At least it wasn’t a shutout.
Nothing worked for the Shawano Community High School football team against undefeated Bay Conference foe West De Pere in a 61-8 loss Friday night in Shawano.
The only positive for the Hawks was a 65-yard drive in the final minutes of the game, which ended when quarterback Cole Huntington found freshman Dylan Sumnicht on a slant for a 9-yard touchdown to break the 61-0 shutout with 15 seconds left on the clock. Huntington, a 6-foot-2 junior, then found sophomore Adam Bartz on the 2-point conversion attempt to cut West De Pere’s lead to 61-8.
“It was huge to get that last drive and end up in the end zone,” Shawano coach Al Tomow said. “It was important for us, because we have to believe in each other and we can’t have any doubts. That’s when bad things start to happen, we start finger pointing. We needed to come away there with points.”
The last-second touchdown averted what would have been Shawano’s worse loss since a 56-0 beat down by West De Pere on Sept. 24, 2011.
“It was a disappointing first 59 minutes,” Tomow said. “We didn’t quit. We played the full 60 minutes and we got in the end zone.”
The Hawks’ offense struggled for yards, much less first downs, for most of the game. Shawano (1-4, 1-3 Bay) punted five times in the first half, while the Phantoms were rolling to eight first-half touchdowns.
Shawano had four drives end by turnovers and a safety in the first half. On the Hawks’ second possession, Huntington was sacked in the end zone for a safety to give West De Pere a 9-0 advantage.
Shawano fumbled the ball away to open the second quarter, setting up the Phantoms on the Shawano 27-yard line, which was then turned into a 1-yard Aaron Schmitt touchdown and a 44-0 West De Pere lead.
“We knew we had to match their intensity to open the game and at least show them that we had something to build on,” Tomow said. “We didn’t do that, and that part is disappointing because we made them look better than they are. ”
The Hawks’ final two drives of the half were cut short by a pair of interceptions that led to another touchdown for West De Pere (5-0, 4-0 Bay) and a 58-0 lead at halftime.
Shawano held a cast of West De Pere second and third stringers out of the end zone in the second half, but West De Pere kicker Shawn Prokash hit a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to extend the Phantoms’ lead to 61-0.
OVERSET FOLLOWS:Huntington completed seven of nine passes for 20 yards, including a touchdown and two interceptions. Shawano was held to just 16 yards on 14 rushing attempts. Brendan Cummings led with an 8-yard carry. Sumnicht had two catches for 13 yards and the touchdown.
West De Pere quarterback Chandler Diekvoss was six of eight for 132 yards and a touchdown before exiting the game at halftime. He also rushed five times for 66 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Alex Schmitt had nine carries for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Dominique Conway had seven carries for 60 yards and two touchdowns. Samuel Herbert had two catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.
Tomow is happy to be done with teams like Hortonville and West De Pere, but knows his team will have to improve for the rest of the schedule.
“The brutal part of our schedule is over, but we’re not entitled to anything,” Tomow said. “We’re going to have to come out, we have Oconto Falls next week, and anything that we get we’ll have to earn.”
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