WEEK 5 FOOTBALL - Gilman hosts clash of 8-man titans; Raiders get 4-0 T-Birds
The midpoint of the high school football regular season will hit this coming weekend and it finds all three local teams playing on their home fields with one of the games being a matchup of state-ranked heavyweights.
In Gilman Friday, the Pirates host the McDonell Central Macks in a North Central East Conference showdown that features the state’s top two eight-player teams. At least that’s according to this week’s BoundWisconsin.com state coaches poll.
Both teams come in at 3-0 in the conference and 4-0 overall. Gilman beat Cornell 37-0 last Friday in a game that lasted just one quarter and McDonell took care of Owen-Withee 39-0 on Thursday. Owen-Withee is the one common opponent the teams have so far. Gilman beat the Blackhawks 43-0 in week one.
This is McDonell’s last go-around in eight-player football, at least for now. Increased enrollment is pushing the school to go back to 11-man football next year. But the team is eligible for the eightman playoffs this season, meaning this might not be the only 2025 meeting between the Macks and Pirates.
Offensively, the Macks feature good run/pass balance, highlighted by senior quarterback Cael Holm, senior running back Dawson Moulton and junior receiver Luke Anderson, the younger brother of the now departed David Anderson, who was a big-time receiver for McDonell. Seniors Desian Matthews and Eli Stepp are breakaway threats as well. Up front on the offensive and defensive lines, the Macks are sizable and physical, led by senior Mason Busse and Ryan Smiskey.
Defensively, McDonell has shut out three straight opponents after a 59-24 week one win over Alma Center Lincoln, where two of Lincoln’s three touchdowns came well after the game was decided. Owen-Withee did move the ball fairly well in the first half last week, but the Blackhawks always had to make long drives and they eventually fizzled. McDonell scored on four straight possessions to lead 27-0 at the half.
“They might be a little bit bigger than we are,” Gilman head coach Robin Rosemeyer said. “I think they’re similar to us speed-wise. They’re kind of difficult to prepare for because they do some different things with their offense. They don’t have that great receiver they had last year, but this one is still pretty good. They still have that threat out there. Defensively they’re fast. They have fast linebackers and they tackle pretty well and they have size at the line. It’s a good combination of speed and size.”
This will be the team’s fifth meeting in eight-player football. Gilman won the first three in 2020-21 before McDonell won last year’s matchup 22-14 at Dorais Field in Chippewa Falls. The teams had several good matchups since 2000 as 11-man teams in the Small Cloverbelt and Cloverwood conferences as well.
“We’ve had some good matchups throughout the years,” Rosemeyer said. “Whether it was playoffs or conference games, they’ve always been entertaining games. I don’t think this will be any different.
“Last year, we had trouble stopping them on third or fourth down and we had trouble converting our third and fourth downs,” he added. “Sometimes just making that extra play can be the difference in a game. Or obviously that turnover here and here or a special teams play. But sometimes when you look back at a game, you look at four or five plays, and I think that’s what happened last year and it could very well be this year.”
The Medford Raiders face a stiff challenge tonight, Thursday, when they host the 4-0 Lakeland Thunderbirds at 7 p.m. at Raider Field.
Lakeland has been a team that’s been just good enough to get into the playoffs the past few years, but the Thunderbirds thrust themselves into Great Northern Conference title contender status Friday with a 24-20 win over pre-season favorite Mosinee. The T-Birds led 24-7 at halftime and held on when Mosinee scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Thanks to a fumbled kickoff, Lakeland led 10-0 before Mosinee ran an offensive play.
Evan Zoch emerged as an offensive playmaker in the second half of last season. Lakeland will try to get him the ball in a variety of ways, whether it’s as a receiver or even taking snaps in wildcat formations. Deklan McQuade is in his second year as the quarterback and the team is getting solid numbers from senior receiver Tyson Redmen, senior running back Michael Schettino and a bigger body out of the backfield, senior Justin Doud-Sero. The T-Birds will be a test for Medford’s young defense.
“Evan Zoch is a really good player, really explosive. He’s a handful,” Medford head coach Ted Wilson said. “The quarterback has been there a couple of years now. They have a couple of nice little running backs. They have a good team. They’re big up front, they’re blocking well, they’re running well and they play good defense. They have a good team this year and they’re winning.”
Lakeland won its conference opener 43-32 over Rhinelander and beat Hayward and Ashland in non-conference play. The T-Birds last beat Medford 22-21 in 2017. Medford won two games last year, 40-8 in the regular season and 28-7 in Level 1 of the WIAA Division 3 playoffs.
The 2017 win is Lakeland’s only win in the series since 2009.
Rib Lake hosts Winter-Birchwood at 7 p.m. Friday in a Northwoods Conference crossover game. The Redmen will look to bounce back from a 42-18 loss to Northwoods East co-leader Phillips, while Winter-Birchwood took a 56-0 thumping from Prairie Farm in a matchup that actually replaced the Warcats’ originallyscheduled conference game against Mellen, who canceled its season a few weeks ago and forfeited.
The Warcats were competitive in one game this season, falling 34-28 in week three to South Shore. They lost 50-0 in week two to Chequamegon, a team Rib Lake beat the next week 44-6.
Rib Lake won last year’s game in Winter 58-8.
