By the time Shawano junior running back Kien Moorman took a handoff and bounced out to the left on his way to the endzone, the Hawks were already down five touchdowns.
The score came with just 1:44 remaining in the second quarter, and his counterpart, Matt McNabb of West De Pere, had found the goalline four times on the way to a 60-18 victory for the visiting Phantoms (5-4, 5-3 Bay).
“We knew coming in that they were going to want to grind the ball and keep it on the ground,” SCHS head coach Al Tomow said. “They have a very good running back, and they are very physical up front.”
McNabb ran all over the defense for the first half before leaving the game with an injury with about three minutes to go before halftime.
On the very next play, sophomore running back Austin Beaumier found his way up the middle for a 19-yard score.
The next drive kickstarted the Shawano (2-7, 2-6 Bay) offense though, leading to Moorman’s 23-yard score before the break and a 29-point deficit.
Moorman finished the game with 87 yards on the ground.
Shawano went on the kick three onside kicks in the second half, recovering the opening kickoff of the half, which led to junior Dylan Sumnicht’s four-yard catch for a 35-12 game.
“We need to tackle a little bit better,” Phantoms head coach Jack Batten said about his defense. “We have to keep the ball contained.”
McNabb would come back into the game to score again in the third quarter for his fifth touchdown of the game. He ran the ball 19 times for 185 yards. His backup, Beaumier, ended with 15 carries for 114 yards and three touchdowns.
After the ensuing kickoff of West De Pere’s next score, junior Dylan Sumnicht caught a pass on a slant route and beat the defense for a 63-yard score, his second of the night.
Sumnicht also recorded 95 yards for the Hawks and broke Tomow’s receiving record at the high school for yards in a season.
“We have a good offense, and other coaches are taking note to the things we are doing here on that side of the ball,” Tomow said. “We thought that we could hit some big plays on them. We saw some weaknesses and we were able to do that in the second quarter and a little bit in the third quarter.”
The Hawks, once they got the offense going, played close with West De Pere. It just took Shawano almost two full quarters to get up to speed.
“The problem is that we are slow starters,” Tomow said. “We don’t start out very quick, and again, it cost us tonight. It takes a little bit to settle in, but once we do, we show that we can move the ball against anyone.”
Scoring summary
West De Pere 21 14 12 13 — 60
Shawano 0 6 12 0 — 18
First quarter
W: McNabb 63-yard punt return (kick good) 10:15.
W: McNabb 48-yard run (kick good) 4:05.
W: McNabb, 63-yard run (kick good) 1:33.
Second quarter
W: McNabb 14-yard run (kick good) 8:28.
W: Austin Beaumier 19-yard run (kick good) 2:44.
S: Moorman 23-yard run (conversion missed) 1:44.
Third quarter
S: Sumnicht 4-yard catch from Hanauer (conversion missed) 9:37.
W: Bryce Kuehl 1-yard run (kick blocked) 7:06.
S: Sumnicht 63-yard catch from Hanauer (conversion missed) 6:15.
W: McNabb 52-yard run (kick blocked) 6:05.
Fourth quarter
W: Beaumier 2-yard run (kick good) 11:56.
W: Beaumier 10-yard run (kick missed) 5:55.
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