It was Will Cox weather.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior rushed for 170 yards and two touchdowns on a muddy field Saturday as the Shawano Community High School football team beat Marinette 20-15.
The homecoming win propels the Hawks into playoff contention for the first time in three seasons.
The game started 30 minutes late as officials waited for a thunderstorm to pass, but the rain was a boon for Cox, who carried the ball 20 times, including a 66-yard dash up the left sideline early in the first quarter to set up his first touchdown, a 4-yard run that gave Shawano (3-4, 3-3 Bay) a 7-0 lead.
“We told him early in the week, the way the conditions look, this is a game for Will Cox,” Shawano coach Alan Tomow said. “The way our power schemes work, his running style really fits well with what we’re trying to do. If he gets to the next level, I like our chances with Will Cox in space with linebackers and secondary players.”
Cox found the end zone again on a 5-yard run with 39 seconds left in the half to give Shawano a 20-0 advantage.
The Hawks defense, boosted by the return of senior linebacker A.J. Cook, held Marinette (2-5, 2-5 Bay) scoreless for most of three quarters and stopped the Marines’ best drive of the day. After Marinette held the ball for 9 minutes, moved 58 yards and reached Shawano’s 1-yard line late in the first quarter and into the second, Shawano defensive back Chase Henning made a one-handed interception in the end zone to end the drive.
“We have to learn how to handle success,” Tomow said. “We’ve preached all year about believing in each other. That was a great example. They had it on the 1-yard line. We stood. They decided to throw it, and Chase made a great play for us.”
The other star for the Hawks was Cody Urban, who caught a 27-yard touchdown pass, recovered a fumble that ended a Marinette drive in the fourth quarter and then ran for a key first down on a fake punt late in the game.
The Marines got on the scoreboard late in the third quarter when quarterback Marcus Maguire found Joshua Lapacz for a 10-yard touchdown. Marinette followed that up with a 10-yard touchdown run by Lapacz that cut the Shawano lead to 20-13. Luke Johnson ran for the 2-point conversion on a broken play, cutting the Hawks’ lead to 20-15.
Shawano was held to a punt on its next possession, but got the ball back when Urban recovered a Lapacz fumble with 4:37 left in the game.
The Marine defense appeared to have the Hawks stopped with 2:29 left to play, stuffing Cox on third-and-4.
Shawano sent out its punting unit. At the snap, Urban took the ball and made for the right sideline and the first down marker at the Marinette 42-yard line. The 6-foot, 160-pound senior ended up getting a new set of downs by just inches.
“They rushed hard earlier on a punt,” Tomow said. “We figured they were going to try and block it. Cody Urban said he could get the first down for us, and when one of our senior leaders steps up and wants the ball in his hands, we trusted him.”
After the fake punt, Shawano ran another minute off the clock and forced Marinette to use all of its timeouts.
The Marines got the ball back at their own 28-yard line with 1:05 left in the game. Maguire ran for a first down and then threw four incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs, enabling Shawano to run out the clock for the win.
Shawano quarterback Cole Huntington completed three of 10 passes for 41 yards and a touchdown.
Maguire completed 12 of 23 passes for 139 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also led the Marines in rushing, with 48 yards on seven carries.
The victory put SCHS within one win of the WIAA playoffs. The Hawks need to defeat either Denmark (3-4, 3-3 Bay) Friday or Luxemburg-Casco (3-4, 2-4 Bay) in the regular season finale. Both games are on the road.
“The good thing is we’re battle-tested,” Tomow said.
Tomow said his team’s slow start was instrumental in teaching his players what it takes to win football games.
“The difference between winning and losing, good and bad, sometimes is one or two plays,” Tomow said. “Chase Henning makes that pick, Cody Urban gets the fake punt, Will Cox finishes on the goal line — those are the difference sometimes.”
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