HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Hodags jolt Chargers, improve to 2-0

STAR JOURNAL REPORT

The Rhinelander High School football varsity team remained undefeated for the season Friday with a 31-13 non-conference road victory over Wittenberg-Birnamwood.

The Hodags scored first 4 minutes into the opening quarter when Rueben Guzik recovered a fumble for a touchdown. Gunnar Millot added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Millot also kicked a first-quarter field goal to extend RHS’s lead to 10-0.

The Hodags scored again with less than 2 minutes left in the first half when Logan Freund threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Owen White. Millot’s extra point gave RHS a 17-0 advantage.

The Chargers got on the scoreboard with 13 seconds left before halftime when Matthew Kapitz threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jack Stewart. The extra point trimmed the Hodags’ lead to 17-7 at intermission.

RHS scored the only points in the third quarter when Colton Krueger ran into the end zone from a yard away and Millot added the extra point. Krueger ended up leading the Hodags on the ground with 103 yards rushing on 24 carries.

The final RHS score came with 9:48 left in the game on a 2-yard touchdown run by Freund. Millot kicked the extra point to give the Hodags a 31-7 lead.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood added a touchdown with 5:15 to play in the fourth quarter when MacLean Alwes scored on a 10-yard run. RHS’s lead remained at 31-13 when the extra point failed.

The Hodags recorded most of their 363 total yards in the air when Freund ended up completing 19 of 34 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown. Nine different players caught at least one pass led by White with four receptions for 62 yards.

Alwes accounted for 119 of Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s 151 rushing yards, while Kapitz completed just four of 15 passes for 56 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

RHS, which improved its overall record to 2-0, plays its first Great Northern Conference game of the season next Friday at Mosinee.

RHS 31, W-B 13

RHS 10 7 7 7 – 31

W-B 0 7 0 6 – 13