Key backs return, line aims to learn fast

As usual, the Medford Raiders start the high school football season viewed as title contenders in the Great Northern Conference and figure to rely on their running game and defense to get to the top of the standings.

The wrinkle they hope to add in 2024 is a bit more speed.

The players who will carry and catch the football most often on offense are experienced, athletic and, as a group, have the ability to get from Point A to Point B quicker than most skill groups head coach Ted Wilson has had in his 19 seasons in that position, which is an exciting thing.

The inexperience on this year’s team is at the line of scrimmage, both offensively and defensively. How quickly the Raiders can get things to mesh up front could be the determining factor in how far this year’s team can go.

“Speed doesn’t necessarily change what we do,” Wilson said Monday. “It just makes our life a little easier as offensive play callers and for linemen to be able to get away with some things that, when you’re a little slower, you can’t. I think offensively it will come along. We’re going to kind of lean on those running backs while our linemen learn and get into better form and understand how to play.”

The Raiders kick off their 2024 season Friday night at 7 p.m. at Holmen, an opponent a Medford team has not seen since the 2002 playoffs. The home opener is set for next Friday, Aug. 30 against Onalaska, the team that eliminated Medford (8-3) in Level 2 of last year’s WIAA Division 3 tournament.

Those two Mississippi Valley Conference opponents give Medford the challenging start the Raiders always look for to prepare for GNC play and follow productive scrimmage sessions this past Friday against host team Menomonie, Edgar and Eau Claire Regis.

“I think it’s been progressing well,” Wilson said. “We’ve learned a lot. Our kids are growing every day. They’re getting better, they’ve gotten in better shape. I thought the scrimmage would be a real eye-opener for us and in that respect it went both ways. We had some very good positives out of the scrimmage and then also some things that we definitely need to fix. And of course most importantly nobody ended up being injured, so we’re healthy. Lots of things to fix, but also definitely some very good things where we seemed to have grown in these first two weeks.”

On offense, the two running backs Medford will rely on most are seniors Paxton Rothmeier and Evan Wilkins. Rothmeier emerged last year as one of the top offensive weapons in the area and a unanimous All-GNC selection, racking up close to 1,500 yards in 11 games and scoring 21 touchdowns. Wilkins scored nine times and gained nearly 500 yards in 67 carries as Medford’s third back. Rothmeier’s shiftiness makes him tough to tackle one-on-one, both carry a physical edge to them and when they get out in space, both can run.

“We knew coming in we’d have to be faster than last year, stronger than last year, more athletic than last year,” Wilkins said. “We put in a lot of time this off-season to get to that point.”

“I put in a lot of time just doing footballspecific drills and also just really working on my speed because that was the main thing I needed to get better at,” Rothmeier said.

“Having Paxton back is a big thing,” Wilson said. “He’s going to be a good player for us. He really takes coaching well, he really works hard, he wants to do well and he plays hard.”

Senior Parker Lissner has won the quarterback job after splitting the snaps last year with the graduated Hank Crass. Senior Hayden Koester is the back-up. Seniors Evan Paul and Charlie Gierl are two more athletic players Medford will have on the field in various positions depending on the formation and have the ability to make things happen.

“We should have good speed on this team,” Wilkins said. “We’ll be able to spread the field a little bit more and use that to our advantage. We’re not the biggest team all around, but we’re definitely one of the fastest.”

Seniors Alex Faude and Owen Klussendorf give Medford size and strength at the tight end positions and senior Tucyr Smola takes over the blocking back position filled last year by Braxton Weissmiller.

The offensive line for week one will feature returning starter and senior Erich Moretz at one tackle with junior Blake Tischendorf next to him at guard. Junior Hunter Jochimsen is at center, junior Zach Gosse will be at guard and sophomore Forest Hartl is set to start at the other tackle spot.

“We have a couple of linemen back, but we have a lot of new kids in different spots,” Wilson said. “We’re kind of a mix of young and old. We really need a game. We need a game to start getting those game reps, that game-like atmosphere.”

The senior backs said they see the linemen getting better in practice each day.

“It’s just going to take experience,” Wilkins said. “That’s what it’s going to be. JV football compared to varsity football is a nightand- day difference. It’s going to take time to figure out how to block a defensive lineman on the varsity level rather than the JV level.”

“It just starts with moving our feet,” Rothmeier said. “That’s what we’ve been working on a lot. They’re getting to know the plays and what they’re supposed to do. We don’t see those mess-ups as much anymore. It’s just about moving our feet and staying consistent.”

Defensively, Medford had another strong season in 2023, ranking second in the GNC at 160 yards and nine points allowed per game. Overall, the numbers bumped up to 225 yards and 16 points per game as the Raiders struggled with the superior passing attacks of New Richmond and Onalaska twice.

This year, however, Medford is hoping the pass defense can be a strength with athletes like Paul, Wilkins and Rothmeier leading a secondary that will also feature senior Sam Hierlmeier and junior Evan Czarnezki. Paul and Wilkins were both named first-team All-GNC defensive players last year.

The front seven in Medford’s 5-2 base look will be completely new.

Faude and Gierl will give Medford size and physical presences at the end positions. Inside on the line, the Raiders figure to rotate several bodies, including Moretz, Tischendorf, Klussendorf, Jochimsen, Forest Hartl and eventually senior Tripp Reamer, who also could be in the offensive line mix as well.

Smola and senior Gage Losiewicz are the starting linebackers. Gosse will find his way onto the field too, whether it’s at linebacker, end or even at nose tackle. “Our defensive backfield is deep. Those guys pretty much all return other than Sam,” Wilson said. “But we are definitely in the front seven very devoid of experience. It doesn’t mean we’re devoid of talent or anything like that. We just don’t have a ton of experience. These first two weeks we’re going to grow a lot and learn a lot.” Holmen, a team that snuck into the playoffs last year and finished 3-7, will provide an opening night challenge, running a flexbone, triple-option offense.

“They look very similar to Rice Lake,” Wilson said. “It’s not an offensive style we’re unfamiliar with. Everybody has their little wrinkles on how they run things. While we have the scrimmage film, it’s just scrimmage film so it’s hard to know exactly what wrinkles they’ll have this year. We’ll do our best to scout it up.”

The GNC looks a little different this year with the exit of Ashland and Hayward and the entrance of Wausau East and Tomahawk, who Medford will play back-to-back on Sept. 27 and Oct. 4. East, who Medford last played in 2019, went 2-8 last year and Tomahawk, who Medford last played in 2010, got into the Division 4 playoffs last year, finishing 4-6 overall, including a non-conference win over Lakeland and a last-second loss to Rhinelander.

Mosinee is the league’s three-time defending champion. Medford won’t see the Indians until the last week of the season, which could make for a big story then. But for now, as it always is in Medford camp, it’s one day, one week at a time.

“We can’t overlook any team,” Rothmeier said. “They’ll all be there to play. We’re shooting to win conference and from there, we’ll see what happens. We’re always looking to make a deep push into the playoffs.”

“It starts with a good regular season,” Wilkins said. “That would put us in a good spot and then we go to work.”

“Mosinee hasn’t lost in three years in our conference,” Wilson said. There is some indication out there that people are picking us to win it, but you gotta beat the team at the top that hasn’t lost a game to be considered and we don’t see them until the end. I’m sure they’ll be good. They have athletes over there, they have the ability to re-load.

“I expect the rest of the conference to be as good if not better than they were last year,” Wilson added. “We have a big target on our back. Medford and Mosinee have been the bullies of the conference the last three years. I think people want to give us their best ball and they’re gonna.”

Assistant coach Kyle Ranum watches as two sets of linemen go at each other during Medford’s football practice at Raider Field on Tuesday, Aug. 13. Medford’s JV team is home against Holmen today, Thursday, while the JV2 and varsity are at Holmen Friday for 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. kickoffs. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS