It started as a bad sequence.
Down 6-3 against Bay Conference foe Oconto Falls in the second quarter Friday, the Shawano Community High School football team committed four straight penalties to face second-and-47. When senior receiver Zack Sousek reeled off a 16-yard run and no flags flew, the packed stands responded with a bit of a Bronx cheer.
What came next had the Shawano fans cheering for real.
Quarterback Cole Huntington, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior, found junior Adam Bartz (6-1, 175 pounds) for a 27-yard completion on third-and-31. Huntington and Bartz connected again to convert on fourth-and-four.
A few plays later, Huntington ran a keeper into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown, and the Hawks were on their way to a 43-14 victory.
“We felt the momentum kind of tipping toward them,” Shawano coach Al Tomow said. “We kept shooting ourselves in the foot by getting penalties. We ended up in a second-and-long situation. We told the kids, ‘just do your job.’”
“I don’t think we’ve ever did that before,” Huntington said of facing second-and-47. “You don’t see that often.”
The score, which came with 3:14 left in the first half, ignited Shawano (3-2, 2-2 Bay Conference).
Oconto Falls (0-5, 0-5) mishandled a pitch on the ensuing kickoff. A Shawano player came up with the ball, and Shawano was back to work at the Oconto Falls 17. Senior running back Chase Henning (6-0, 175 pounds) punched it in from 5 yards out, putting Shawano ahead 16-6.
Oconto Falls, which had had some success running the ball throughout the first half, was forced to punt in the final seconds of the half to Sousek, who cut through the first wave of Oconto Falls defenders, cut across the field and headed down the sideline for an 85-yard touchdown.
“Those are huge moments in our program,” Tomow said. “It shows we can overcome adversity. We took a step tonight.”
Shawano’s first score of the day was a 25-yard field goal from senior Braden Mueller.
Later in the first quarter, a Henning fumble gave the Panthers a short field.
Oconto Falls sophomore quarterback Connor Scray (6-0, 168 pounds) managed to punch it in from the Shawano 1-yard line to give his team a 6-3 lead early in the second quarter.
In the second half, Huntington scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter and completed a pass to sophomore Dylan Sumnicht for a 24-yard touchdown in the fourth.
“We wanted to finish the game and put them out of the game for good,” Huntington said. “That’s what we came out and did.”
Huntington completed five of 10 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 11 times for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
With the game in hand, he gave way to sophomore Daniel Hanauer, who tossed a 15-yard TD pass to Bartz. Bartz finished with three catches for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Henning had 25 carries for 169 yards and a touchdown.
Oconto Falls scored early in the third quarter when senior running back Samuel Konitzer (5-8, 160 pounds) found the end zone from 7 yards out. He finished with 10 carries for 54 yards. Scray had 14 carries for 48 yards and a touchdown.
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