The Shawano Community High School football team was unable to bounce back after Seymour scored on five of its first seven drives en route to a 42-6 loss Friday.
The Hawks (2-1, 1-1 in Bay Conference) had plenty of offense in a pair of wins to start the season. On Friday, Shawano couldn’t muster anything against a big defensive front from Seymour.
Seymour maintained a heavy running game, amassing 372 yards on 47 carries.
“They dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Shawano coach Alan Tomow said. “We knew what we had to do, and aside from Dietzen and the other tackle, size-wise we were very comparable. … The disappointing part is that our program wanted to take that next step tonight and be able to compete with the upper echelon of the conference and we didn’t match their intensity.”
Shawano knew Seymour was going to be tough despite its 0-2 record.
“We knew they had a bunch of good guys,” Shawano senior wide receiver/linebacker Zach Sousek said. “We just really gave it our best shot and we didn’t back down, and that’s what we can really ask for.”
Shawano ended up with 142 yards, while Seymour finished with 413 and dictated the tempo of the game from start to finish.
The Hawks were coming off a tight, two-point victory over New London last week and brimming with confidence. The loss could be a good thing, however, as the Hawks move forward with their season.
“Being 2-0, we knew there was a lot of work to be done, so if anything good can come out of this, this was a humbling experience for us and shows that we’re on the upswing — it’s just we have to keep working and we can’t get complacent,” Tomow said. “There’s a lot of good football to left to be played in Shawano this year.”
Sousek and his teammates are taking the loss in stride and hoping to learn against a quality opponent.
“It’s not a setback,” Sousek said. “We knew that if one day we want to compete for championships we’re going to be that good, so we’re just keeping our heads up.”
Seymour started its second drive of the game at the Shawano 23 after Marcus Cornelius had a nice runback on a punt. Four plays into the series, Zak Sasman found the outside and scored on a 9-yard run.
Shawano worked inside Seymour territory on its second drive, but the offense stalled. A good punt by Sousek pinned the Thunder at their own 5. The field position didn’t matter as Seymour methodically marched down the field, and Cornelius again scored from 9 yards out and it was quickly 14-0.
After a failed fake punt by Shawano, Seymour had another short field at the Shawano 45. Thunder quarterback Brett Banker hit Sasman for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
Seymour tacked on another score with 3:34 left in the opening half as Seth Jefson found the end zone from 5 yards out. A missed point-after attempt made it 27-0.
With Shawano trying to get on the board late in the second quarter, Shawano quarterback Cole Huntington was intercepted by Nik Yaeger. Seymour added a Clayton VanLanen 3-yard touchdown and Banker hit Sasman for the 2-point conversion and it was 35-0 with 18.4 seconds remaining in the first half.
After another Seymour score made it 42-0 in the third quarter, Shawano backup quarterback Jack Hanauer connected with Adam Bartz in stride on a fourth-and-7 for a 51-yard touchdown. Bartz had four receptions for 89 yards receiving.
It was the first career touchdown pass for the sophomore signal-caller.
Tomow said he took out Huntington to start the third quarter give him some rest. The QB injured his ankle the previous week. The coach also wanted to give his younger quarterback some reps at the varsity level.
Hanauer finished the night 4 for 10 passing for 70 yards and the score. Huntington was 4 for 13 for 44 yards and two interceptions.
Shawano, which only had 28 yards rushing on 17 carries, was led by Sousek with 29 yards.
VanLanen rushed for 101 yards and Jefson for 86 yards for Seymour.
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