RHS sports recap: Friday, Sept. 26

Football: Rhinelander 54, Antigo 8

The Rhinelander High School football team reclaimed Gene Shepard’s Bell in emphatic fashion Friday night, dominating the Antigo Red Robins in a 54-8 rout at Mike Webster Stadium.

The Hodags scored on five of their first six possessions, building a 35-0 lead at halftime and, at one point, led 54-0 before the Robins scored late against the Rhinelander reserves in the fourth quarter. 

Cyrus Leisure rushed for 102 yards and was one of six Hodags to rush for a touchdown. The others were Ben Olson, Austin Sparling, Sam Zwaard, Trenton Smits and Abe Gretzinger. Rowan Wiczek scored twice for Rhinelander — on a 23-yard reception in the second quarter and a 99-yard interception return in the fourth quarter. 

The 54 points were the most scored by any single team in a Bell Game, surpassing the 52 scored by Antigo in 1992. The 46-point margin of victory is the fourth-largest in the game’s 91-year history.

Rhinelander (3-3, 2-2 Great Northern) travels to Mosinee this coming Friday.

A full report will be published in Tuesday's River News.