There’s fight in these Panthers, but there wasn’t quite enough to pull off a victory.
The winless Oconto Falls football team nearly erased a 16-point first-half deficit to Shawano on Friday night. The Panthers pulled to within three points at 23-20, but a costly defensive lapse on third down gave the Hawks an insurance touchdown that helped Shawano hang on for a 30-20 victory.
“We came out after half and we thought we were going to do it, but it didn’t end up the way we wanted,” Oconto Falls fullback/linebacker Tyler Kowalczyk said. “We could feel the momentum shift and we really thought we were going somewhere.”
After dropping three of its first four games of the season by 40 or more points, the Oconto Falls players found themselves in a dogfight midway through the third quarter.
“It’s been a while since they’ve been in this situation at the end of a game. We had some experience against Marinette,” Oconto Falls head coach Jeff Trochil said. “There’s a sense of urgency where you’ve got to step up and make that series happen and get it done at that point. It’s a process of those kids understanding that and getting it done in that high-pressure situation. I’m proud of the boys putting themselves in that position.”
The momentum shifted when Oconto Falls (0-5, 0-5 Bay Conference) trailed 23-7 late in the first half. Starting on Shawano’s 39-yard line after the Panthers defense forced a three-and-out. Quarterback Sam Konitzer heaved a desperation throw inside the 10 that Zachary Brye hauled in, setting up the Panthers deep in Hawks territory. Three plays later, Connor Sefcik found the end zone from 7 yards out. A missed point-after attempt made it 23-13.
In the second half, Jacob Yatso recovered a Shawano fumble and Oconto Falls started in prime position at the Hawks’ 43. Konitzer found Sefcik for a 22-yard pass to the 16 and Alex Johnson plunged in from the 2, and suddenly it was 23-20 after the extra point.
After Oconto Falls forced Shawano (2-4, 2-3 Bay) to punt, the Panthers got down to the Hawks’ 39 before having to punt the ball right back. Pinned at its own 8-yard line, Shawano faced a do-or-die situation. After giving themselves breathing room at the 24, Hawks quarterback Cole Huntington connected with Brice Bergner and the senior did the rest, racing 76 yards for a touchdown with 41 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
“It was rough, it was rough,” said Kowalczyk about surrendering the touchdown. “But we still knew we had a chance. We buckled down, we tried it. We gave it our all.”
Shawano head coach Alan Tomow dialed up the play on third-and-long after it worked to perfection for a touchdown in the first half.
“We ran a short route to the other side and we had an and-go tag on the back side and we had the fastest kid in the whole stadium in a foot race,” Tomow said. “I’ll take (Bergner) over just about anybody.”
It was Bergner’s fourth touchdown – three through the air – of the game. Remarkably, he only touched the ball four times the entire night.
The touchdown deflated the Panthers.
In its final three possessions of the game, Oconto Falls went punt, interception, turnover on downs.
“We knew we could execute,” Trochil said. “We had a couple mental mistakes that we had to correct and we had confidence in our scheme going against the guys and we just started executing and building confidence.”
Shawano jumped out to a 17-0 first-half lead after Huntington hooked up with Bergner twice for touchdowns of 19 and 23 yards, respectively.
Following the second touchdown, Sefcik took the kickoff 45 yards to Shawano’s 32.
A couple plays later, Kowalczyk rumbled in from 8 yards out to get the Panthers on the scoreboard at 17-7.
The Hawks wasted little time in responding. After recovering an onside kick, Shawano used the short field to its advantage. Tavernier raced 24 yards to the Oconto Falls 25 and the next play, Bergner scored on a 25-yard run. It was quickly 23-7. That’s when the Panthers mounted their comeback.
The game might get the Panthers on track. It was the first time Oconto Falls has scored 20 points in a contest since Oct. 14, 2011.
“Coming off of last year where we had one touchdown (all season), it’s a big momentum builder from what we’ve done,” Kowalczyk said. “We’ve been stepping it up each game, we got more than one touchdown. It’s just a process, and next year we’ll come back even better.”
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