Still a chance for Raiders, but it won’t be easy
WEEK 8 FOOTBALL
While a 28-14 home loss to Rhinelander in week five was disappointing, being Medford’s first Great Northern Conference loss since the 2018 finale in Ashland, the Raiders also knew they couldn’t quit playing.
Two wins later, they have their shot to earn a piece of the GNC title.
Getting that piece of first place won’t be easy. Homecoming Friday brings in a redhot Mosinee squad that has not lost since a 14-7 opening-week defeat to Stratford. At 5-0 in the GNC, the Indians are hungry for an outright title, which they would, in all likelihood, get if they beat Medford.
But, a Medford upset would create the possibility of a tie with the Indians and Rhinelander, whose unbeaten start to the season ended with a 14-7 loss at Mosinee Friday.
Kickoff for Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m., capping a busy day of homecoming activities at Medford Area Senior High.
Under head coach Craig Martens, Mosinee is again making things happen with an offense that features a potent short passing game, led by quarterback Trevor Garski. But Medford head coach Ted Wilson said there’s more than that to respect about the 6-1 Indians.
“They’re very, very good,” Wilson said. “The Garski kid is playing really well at quarterback. Maybe more impressive than their offense is their defense. Their defense is really stout this year. Their two linebackers (Nolan Harris and Davin Stoffel) are playing really well. They flow very well to the ball. They held Rhinelander to less rushing yards than we did. Their defense is very senior-dominated and they seem to have their kids flying to the ball really quickly.
“They have a lot of seniors starting on both sides of the ball. In football that’s a pretty important thing. When you’re a senior dominant team usually you’re pretty good and they’ve got some good players.”
Mosinee’s defense pitched a shutout in Friday’s win over the Hodags, holding Rhinelander’s standout running back Cayden Neri to just 68 yards on 20 carries and its other solid back, Caleb Olcikas, to just 13 yards on eight carries. Rhinelander’s only touchdown came on an interception from its defense. The Hodags, who had been averaging 380 yards per game in league play, had just 142 against the Indians, who have allowed about 120 per game in four GNC contests.
Medford’s defense will need to be assignment- sure and tackle well against the Indians’ spread attack, which starts with Garski, who has completed 67% of his passes (130 of 194) for 1,649 yards and 19 touchdowns with just three interceptions. It is more of a possession pass game, but that doesn’t mean the Indians won’t go for the home run at times. Keagan Jirschele has 45 catches for 644 yards and eight touchdowns. Stoffel is a big target who has 32 catches for 482 yards and five scores, including the game-winner against the Hodags on Friday.
“The athletes they try to get open in space between the Jirschele and the Stoffel kid and how good Garski has been playing will be tough,” Wilson said. “We’ll have to pressure the quarterback and try to cover as well as we can. We can’t give him all day to pass back there. If we do, he’s going to pick us apart.”
When Mosinee runs, Garski and Barnes Bunkelman do most of the work. Bunkelman has just 36 attempts, but he’s averaged 7 yards on those carries.
Medford is coming off two big offensive games in wins over Hayward and Antigo, two teams that will finish in the bottom half of the GNC standings. The Raiders will need to sustain and finish drives and avoid the turnover bug that hurt them dearly in the loss to Rhinelander to pull off a win on Friday.
_ The Gilman Pirates have one more hurdle to clear before setting up a potential winner-take-all showdown with McDonell for the Central Wisconsin West crown next Friday. First, Gilman needs to take care of host Alma Center Lincoln this Friday.
The Hornets have put up some points, but they have given up a ton of them recently, having been beaten 78-38 by Phillips, 56-0 by McDonell Central and 76-52 by Bruce in their last three outings. They are 0-3 in league play and 1-5 overall, including a non-conference forfeit to Newman Catholic. Lincoln beat Marion-Tigerton 36-8 in week one for its only win.
Lincoln is the most pass-oriented team in the CWWC. Jace Paul took over the quarterbacking duties following the graduation of one of the state’s better throwers of the past few years, Jack Anderson. He was 12 of 15 for 215 yards in the opening win and threw for 239 yards and six touchdowns against Bruce. He had a huge game on Sept. 17 against the solid Phillips team Gilman just beat, throwing for 388 yards and four scores.
Defensively though, Lincoln has allowed 608 yards to Phillips, 529 yards to Bruce and 404 yards to McDonell the past three weeks.
_ The Rib Lake-Prentice Hawks head west –– way west –– for their firstever Lakeland Conference meeting with the Grantsburg Pirates, who are celebrating homecoming this week.
Grantsburg is on a mid-season roll, having won three straight games, including a 40-0 win at Marathon last week and a 42-0 blowout win over Webster in conference play two weeks ago. The Pirates’ hopes for the conference championship were likely crushed on Sept. 3 with a 48-14 home loss to Hurley in the league opener.
Offensively, Grantsburg runs primarily out of spread formations, but the Pirates will occasionally bring quarterback Aaron Burkman and run some power sets. Passing is their primary way of gaining yards. Burkman has completed 52% of his passes thus far for 908 yards and 11 touchdowns. Four Pirates have caught at least 10 passes, led by Zach Miller with 25 catches for 449 yards and three scores.
Aidan Burkman is the bigger of the two running backs and had a huge game at Marathon with 172 yards and two scores on just 10 carries. Isaac Quimby is the other main backfield option and he is a receiving threat as well.
