ALL-NORTHWOODS EAST FOOTBALL - Phillips, Scheithauer double first-teamers; 6 Redmen get honors
ALL-NORTHWOODS EAST FOOTBALL
A largely successful first season of eight-player football for the Rib Lake Redmen was capped with six players earning awards in the voting for the 2024 and first-ever All-Northwoods East Conference football teams.
Juniors Tucker Phillips and Talon Scheithauer led the way, landing on the All-NEC first teams for both offense and defense. Phillips took that one step further as he was named an All-Region running back by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association.
Senior Logan Schmittfranz closed his prep football career by earning a secondteam spot defensively and by getting honorable mention for his play on offense. Ethan Cook on the offensive and defensive lines and Brady Heiser on the offensive line also earned second-team honors, while freshman Slade Scheithauer drew honorable mention for his play on defense.
One more award went to Rib Lake as Tom Noennig, who joined Rib Lake’s staff after a Hall of Fame coaching career at Mayville and Hartford, was named the conference’s Assistant Coach of the Year. He was the team’s defensive play caller this season.
The post-season accolades come after the Redmen went 5-3 overall and 5-2 officially in the conference under head coach Jonah Campbell in their first season as a stand-alone program since the mid-1980s. The school had been part of an 11man program with Prentice since then before going their separate ways as eightman teams after last season when the Hawks weren’t able to field a varsity roster due to low numbers.
Rib Lake finished third in the Northwoods East standings this fall behind 7-0 Phillips and 6-1 Hurley. The Redmen had a late 14-12 lead against Hurley in the final game of the season before falling 18-14. Phillips won the week three matchup over Rib Lake 56-38.
Offensively, Rib Lake was driven by a powerful running game. Heiser, a senior who played center, and Cook, a junior who played guard, were the mainstays up front opening holes for the backs and offering pass protection. They were two of Rib Lake’s season-long captains, along with Schmittfranz. The Redmen averaged 37.8 points per game overall and 39.7 points against their six conference foes. They tacked on 58 more in a 58-8 win over Winter-Birchwood in their Northwoods Conference crossover game. For the most part, Hurley in the last game and Gilman in the season-opening non-conference game (a 38-6 loss) were the only teams who succeeded at keeping Rib Lake out of the end zone.
Rib Lake averaged 311.4 rushing yards per game and another 49.3 yards passing in its eight games overall.
Phillips, who joined the program after two years in Medford, finished third in conference play with 942 yards on 91 carries for a 10.4 yards per carry average in the seven league games. He scored 12 touchdowns in those games. Overall, in eight games, he finished with 1,089 yards and 13 touchdowns for an average of 136.1 yards per game.
Talon Scheithauer, the team’s quarterback, was right behind Phillips with 853 rushing yards in conference play on 121 carries (7.0 per attempt) and 16 touchdowns. Adding the Gilman game, Scheithauer ran for 899 yards overall with 16 touchdowns on 139 attempts (6.5 per attempt).
Phillips ran for more than 100 yards six times, led by his 206-yard, three touchdown performance in a 38-36 win over Athens on Oct. 10. He had 157 yards on just 11 carries and scored three times in the win at Winter-Birchwood. Phillips had 179 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries in a 52-16 win over Chequamegon on Sept. 7.
Scheithauer, who also completed 25 of 44 passes for 362 yards and six touchdowns and five interceptions overall, also passed the 100-yard mark rushing six times during the season. He had 194 yards with five touchdowns on 14 carries in a 506 win at Flambeau on Oct. 4 and 171 yards on 35 carries with three touchdowns in the loss at Phillips. He gained 119 yards on 12 carries and scored twice in a 46-32 homecoming win over Prentice on Sept. 27.
Schmittfranz added to Rib Lake’s offensive totals as its third-leading ball carrier. In league play, Schmittfranz had 303 yards and three touchdowns on 37 carries for an impressive average of 8.2 yards per carry, while missing one game due to injury. Overall, he finished with 335 yards on 49 carries. Schmittfranz had a season-high 125 yards on seven carries and scored twice at Winter-Birchwood. He had 51 yards and a touchdown on seven carries in the Prentice win.
Scheithauer and Phillips were among six players to be named to the All-Northwoods East first team as offensive skill players. Running backs Devin Soltis of Hurley and Ayron DeLeasky of Phillips and quarterbacks Cole Schley of Flambeau and Shay Denzine of Phillips were the others. Soltis, who ran for 1,094 yards and 14 touchdowns in league play and 1,379 yards and 18 touchdowns overall, was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year.
Rib Lake’s defense allowed 26.3 points, 194.7 rushing yards and 125.1 passing yards per game overall. In the six games against Northwoods East teams, the Redmen allowed 27.3 points, 201.7 rushing yards and 113.2 passing yards per game.
Phillips, a defensive end was one of three players recognized as first-team linemen, joining Gavin Moore of Hurley and DeLeasky. He ranked fifth in total tackles in conference games with 68, including 30 solo stops. He forced two fumbles, recovered one and was responsible for a safety against Chequamegon. He had 16 total tackles at Flambeau and against Athens. That included eight solo tackles and a forced fumble at Flambeau and six solo tackles and a forced fumble against the Blue Jays.
Overall, Phillips had 76 total tackles with 33 solo tackles.
Talon Scheithauer was one of six players named as first-team skilled position players. The team’s safety, he totaled 71 tackles to rank fourth in the conference with 30 solo tackles and an interception that he returned for a touchdown against Prentice. He added six tackles and interception in the Gilman game. He had 16 total tackles with seven solos agaisnt Prentice and 12 total tackles with six solos against Athens. Joining Scheithauer as firstteam skill position players were Schley, Soltis, Denzine, Chanse Ludescher of Flambeau and Ben Virnig of Phillips.
Schley was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Schmittfranz and Cook were the team’s starting linebackers. Cook was sixth in conference play in total tackles with 67, including 30 solo tackles. He added a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Schmittfranz had 59 total tackles in league play with three fumbles forced and three recoveries. Cook added five tackles in the Gilman game and Schmittfranz had seven. Schmittfranz was credited with 21 total tackles in the Prentice win and 15 more in the Phillips loss. He recovered two fumbles and recovered one against Chequamegon. Cook had 14 total tackles against Athens, 13 against Prentice and 12 at Phillips.
Slade Scheithauer earned a starting cornerback spot and more than held his own, collecting a team-high three interceptions, all of which came in conference games. He finished with 32 tackles overall, including 20 solo tackles. He had six tackles with five solos at Phillips, five solo tackles and an interception at Winter-Birchwood and six tackles with two solos against Prentice. He also got some time at quarterback offensively, finishing with 85 rushing yards and 32 passing yards.
As for the All-Region honor for Phillips, he is one of five running backs chosen from Region A for eight-player football. The region includes the Northwoods East and West conferences, the North Central East and West conferences and the Northeast Conference. The other All-Region running backs are DeLeasky, Mason Gay of Owen-Withee, Ryder Rodewald of Bruce and Soltis.
Talon Scheithauer First Team Offense First Team Defense
Tom Noennig Assistant Coach of the Year
Ethan Cook Second Team Offense Second Team Defense
Logan Schmittfranz Second Team Defense Hon. Mention Offense
Slade Scheithauer Hon. Mention Defense
Brady Heiser Second Team Offense
Evan Czarnezki accelerates past La Crosse Logan’s James Gruen and scores the 43yard touchdown that gives the Raiders a late 48-43 lead in their eventual 51-48 season-ending loss to the Rangers. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Medford’s Carson Ingersoll pressures Bradley Check into the pass that becomes Charlie Gierl’s 85-yard interception return for a touchdown during the third quarter of Friday’s WIAA Division 3 sectional championship football game with La Crosse Logan. The score gave the Raiders a short-lived 36-29 lead. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Paxton Rothmeier breaks the last tackle and scores a 16-yard touchdown late in the third quarter of Friday’s loss.
