Fifteen hours after the Friday night kickoff of its home opener against New London, the Shawano Community High School football team left the field victorious Saturday, rallying to a 28-26 win to stay perfect on the season.
The game, which was postponed in the second quarter Friday night because of lightning and restarted Saturday morning, turned on a monster series of plays by Zack Sousek, a senior 5-foot-10 triple threat who caught a touchdown and had a long return Friday night.
Trailing 26-21 in the third quarter, the Hawks' defense forced a New London punt, which was returned by Sousek to the New London 31-yard line. A few plays later, Sousek caught the go-ahead 24-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Cole Huntington (6-1, 180 pounds).
Huntington’s pass arced into the corner of the end zone where Sousek and New London defensive back Connor Hoell both jumped for the ball and got their hands on it. Sousek came over the top of Hoell to grab the ball and ripped it away as the two fell to the ground for the touchdown.
“Zack has been so versatile for us,” Shawano coach Al Tomow said. “He’s a great athlete. We can move him around and have confidence that, no matter who is across from him on offense or defense, he’s going to do a great job. Any time he has the football in his hands, good things are going to happen. He showed that today and last night.”
Both of Sousek’s catches in the game were touchdowns for a combined 79 yards. He also went over 100 yards on returns.
Shawano’s defense, which looked shaky Friday night, took over the game from there as the Hawks worked to protect the 28-26 lead.
New London marched into Shawano territory three times the rest of the game only to be denied. Shawano recovered two fumbles and picked off New London quarterback Dylan Keehn to end the three drives.
“The defense did a tremendous job since we started today,” Tomow said. “We made some adjustments, moved some guys around. They really responded and came out with just a gutsy effort.”
The Hawks' defense has forced 10 turnovers in the first two weeks of the season, including four against New London.
“It’s always good when we get turnovers, but we have to be built to expect not to get them,” Tomow said. “When we do get them, we have to take advantage. We can’t expect them.”
Shawano (2-0, 1-0 Bay Conference) resumed play Saturday morning with New London (0-2, 0-2 Bay) leading 19-7 in the second quarter.
The Hawks, who got the ball on the Bulldog 1-yard line when play resumed Saturday, scored on third-and-1 on a dive by senior running back Chase Henning (6-0, 175 pounds). The touchdown cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 19-14.
A quick drive by New London and a touchdown toss from Keehn to Hoell put New London back up 26-14.
In the final minutes of the half, Shawano drove 67 yards and scored on a keeper by Huntington with 8.9 seconds left on the clock.
Both teams opened the second half with fumbles as rain made the ball slippery.
Tomow said the split game allowed his team to make a few adjustments, and his players responded well to the challenge of coming back in the morning to continue the game.
“We brought them in this morning a little earlier just to get them loose,” Tomow said. “Made sure we had a lot of water. It was unconventional, but it was exciting for us to kind of prep for those kinds of things. Our staff did a good job of managing the situation and making sure the kids were ready to go.”
Huntington finished the game with five completions on 20 throws for 140 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball 13 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. His favorite target was Adam Bartz, who had four catches for 69 yards. Henning had one catch for 6 yards. He also carried the ball 18 times for 24 yards and a touchdown.
Keehn finished 12 of 20 for 167 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Nicholas Thomas caught four balls for 96 yards. Hoell had 27 carries for 168 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter. He also caught two balls for 19 yards and the second-quarter touchdown. Andrew Clauss had five carries for 10 yards, including a touchdown in the first quarter. Hunter Zaddack had the Bulldog’s other touchdown in the second quarter Friday night.
The fast start has Tomow looking forward to next week’s Bay Conference game against Seymour (0-2, 0-2 Bay), which opened the season with conference losses to Luxemburg-Casco and Menasha.
“We earned it. It wasn’t given to us,” Tomow said. “Nothing is given to us, we’re not entitled to anything. Now we’re coming in with Seymour next week. They’re 0-2, but they are always a top team in the conference. You have to figure they’ll be hungry and ready to go. We expect their best effort and we hope to give them ours.”
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