It was a case of good news, bad news for the Menominee Nation football team in its season opener against Laona/Wabeno.
The good news is the Eagles held the Rebels to 12 points in the second half.
The bad news is Laona/Wabeno scored on its first eight possessions to take a 62-0 halftime lead before handing the Eagles a 74-0 loss Aug. 28 in Keshena.
Menominee Nation coach Kodiak Mahkimetas wasn’t surprised by the outcome.
“We’re a young squad, so there’s not much we can really do to match a bigger, stronger, faster team,” he said. “We had 11 seniors graduate, and we’re pretty much freshmen and sophomores now.”
The Rebels came into the nonconference 8-player game after opening the season with a 60-14 win over Gibraltar.
Laona/Wabeno scored on the first play of three of its first six drives and added an interception for another touchdown to take a 46-0 lead into the second quarter.
The Rebels added two more touchdowns in the second quarter before a running clock limited their possessions in the second half.
Despite being on the short end of a 74-0 score, Mahkimetas said there are some positives that the Eagles can take from the game.
“We were moving the ball,” he said. “Was every play the way we wanted it? No, but the looks were there. We had a lot of good looks, and that’s kind of what we’re looking for out of these younger guys against a bigger, better program.”
Mahkimetas is convinced his team will be able to put the loss in the past and focus on Tri-County, the Eagles’ next opponent.
“I just explained to the boys that (Laona/Wabeno) is probably going to be one of our toughest teams,” he said. “I don’t want to say we held our ground, but we also didn’t completely crumble. It wasn’t as good as we wanted, but it could have been a lot worse.”
If the Eagles can show signs of improvement, Mahkimetas said he’d be happy.
“It’s progression,” he said. “Two or three years ago, we didn’t do so hot. Last year, we did a little better. We’re slowly getting there, it’s just a matter of time.”
The numbers aren’t there for Menominee Nation to field an 11-player team, but the 8-player format gives players an opportunity to play.
Mahkimetas said he’d like to see his program be successful.
“If not by winning games, I would at least like to see us go neck-and-neck with a couple of teams. I’m OK with that,” he said. “If we’re starting to compete, that’s better than us not competing.”
