Poppe (13 catches for 111 ….
Poppe (13 catches for 111 yards), Henry Schmitt (13 catches for 143 yards) and Nhzoo Sullivan (12 catches for 176 yards) are the top receivers. Isaac Hanson is the leading rusher with a modest 113 yards on 20 carries.
Defensively, Hayward was gashed for 449 rushing yards by Rhinelander on Sept. 10 and 316 passing yards by Mosinee on Sept. 3 in its two GNC losses.
Five turnovers and seven penalties led to Medford’s demise in a 28-14 loss to Rhinelander Friday. Medford must avoid those kinds of mistakes if it’s going to make a second-half run this season.
“We’ll line up and do what we do and see if they can stop us,” Wilson said. “It will be our job to clean everything up and take care of the ball and play good solid defense.”
_ The Rib Lake-Prentice Hawks will make their first Lakeland Conference trip to Unity High School in Balsam Lake. They’ll face the Eagles, who have yet to lose in the three games they’ve played this fall.
Unity’s latest win was a hard-fought 14-6 win over Webster on Sept. 17, a week after Webster edged the Hawks 8-6. Unity only gained 128 yards of total offense in that win, but a 61-yard touchdown pass from Tristan Tillery to David Whitlock in the second quarter and a 35-yard picksix by Brody Allen with 1:29 left in the game gave Unity the win.
Tillery and Allen have been the main weapons on a run-based, grind-it-out offense, while wing Connor Eichlet has been a red-zone weapon with a handful of touchdowns. LJ Manning has split quarterback duties with Tillery. Tillery and Allen both had over 100 yards rushing in the lopsided win over Ladysmith. The Eagles, didn’t pile up real impressive offensive stats in a season-opening 19-18 win at Amery on Aug. 27, but, like the Webster game, they found a way to win on Tillery’s 6-yard run and an extra point with 8:10 left and a big stop inside the 10 in the last two minutes.
Rib Lake-Prentice and Unity did not play each other last season. Their season- opening game last Sept. 25 had to be canceled on game day due to health protocols.
_ The undefeated Gilman Pirates will be heavily favored to remain undefeated when they visit Bruce for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
The Red Raiders were forced to cancel their last two games due to COVID protocols. Before that, they were defeated 48-8 by second-ranked Newman Catholic and 48-28 by Marion-Tigerton.
Newman scored all 48 of its points in the first half of the week one game. Bruce moved the ball effectively in week two and was within 26-14 early in the fourth quarter when two long touchdowns broke it open for Marion-Tigerton, whose quarterback, Ethan Scheef, was 10 of 12 for 226 yards in that game.
Dom Tinker, who was a last-minute replacement at quarterback for Bruce in its 53-0 loss at Gilman last year, threw for 141 yards while completing nine of 24 passes against Marion-Tigerton. Chris Brockman has put up solid numbers in Bruce’s two games, running for a total of 207 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns.
Bruce was 0-5 last year in the Central Wisconsin West.
