Season review: LUHS football battled for playoff berth amidst injuries

A third straight winning regular season and a trip to the postseason saw the Lakeland football team accomplish a number of their goals this season.

The Thunderbirds finished 5-5 overall, 3-4 in the Great Northern Conference (GNC). They finished tied for fourth out of eight teams in the GNC.

“Overall, it was a good season,” coach Dan Barutha said. “We unfortunately did not meet our goal the captains set out at the beginning of the season to win in the playoffs, but we did a lot of good things outside of that. We started off 3-0 for the first time in over 20 years, won the Northwoods Axe against Rhinelander for the third consecutive year, made the playoffs and finished the third straight year with a winning record during the regular season. The middle part of the season was tough when we really were hammered with injuries at key spots, and that led to some rough patches, but the way our guys battled through adversity, stayed the course, kept fighting, kept working hard and ultimately earned their success was very encouraging.”

3-0 start

Lakeland started the season 3-0, breaking a pattern of 0-4 starts in 2022 and 2023. They picked up wins over Hayward, Ashland and Rhinelander by a combined score of 69-27.

The wins over Hayward and Ashland were Lakeland’s first non-conference wins since 2021.

“The 3-0 start was awesome,” Barutha said. “We beat Hayward and Rhinelander, both playoff teams in 2023, in the first and third weeks. It’s always great to beat Rhinelander for the Northwoods Axe, and that was our third consecutive victory for the Axe. We also beat Ashland, which is a really well-coached team and features tough, gritty kids yearly. Going up there and beating them on the road was a solid victory for us.”

First-year starting QB

Junior Deklan McQuade assumed the starting quarterback position in 2024. He went 5-3 in eight games started with 1,110 passing yards on 59/113 passing. He completed 52.2 percent of his passes and threw 11 touchdowns with eight interceptions.

“Overall, he did a very nice job for us, and I look forward to seeing him progress this offseason and gauge an entire season’s worth of work moving forward as he’s a really good player,” Barutha said.

In this Oct. 4, 2024 file photo, Cole Johnson (56) watches teammate Justin Sero (26) make a run against Antigo at IncredibleBank Field in Minocqua. Johnson finished second team all-conference as an offensive lineman.
(Photo by Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)

In the first three games of the season, McQuade threw for 437 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. He then missed two straight games with an injury. 

“Even after the Mosinee game Week 4, he had only thrown one interception,” Barutha said. “A 7:1 ratio of touchdowns to interceptions is a championship-level quarterback ratio, and Deklan was as close to that ratio as you could be.”

McQuade came back for the Oct. 4 game against Antigo, throwing three touchdowns with 146 yards passing.

The turnover bug started to hit McQuade late in the season. Over his last three games, he threw two touchdown passes compared to six interceptions.

“Unfortunately, he got hurt and had to miss a couple conference games during that stretch along with multiple other players, and that cooled things off for us a bit,” Barutha said. “Down the stretch though, we turned the ball over too many times offensively, and Deklan would be the first to tell you how critical it is for us as a unit to take care of the football.”

Injury issues

Lakeland had multiple players miss games from a number of positions this season, including season-ending injuries to seniors Merick Trotter and Greyson Allen early in the year.

The Thunderbirds also got hit hard with injuries at the quarterback position.

“Anytime you’re shorthanded against good opponents it makes things difficult,” Barutha said. “Unfortunately for us, Deklan was one of multiple key players out for the Medford and Merrill games.”

Backup quarterback Brooks Lenz, a sophomore, started games against Medford (Sept. 20) and Merrill (Sept. 28) for the injured McQuade. Lenz went 8/17 for 83 yards and one touchdown in those games. 

“Brooks was very efficient with the passing of the ball by going 4/6 through the air (against Medford),” Barutha said. “Having only a couple days of practice to prepare for the best defense in the conference is a tough ask though, but Brooks did a solid job of taking care of the football and not turning it over.”

Against Merrill on Sept. 28, Lenz was forced out of the game with an injury. He had completed 4/11 passes for 76 yards and his first-career varsity touchdown pass. 

Third-string freshman quarterback Gabe Karch, who had never taken a varsity snap before, finished the game. He made one completion for 32 yards and threw an interception. The Bluejays won the game 18-12.

“Against Merrill and having a full week of practice, Brooks played pretty well up until he got injured,” Barutha said. “He once again took care of the football and led two scoring drives. Brooks put us in positions to achieve success. When Gabe Karch was forced into the game, it was a tough ask for him to run the offense at the level of Brooks, but he did as well as he could have given the circumstances. Having to execute a two-minute drive to win the game as a freshman third-string quarterback is a really tough spot to be in, but he showed great composure given the situation and has a bright future.”

Offense

The Thunderbirds averaged 16.1 points scored per game. From the offensive line to wide receiver, Lakeland had players that shined on offense.

Senior running back Noah Bruckner finished the season with 779 yards rushing and seven touchdowns in nine games played. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry. For the second straight season, he was a unanimous first team all-conference selection.

“(Noah) was a really solid running back again,” Barutha said. “The fact he was a unanimous selection for the second year in a row as voted upon by the opposing conference coaches speaks volumes about the work he did for us and the respect they gave him rushing the football. He was a tough runner again for us the entire year, showed solid explosiveness in the open field and was a hammer against defenders at the point of attack.”

Evan Zoch, a junior, played a huge role for the Thunderbirds this season. He was a second team all-conference wide receiver. He caught 32 passes for 740 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 23.1 yards per catch. As a runner, he totaled 234 rushing yards with three touchdowns. 

“Evan Zoch’s role within the offense transitioned over the course of the season and for the betterment of our attack,” Barutha said. “When Noah got hurt against Merrill, it really forced us as an offensive staff to determine different ways to get Evan the ball as he was an incredible playmaker for us up until that point and throughout the rest of the season. Evan was very versatile as we used him as a split and slot receiver and in the backfield as a rushing and receiving threat. The ability to move him around and get him the ball in a variety of ways was really solid for us.”

Lakeland had two offensive linemen make an all-conference team. Senior Cole Johnson received second-team honors, and sophomore Aidan Bauers was named honorable mention, one of three sophomores to be named all-conference.

Other key pieces to Lakeland’s offense included running back Justin Sero, a junior. He ran for 169 yards and a touchdown. Junior Tyson Redman, a wide receiver, ranked second on the Thunderbirds with 151 yards receiving. Redman averaged 13.7 yards per catch with a touchdown.

Defense

Lakeland gave up 20.2 points per game. In conference play, Lakeland’s defense allowed an average of 305.4 yards per game, a mark that ranked fifth.

“The defense played a bunch of different guys throughout the course of the season yet maintained a really high level of pursuit and aggressiveness,” Barutha said. “Throughout the stretch where we battled injuries, the defense found ways to play a variety of guys and yet, there was never a sense that the standard for our attack wavered.”

Multiple players stood out on the Lakeland defense. Junior Tyrone Moore came on the scene this year with 15 total tackles, four tackles for a loss, a sack and fumble recovery. He was named second team all-conference at defensive line.

Carmelo Roche-Vetterneck, a senior, got to the quarterback this season. He led Lakeland with four sacks, nine tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles on his way to honorable mention all-conference.

Not only did Zoch make his presence known offensively, but defensively. He was honorable mention all-conference at defensive back with 23 total tackles and one interception this season.

“We did a nice job forcing turnovers in multiple games, showed really strong pursuit and had numerous situations this year where we needed a stop and were able to get one time and time again,” Barutha said. “The way the defense was able to get off the field on third down in numerous situations helped us play great complementary football by creating long yardage punting situations for our opponents.”

Redman led Lakeland with two fumble recoveries and interceptions playing at defensive back.

At linebacker, junior Michael Schettino led the Thunderbirds with 40 total tackles. He added seven tackles for a loss, second on the team. Lenz delivered 32 total tackles and two tackles for a loss with a forced fumble in his first year on varsity. Sophomore Justin Baird stepped up this year with 27 total tackles, three tackles for a loss, a sack and fumble recovery.

“The attacking style was seen consistently over the season regardless of the personnel we had on the field, and the development that many players made through the adversity this year sets us up well moving forward,” Barutha said.

Senior Tyson Skubal started the season with a bang by picking up a fumble in the end zone for Lakeland’s first touchdown of the season on Aug. 23 against Hayward.

Schettino flipped the field often for Lakeland. He punted 28 times for 958 yards, averaging 34.2 yards per punt. He placed 10 punts inside the opposing team’s 20-yard line. That led him to being named second team all-conference at punter.

Lakeland got a boost in the kicking game from Redman. He made 11/14 extra points this season, a clip of 79 percent.

Winning season

The Thunderbirds lost three games in a row Sept. 13-28. Needing a win, they beat Antigo 36-33 on Homecoming with five touchdowns courtesy of Zoch.

A loss to Wausau East on Oct. 11 put Lakeland at 2-4 in the conference. To become playoff eligible, they had to win at Tomahawk on Oct. 18.

Lakeland beat the Hatchets 7-6. The Thunderbirds blocked an extra point that ended up being the difference. 

The win gave Lakeland their third straight regular-season winning record at 5-4 and snapped a two-game losing streak to the Hatchets.

“Having a winning record and making the playoffs again with consistency is a true mark of the work that everyone inside and outside the program has put in to get us to the point we’re at currently, and I’m very appreciative of everyone’s efforts no matter how big or small because it has taken everyone to get us where we stand today,” Barutha said.

Playoffs

The Thunderbirds qualified for the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons. They received the No. 8 seed in the Division 3 bracket, going up against top-seeded Medford.

“It’s interesting to see the development and growth of the program and the goals and mindsets of the players who have put so much time and effort into the program year-round to achieve the goals we’ve set out to hit,” Barutha said. “We have an outgoing senior group that made the playoffs in three-of-their-four years, and we have three groups behind them that do not know what missing the postseason looks like.”

The Raiders previously beat Lakeland 40-8 on Sept. 20 in Minocqua. The Level 1 playoff game took place in Medford.

Medford won 28-7 on Oct. 25 to eliminate the Thunderbirds from the playoffs. Lakeland is 0-5 in playoff games since 2019.

Next year

Lakeland will have plenty to work with next year as they look for that elusive playoff win. McQuade can come back at quarterback as well as Zoch at wide receiver/running back and Bauers at offensive line. That will give Lakeland a good base on offense.

Defensively, Moore, Schettino, Lenz, Baird, Zoch and Redman, among others, can return. With Schettino and Redman scheduled to be back, that gives Lakeland their starting punter and kicker back for next year.

Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].