5 area football players enjoy all-star experience

Five area high school football players enjoyed their Wisconsin Football Coaches Association all-star game experiences in Oshkosh.

Shawano’s Elliott Lowney was on the North Large team, which was coached by Shawano’s Alan Tomow. The North topped the South 21-20 on July 16 at Titan Stadium.

Lowney played his typical wide receiver position, while also punting for the team because nobody else had experience at that position. The Bemidji State commit made a difference all over the field.

The North ran a double reverse play in the third quarter, which gave Lowney a chance to show off his arm. He threw a deep pass to Kaukauna’s Carson Sippel for a 62-yard touchdown to put the team up 14-7.

“Coming out of the half we had a trick play in and coach told us that we were going to run it at some point no matter what, so when he called it I knew I just had to throw it out there and let Carson go make a play, and with the line making great blocks, I did just that,” said Lowney.

He also had one rush for 14 yards and caught two passes for 18 yards. He punted five times for 184 yards, saving his best for last.

“My No. 1 goal was to not shank a punt during the game and thankfully I did not, but I did have a really good punt pinning the South inside the 15 with 50 seconds left in the game to seal it,” said Lowney.

After missing a chunk of his senior season with an injury, Lowney was thrilled to get one final chance to showcase his talents at the high school level, and getting to play under Tomow one last time was also a treat.

“Leading up to the game it was a lot of fun. The group of guys we had there were so fun to be around which made everything go a lot smoother,” said Lowney, who added that the two practices a day leading up to the game was a preview of what college ball would be like. “Any school rivalry was put aside and we came together as one unit and by the end of the week we were one big family.”

Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Ben Wesolowski helped the North Small team to a convincing 25-7 win over the South on July 16.

“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would recommend to anyone that gets the chance to play in this game, especially playing for such a great cause,” said Wesolowski, referencing how players raised money for the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

Wesolowski threw a pair of touchdown passes to Ellsworth’s Ashten Quade in the second quarter. The first was a deep pass for an 82-yard score, while the second touchdown pass went for 13 yards.

“I played quarterback and was lucky enough to throw two touchdown passes — one on my first drive on a long pass and one where my receiver made a great play and snagged a tipped ball,” said Wesolowski. “It was great to be able to help my team the North beat down on the South.”

Just like in his senior season for the Chargers, Wesolowski wasn’t just effective as a passer. He finished with 31 rushing yards to go along with 206 passing yards. Wesolowski completed 12 of his 18 pass attempts.

“Our coaches were great in helping us learn the new plays and making it easy enough to learn in a few days without having to spend time studying, which gave us plenty of times in between practices to get to know each other and have fun,” said Wesolowski.

Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas Academy players Logan Shallow, Lane Whiting and Blake DeDamos all played for the South 8-player team, which lost 23-6 to the North team on July 15.

“It was great to be able to play football again in the all-star game with my teammates one last time,” said Whiting.

“It was awesome to play in the all-star game,” said Shallow. “Playing one more football game was a great experience. Blake and Lane made the week a whole lot better as well. Knowing someone going into it made it easier to feel comfortable as well.”

DeDamos, the lone player of the three that attended STAA, said that Shallow and Whiting were “two of the best teammates I could ever ask for.”

Shallow rushed for 16 yards on eight attempts and caught three passes. He was also credited with three assisted tackles in the contest.

“I ran the ball a decent amount of times which was a great experience,” said Shallow. “Overall, the week was amazing.”

Whiting played outside linebacker for the team and finished with three solo tackles and six assisted tackles. He was credited with two tackles for losses.

“To prepare for the game we practiced twice every day for the entire week,” said Whiting. “Unfortunately my team lost but it was a great experience and I had lots of fun getting to know and play with kids from other schools.”

“The game was what we practiced for all week and why we got selected to play, but I feel that the most important part was when we got to see what we were playing for,” said DeDamos. “The financial proceeds from the game go to the children’s hospital. Each player also did individual fundraisers months prior to the game. During the week we heard one of the former patients of the hospital tell his story. The game was merely a bonus to being able to help support the children’s hospital.”

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