

“Meverden’s a good player and they have several good receivers, and their quarterback can sling it a little bit. We’re going to have to make sure that we’re aware, we hustle to the ball and we get them down right away,” Kraemer said.

While the Hodags have thrown for more than 200 yards in the each of the last two contest, they’re facing a Wausau East pass defense that’s allowed only 65 yards combined through the air in the first three games. East has been solid in run defense, allowing 170 yards per game, through all six touchdowns scored against the Lumberjacks so far have come on the ground. 

Senior Peyton Nest (32 tackles, 10 TFL, 2 1/2 sacks), junior Aiden Kilde (31 tackles, 6 TFL, 1 sack) and Meverden (19 tackles, TFL, 2 INTs) have been the top defensive players for the Lumberjacks so far this season. 

“It’s about being able to block to the whistle and get bodies on until the whistle limit penetration because it they like to bring a lot of heat, and then just get our backs out in space. And we feel like when we can do that, we can be really successful,” Kraemer said.

Thom Field, the home for Wausau East and West, was a place Rhinelander was quite familiar with back in its days in the Wisconsin Valley Conference.  However, tonight marks Rhinelander’s first game there since 2018 — a game won by Wausau East 13-12.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].