find a way to win.” ….
find a way to win.”
Medford has had little trouble winning all five of the most recent matchups with Hayward but this, of course, is no time to get complacent.
“I think everybody understands it’s a single elimination thing,” Wilson said. “Just like every other high school sport, if you don’t win, you don’t advance. A lot of our kids are three-sport athletes. They’ve been in the playoffs and they’ve been deep in the playoffs, whether it’s basketball, baseball or wrestling. They all, I believe, understand the importance of trying to put their best foot forward.”
Rhinelander (3-4 GNC, 5-4 overall) is the sixth seed in the bracket and Mississippi Valley Conference cochampion Onalaska (6-1 MVC, 6-3 overall) is the three-seed. The winner of that game will meet the Hayward/ Medford winner in Level 2. Medford beat Rhinelander 40-8 in week seven and ran over Onalaska 52-35 in week two.
The other side of the bracket has topseeded Rice Lake (7-0 Middle Border, 8-1 overall) hosting eighth-seeded La Crosse Logan (3-4 MVC, 3-6 overall) and fifthseeded Lakeland (5-2 GNC, 5-4 overall) visiting fourth-seeded Sparta (3-4 MVC, 5-4 overall) on Friday.
Newman at Gilman
The two-time defending eight-player state champions invade Gilman Friday night, but, certainly, this is not the same group that beat the Pirates in a 2021 state semifinal 29-28 and 49-14 in Level 2 last year and was responsible for winning those two gold balls.
With new faces in most positions, Newman got smacked by Three Lakes-Phelps 28-7 and Florence 32-6 to start the season. As it turned out, both of those teams are pretty good and are threats to make playoff runs on the other side of the eight-player bracket. Newman finished on a 5-1 run, losing only to Almond-Bancroft 52-14 in what could’ve been considered the Central Conference’s championship game Sept. 22.
Offensively, the focal point of Newman’s attack is 6-1, 185-pound junior Logan Ackerman. Like his predecessor at quarterback, Connor Krach, Ackerman is a running and throwing threat. According to WisSports.net statistics, he’s racked up 1,296 rushing yards in eight games, while averaging 8.0 yards per carry. He scored 12 touchdowns. He ran for 300 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-12 win over Port Edwards on Sept. 16 and had five rushing touchdowns while gaining 169 yards on 17 carries in a 50-0 win at Wild Rose Oct. 6. He had 159 yards on 25 carries in a 22-18 win at Tri-County Thursday.
Through the air, he’s 83 for 152 for 920 yards and 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Ackerman’s leading receivers are Carson Rice (25 catches for 322 yards and six touchdowns), Aiden Spychalla (15 for 267 yards, one touchdown) and Quincy Pfender (31 catches, 254 yards, three touchdowns), who are all taller targets. Most of Newman’s passing was done early in the year. They’ve gone to more of a ground approach in the last four weeks.
“It’s going to be very similar to two years ago when they lost their running back (Thomas Bates) and they beat us in Stanley when the quarterback did the majority of the running,” Gilman head coach Robin Rosemeyer said. “We’re preparing for that same thing on Friday night. A lot of fakes, a lot of guard traps for him. We have to read our keys and not go for the fake. We have to read what we need to read with our eyes. Then, if the first guy there makes the tackle, we’ll be in good shape.”
Ackerman is also the middle linebacker on defense and can be a dangerous blitzer. The game film shows Newman relying most of the time on a three-man defensive line, but the Cardinals will bring added pressure much of the time.
“They have almost all eight guys just running forward at the snap of the ball,” Rosemeyer said. “It’s aggressive. It gives us an opportunity to make the big play because of how aggressive they are. But it also could be a negative for us. We have to be sure of our blocking, make a guy miss and see what happens after a handoff. We’ll have to use some play action to help try to get behind them too.”
The western half of the 16-team eight-player tournament is no picnic. The Newman/Gilman winner will face either third-seeded Owen-Withee (5-3) or second-seeded Thorp (6-2) in Level 2. Those two teams finished just behind Gilman in the Central Wisconsin-East and played a remarkable game Friday where Thorp forced a late fumble and then drove 95 yards in the final moments to win 24-22.
Level 3, the eight-player semifinals, could bring a matchup with undefeated Clayton or McDonell Central on Nov. 3.
“It is a very tough regional,” Rosemeyer said. “Our four-team pod has Thorp and Owen on the other end. Somebody is going to earn it after a couple weeks. Then Chippewa Falls McDonell gets a two-seed behind Clayton. They’re both undefeated, so it’ll be a three-week gauntlet and a battle of attrition through this whole thing to see who stays healthy. You want to make sure you have your core guys out there that you need for three straight games. Whoever can do that might be in the best shape to get through.”
