Hodags in for key GNC battle; Pirates open CWWC play; Hawks hit the road
WEEK 5 FOOTBALL
The season’s midpoint arrives already with a key matchup in the Great Northern Conference, the league opener for Gilman in eight-man football and a test for the Rib Lake-Prentice Hawks against a former Marawood Conference rival.
_ At Raider Field, the first real headliner matchup of the season in the Great Northern Conference will take place Friday at 7 p.m. when Medford hosts undefeated Rhinelander.
The Hodags come in at 4-0 overall but this is clearly their toughest test so far. After coasting to wins over Tomahawk, Milwaukee Riverside, Lakeland and Hayward, they will be anxious to prove to themselves and everyone else in the area they are for real.
Medford’s coaches have certainly noticed that running backs Cayden Neri (88 attempts, 869 yards, 9.9 yards per carry, 11 touchdowns) and Caleb Olcikas (41 attempts, 390 yards, 9.5 yards per carry, six touchdowns) have been a formidable one-two punch so far.
“They’re really talented, they’re really good,” Medford head coach Ted Wilson said. “The Neri kid is really fast to the edge. They have a nice group of linemen in front of them. They’re a really nice team. They’re kind of the complete package with the two nice backs there. The quarterback (Jacksen Smith) has been playing pretty decent too, though they haven’t used him a ton. If you’re four games in and a kid has almost 900 rushing yards you’re doing something right.”
Defensively, the Hodags have been stout with the first-team defense allowing just one touchdown so far. Like Medford’s game with the T-Birds on Friday, that came early against Lakeland after the T-Birds got a big kickoff return. Rhinelander went on to win that game 327. They blew out Hayward 41-0 on Friday. Wilson said the Hodags are impressive chasing down runners sideline to sideline. It will be interesting to see how they physically stack up against Medford’s more straight-ahead approach.
Medford has won this game 10 straight years, including last year’s 24-7 triumph in Rhinelander that clinched the GNC title. Several of those 10 wins were in blowout fashion but that almost certainly won’t be the case this time around. Wilson said it’s impressive how fourth-year head coach Aaron Kraemer has transformed the Hodags from finesse to physical in his short tenure.
“The head coach is doing a great job,” Wilson said. “He’s got those kids buying into the idea that they’re going to run the ball and play stout defense. I’ve said it for years, I think that’s the recipe for success in high school football. They’ve definitely transitioned out of that into a power football team.”
_ The top-ranked Gilman Pirates easily got through their three crossover games with Central Wisconsin East Conference foes. Now they turn their focus to defending their Central Wisconsin West title, starting with visiting New Auburn on Friday at 7 p.m.
After an opening cancellation with Greenwood, the Trojans were blasted 56-0 by second-ranked Newman and rebounded this past weekend with a 42-32 win over Marion-Tigerton.
WisSports.net stats show New Auburn rushed for 555 yards on 50 attempts in the win, including 203 yards on 20 carries from Ethan Lotts, 194 yards on 18 carries from Matt Elmhorst and 151 yards on just 10 carries from Braden Johnson.
Gilman won last year’s meeting 65-6.
“They do get after it more than any team we’ve seen so far,” Gilman head coach Robin Rosemeyer said. “They’ll blitz a lot on defense, they did against us last year. Offensively, it’s a power run game, a lot of I-formation just like us. They’ll run at us, but they did well last week with some misdirection stuff.”
Friday’s game is Parents Night and the living members of Gilman’s first football team, the 1951 squad, will be honored in a celebration of 70 years of Pirates football.
_ For the second straight week, the Rib Lake-Prentice Hawks will get credit for a forfeit victory in the Lakeland Conference no matter what happens on the field. This Friday’s matchup features a trip to former Marawood rival Auburndale.
The Eagles are also going through the forfeit game. They got one in week three and will get one this week due to Thorp and Athens bailing from the Marawood this year for eight-player football. The Hawks will be credited with a forfeit over Flambeau this week for the same reason.
The Eagles are a minute away from being 3-0 on the field. They blew out Menominee Indian 48-0 in week one, lost 22-18 on a touchdown with 44 seconds left against Wisconsin Rapids Assumption and jumped ahead early and outscored Pittsville 42-20 this past Friday.
As usual under veteran head coach Jay Anderson, Auburndale’s offense presents some challenges with a strong run/pass balance that can be unusual in small-school, high-school football.
Trayton Weber has completed 31 of 53 passes for 467 yards in three outings and has nearly 200 rushing yards as well. Terrance Roberson has surpassed 100 rushing yards in two of Auburndale’s games and Alex Willfahrt has caught 11 passes for 194 yards to lead the receiving core as six different players have caught at least one pass.
“They’re another athletic team,” Hawks’ co-head coach Jonah Campbell said. “Defensively they’re aggressive up front with their slants and some of their linemen. They attack the ball. They have the ability on offense to spread the ball out and put up points. The biggest challenge is going to be slowing that down. I think we can still run the ball. We moved the ball against Webster. Against Abbotsford we were able to move the ball and capitalize. Each week our offense has been getting better. I think we can move the ball, it’s just a matter of if we can hang with a team that spreads you out with its wide receivers and that type of offense.”
