Hodags come up aces vs. Jacks

WAUSAU — A nightmare start for the Rhinelander High School football team turned into a dream-like ending for the Hodags, who got a needed bounce-back win Friday night. 

After spotting Wausau East 14 points in the first 4:10 of the contest, the Hodags responded with 28 unanswered points and defeated the Lumberjacks 28-14 at Thom Field.

Rhinelander (2-2, 1-1 Great Northern) rushed for nearly 300 yards in the contest. Both Cyrus Leisure and Ben Olson ran for more than 100 yards. Sam Zwaard added a pair of touchdown runs, and the Hodags beat the Lumberjacks (1-3, 0-2) for a third straight year. 

“We’re happy that we got our first conference win and obviously put ourselves back in a driver’s seat to make some waves as we go on the rest of the season,” Hodag head coach Aaron Kraemer said.

Rhinelander turned the ball over twice in its first four offensive snaps, resulting in a pair of short fields and two touchdowns before the Hodags knew what hit them. 

Abe Gretzinger was stripped on Rhinelander’s first offensive play and East cashed in on the next snap as Xander Klein hit Cayden Meverden for a 23-yard score. Leisure then was separated from the football on a hit by Meverden on a third-and-20 play that Iain Stahel intercepted off a carom. The Lumberjacks went up 14-0 on a 21-yard pass from Klein to tight end Dylan Salyers. 

East nearly made it 17-0, driving down to the Rhinelander 4 before a third-down sack and a missed 30-yard field goal by Gio Gomez roughly four minutes into the second quarter. From there, Rhinelander took over.

    Rhinelander’s Sam Zwaard attempts to break out of an arm tackle attempt by Wausau East’s Cayden Meverden during the second quarter of a GNC football game in Wausau Friday, Sept. 12. Zwaard rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the Hodags’ 28-14 win. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Zwaard — working his way back into the backfield rotation after coming into the season with a hand injury — racked up 57 yards on three straight running plays on Rhinelander’s next possession and paid off a nine-play drive with a two-yard score on a fourth-down run. 

After back-to-back East punts, Rhinelander got down to the 20 in the final seconds of the first half but were unable to convert on three straight pass attempts to the end zone as it trailed 14-7 at halftime.

“When we went into halftime, my message to the kids was this, ‘You weathered the storm. The storm is over. It’s time for us to create our own.’ And they did exactly that,” Kraemer said.

Rhinelander tied it on the opening drive of the second half as Gretzinger hit Olson on a 51-yard catch and run. East committed a holding penalty on the ensuing kickoff and eventually got backed up inside its own 1. A short 13-yard punt by Meverden allowed the Hodags to set up shop at the East 14 and Zwaard gave Rhinelander the lead on a 1-yard run three plays later. 

An East punt pinned Rhinelander at its own 5, but the Hodags answered with their best drive of the night — a 14-play, 95-yard march that took nearly 7› minutes off the clock. It ended with a 12-yard score by Leisure to make it 28-14 with 8:08 remaining. East twice turned it over on downs after that, and the Hodags ran out the clock for the victory.

“I was really proud of the way that we responded, the way that coaches responded, the way the boys responded. Everything you want in a high school football game, coming back to win in the second half, I’m so proud of the guys,” Kraemer said. “In the second half, we out-coached them, we out-played them. That was a very, very nice way to finish the game. You know, with 21 points unanswered in the second half, and to put them away, we had a lot of big drives.”

After throwing for 200-plus yards in back-to-back games, Wausau East limited Gretzinger to 79 yards on 5 of 16 passing Thursday. The extra attention paid to the passing game afforded the Hodags more opportunities in the run game. Rhinelander took full advantage with its misdirection attack, consistently catching an aggressive East defender over-pursuing.

    Rhinelander’s Ben Olson takes a handoff from quarterback Abe Gretzinger during the third quarter of a GNC football game against Wausau East in Wausau Friday, Sept. 12. Olson finished with 171 combined rushing and receiving yards in the Hodags’ 28-14 win. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Rhinelander’s wingbacks had a big night as a result. Leisure rushed for 116 yards. Olson had 108 yards on the ground and another 63 receiving. Zwaard was also up over the century mark until a loss on his last carry of the night made him settle for a 92-yard effort on 12 carries.

“When you have three backs that can be in and they’re all three seniors, that’s something special,” Kraemer said. “We have a dynamic backfield. And that helps when you got two dynamic receivers and a quarterback that can throw it. So offensively, we did a nice job. The offensive line stood up tonight. They handled their stuff late in the game. They were obviously daring us to run the ball, so I just put it in an offensive line’s court and said, ‘Let’s go.’ And they did.”

Klein finished the night 12 of 29 passing for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Meverden had four catches for 121 yards and a touchdown. It marked the third straight game that a receiver has had more than 100 yards and a touchdown against the Hodag defense, but Rhinelander limited Meverden to one catch for 10 yards in the second half. 

Klein faced more pressure in the second half and was sacked three times in the contest. 

“They did a good job getting after the quarterback and getting guys down and stopping the run. And then our back half stood up as the game went on, and they did a great job finishing it out,” Kraemer said.

The win was important for Rhinelander, which sat tied for 33rd in the Division 3 computer rankings entering Friday night’s game. The top 32 teams in the rankings at season’s end will qualify for the WIAA playoffs. 

The Hodags will return home to face a hot Tomahawk squad this coming Friday at Mike Webster. The Hatchets, ranked No. 6 in the Division 5 coaches poll, improved to 4-0 on the season with a 49-0 rout over Antigo Friday night.

“They’re tough. They’re physical. Their coach instills that in them. You can see it on film,” Kraemer said. “We’re going to have to have a physical week of practice and prepare ourselves for that game.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].