Home games for everyone in Week 3

WEEK 3 FOOTBALL

While classes finally start at local high schools late this week, 11-man football teams are already on week three of their regular seasons and, for most, it’s the start of conference play. Eight-player teams, meanwhile, look to make fixes after their opening games this past week.

All three local teams will start Labor Day weekend with games on their home fields.

  The Medford Raiders open Great Northern Conference play with their home opener against their eastern rivals from Merrill. Both teams come into the game 1-1. Medford has won the last seven meetings, a run that started in the 2015 WIAA Division 3 playoffs.

Medford appeared to learn some things in its 32-8 loss to New Richmond Aug. 19 and was much improved in a 50-14 rout at Amherst Friday.

“I just think as a whole our blocking was a whole lot better,” Medford head coach Ted Wilson said. “We sustained blocks a lot better. Our offensive line did a great job doing that. We’re still missing a few here and there, but we’ll keep working to get that better. The team on the other side of the ball has a bit to say about that too. We strive for perfection. I don’t know that you’re ever going to get perfection. But you have to strive for perfection. As a whole our lead blocking and offensive line blocking was much better this week.”

Merrill blew out Northland Pines 43-0 in its opener and lost at home Friday to a good Crandon team 30-12. Under second-year head coach Jason Wadzinski, Wilson said Merrill is trying to establish more of a power running game this year. So far the leaders have been Nathan Brzoznowski, who ran for 139 yards and four touchdowns in the Pines win, and quarterback Brian Ball, who has 104 rushing and 127 passing yards so far. Crandon held the Blue Jays to just 72 rushing yards and gained 342 yards on the ground, dominating time of possession with 55 rushing attempts.

That might not be a good sign, considering how Medford’s running attack buried Amherst to the tune of 355 yards in week two.

  The Gilman Pirates, fresh off their 50-0 rout at Lake Holcombe, get their first game on the home field Friday when they welcome the Bruce Red Raiders in eight-man play that kicks off at 7 p.m.

The Pirates won lopsided games of 53-0 and 52-8 in two years of conference play with Bruce. Now the teams are on opposite sides of the Central Wisconsin eight-man leagues.

Bruce opened the 2022 campaign with a thrilling 40-36 win over Alma Center Lincoln on Thursday and, according to WisSports.net stats, rolled up 463 rushing yards while doing it with four players gaining at least 85 yards. Levi Neyhagen, had 23 carries for 158 yards. Andrew Frederick scored four touchdowns while gaining 85 yards on just 12 carries. Frederick had four carries last year against Gilman.

“They put up a lot of points (last week),” Gilman head coach Robin Rosemeyer said. “They’re a little more athletic than what they were last year. They have a good group of sophomores. They might be going into a transition time here to get those sophomores more involved. They’re going to have a quick, aggressive defensive line. They’re going to come at you pretty hard.”

  The Rib Lake-Prentice Hawks open Lakeland Conference play Friday by hosting the Unity Eagles in Prentice at 7 p.m. Unity split with two larger schools to start its year, losing the opener 34-18 to St. Croix Falls and beating Amery 36-14 in week two. This will be the Eagles’ first road game.

After being physically overmatched by a senior-dominated Auburndale squad Friday, the Hawks face a Unity squad that likes to run right at defenses behind a sizable offensive line and a backfield led by sizable senior signal caller Brody Allen, who has gained 259 yards so far this year, according to WisSports. net stats. Allen also throws well enough to keep teams off-balance. He was seven for 10 for 161 yards against Amery.

“I think they’re kind of comparable to Marathon,” Hawks’ co-head coach Jonah Campbell said. Marathon beat the Hawks 38-8 in week one. “Looking at Auburndale you see a speed, size, strength type of a mismatch. If you look at Unity, I think there are some things we can take advantage of. There are some things where I think we can move the ball. They run a semi-similar defense to Marathon, so we know there are some things we can improve upon.”

The teams are scheduled to play twice this year. This will be considered the conference game. The teams did not meet in 2020. Unity won last year’s game 28-6.