MEDFORD FOOTBALL PREVIEW - AIMING TO LEARN QUICKLY

The Medford Raiders knew they’d be dealing with inexperience at the start of the 2025 football season after a large senior class departing following last year’s memorable 10-2 season. The other “i” word, injuries, also have made the first two weeks of the season challenging. What is abundant as the new season begins is opportunity for new faces to make names for themselves as the Raiders aim to contend for another Great Northern Conference championship and an 11th straight WIAA post-season appearance. “It’s a really fresh team now,” senior co-captain Evan Czarnezki said last Thursday, the day before Medford tested itself in scrimmage sessions with Menomonie, Edgar and Eau Claire Regis. “I think there are only about seven guys that had varsity experience coming back. Now with me out and Zach (Gosse) being questionable, that brings it to five. It’s a fresh team.” Unfortunately, Czarnezki’s seasonending knee injury suffered in practice last Monday has been the biggest news of camp. Gosse is a second potential twoway starter who has been out with his status still uncertain. Two tough matchups are staring Medford in the face with Holmen visiting Raider Field for Friday’s 7 p.m. opener and a trip to Onalaska next week. Those two teams were part of a rare five-way tie atop the Mississippi Valley Conference last year. But head coach Ted Wilson, now in his 20th season in that position, views this early part of the season as an opportunity for players to grow and learn quickly as they gear up for GNC play, which starts Sept. 5 at Antigo. Medford’s roster carries 12 seniors, a relatively low number for the program. “A couple of injuries have hit us, which isn’t good,” Wilson said Monday. “That’s going to provide opportunities for younger kids. We need to stay healthy. We’ve gotten better. We’re young. There’s only one place to go but up. We have to keep working. We’re used to kids maybe not having a ton of varsity experience, but we’re maybe not used to having so many who are going to be juniors and seniors playing without varsity experience. “I think our kids have done a pretty good job of pushing themselves,” he added. “Some of that learning to push yourself a little bit more comes with maturity. We’re fighting that a little bit. As a whole our kids are doing a pretty good job of accepting that you have to work hard and you have to learn to push your body a little bit to be uncomfortable to be better football players.” If there is an area where Medford can say it is experienced it is on the line of scrimmage, which certainly is not a bad thing in years like this. Three starters on the offensive line return in senior center Hunter Jochimsen, a second-team All-GNC pick last fall; junior tackle Forest Hartl, who got honorable mention, and senior guard Blake Tischendorf. Going into week one, it looks like they’ll be joined by junior Parker Fogo and sophomore Ian Stickney in the starting lineup, with senior Parker Hill and junior Logan Langdon getting the first looks as the tight ends. “I think we try to lean on the linemen every year,” Wilson said. “Having good linemen is the heart and soul of a program. We’re going to try to lean on Hunter, Blake and Forest a little bit because they played for a whole year.” “They have all the pieces,” said Sawyer Elsner, the team’s other permanent captain this year, regarding the lineman. “They just have to put them together.” “Once they communicate, they’ll be golden,” Czarnezki said. After a strong showing at Friday’s scrimmages, Elsner may have emerged as Medford’s top running back, but it’s almost certain this year’s running attack will be powered more by committee than by a go-to back, such as Paxton Rothmeier last year. “I just don’t think we have that guy, like we have the last few years, that is going to be able to carry it 30, 35, 40 times a game,” Wilson said. “I think we’ll be way more running back by committee.” That committee is expected to include sophomore Will Wojcik, junior Carson Ingersoll, junior Colton Soczka, who came to Medford last spring from Kimberly, and junior Cash Thums, who will also see snaps at quarterback, where senior Nick Krause is likely to be the listed starter in week one. With Gosse out for now, senior Conor Anderson fills a blocking back position. “Even though Cash may be listed as a quarterback, he’s going to be used more as a hybrid-type weapon,” Wilson said. “He’s going to play some wing, he’s going to play some running back.” “I think (our offense) should be the same,” Elsner said. “Just keep running the ball through people. Nothing much changed, just the people.” When Medford looks to pass the ball, all of the running backs and tight ends, as well as senior receivers such as Ashton Behling and Aidan Beidel could be targets the quarterbacks are looking for. Defensively, Medford is even more inexperienced, especially with the loss of Czarnezki, who was slated to fill a safety spot. Elsner was thrust into a starting linebacker role during last season when injuries hit and he turned his time into a second-team All-GNC award. He will be a big key to Medford’s defensive success. Ingersoll’s playing time increased in the second half of last season and he made some plays at defensive end. Hartl wasn’t a starter but got time on the defensive line. Hartl, Jochimsen, Tischendorf and Stickney rotated on the interior defensive line during the scrimmages. Hill, Ingersoll and Langdon are getting the first shots at the end positions. With Elsner locked in at one linebacker position, the other spot could be filled by Anderson. Sophomore Luke Klapatauskas is also making a bid for time. Wilson said Anderson could play on the line, if needed. Either way, he will see time on the field. The backfield was a strength of Medford’s defense in 2024. This year, the secondary is entirely new with seven primary candidates for playing time. Thums, Wojcik, Soczka and junior Caden Olson are the leading candidates with Behling, Beidel and senior Easton Gebert not far behind. “Of those seven, we have to get four. How that will exactly play out, we don’t know yet,” Wilson said. “Cash is going to be a big part of this team,” Czarnezki said. “He’s smart, he’ll do what he needs to off the field, filmwise. All of those DBs will. I’ll make sure that they do. That was a huge key for all of us last year, watching film and getting reps before games.” “I think we have some kids that physically are more than capable of playing good defense,” Wilson said. “Varsity football, there is a big mental side to it. There’s a lot of learning things, seeing things and getting better. We have a long way to go. We literally do not have a starter or even one of those seven kids that have even played in the defensive backfield in a varsity game. There will be a lot of growth. We have a lot to learn. But everyone has the possibility of doing it, especially if they mentally lock in to do it. I think our kids will. I think our kids want to get better. I think they like and are used to playing winning football and there’s a way that we do and they will buy into that.” Medford isn’t the only team in the GNC looking to replace key graduates. In fact, only two first-team All-GNC selections from a year ago return, Mosinee’s two-way first-teamer Treve Stoffel and Tomahawk kicker Walter Horabik. On paper, Mosinee would appear to bring the most experience back. But most GNC teams likely see 2025 as an opportunity to make a move upward in the standings. “It’s really important (to maintain the winning tradition) especially for all of the young guys there so they can also keep it going,” Elsner said. “We want to make it memorable for them like the guys before us made it for us.” “I’m going to be here as much as I can,” said Czarnezki, whose surgery was scheduled for Wednesday. “I’m going to the scrimmage. I’ll be here at every practice, every game. I want to try and help as much as I can because I was one of the guys with varsity experience. I went to Level 3 last year with the team. That was fun.” “(Holmen and Onalaska) are going to be tough games,” Wilson said. “Holmen was 7-4 last year. They were a conference champion. They return a ton. Onalaska doesn’t get much easier. They have 24 seniors this year. That’s a pretty typical number for them and Tom Yashinsky is a good coach. We’re going to have some tough sledding here, but just like we’ve talked in the past, do we want to win these games? Yes. Are they important? Yes. They changed the playoff qualification so they’re even more important that way. But also, we need to play good competition to get ready, to learn to play our hearts out, and get ready for our conference season. If we can take care of our conference season that will go a long way toward getting us into the playoffs.”