The Wrightstown Tigers are used to winning football games.
The Shawano Hawks? Not so much.
Shawano had an opportunity to knock off a team that played for a state championship the last two seasons, but ended up on the short end of a 10-8 score Aug. 28 in the Hawks’ home opener.
The game’s first five drives ended with a punt, but the next two ended on a fumble.
Michael Besel recovered a loose ball on the first play of Shawano’s third drive to set the Tigers up at the Shawano 37-yard line.
“We don’t want to put the ball on the ground,” coach Alan Tomow said. “That’s twice we’ve done that, and we have to get better at that.”
Wrightstown took advantage of the short field and eventually had a third-and-goal from the 1-yard line, but a fumble kept the Tigers from breaking the scoreless tie and the ball rolled out of the end zone for a touchback.
The Hawks’ third punt of the game gave the Tigers the ball at their own 38-yard line with 3:30 to go in the first half. Wrightstown converted a fourth down with less than a minute to go, and Daniel Buntin connected with Bennett Stengel for a 12-yard scoring pass with seven seconds on the scoreboard.
Shawano opened the second half with Aiden Rasmussen’s kickoff return that set the Hawks up at the Wrightstown 47-yard line.
Marcus Brezgel’s 2-yard run midway through the third quarter cut the deficit to 7-6 and Shawano took a one-point lead after Austin Heling beat Wrightstown’s Nolan Watzka in the end zone for the two-point conversion.
The score remained 8-7 until Buntin kicked a 35-yard field goal with 10:45 remaining in the game.
Shawano turned the ball over on downs on its next drive. Wrightstown had an opportunity to run out the clock, but the Hawks took over on their own 29-yard line with 1:58 to go after the Tigers failed to convert a fourth down.
Shawano picked up a pair of first downs, but Ryan Leahy ended any chance of an upset by intercepting Rasmussen’s pass. Wrightstown took over on its own 21-yard line with just under a minute to go and ran out the clock.
“That’s what we talk about: giving ourselves a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter,” Tomow said. “Their kicker hit a big field goal and got the stop when they needed to. That’s how football goes.”
Neither team put up big numbers on offense. Rasmussen finished with 73 passing yards, and Brezgel and Ayden Bystol led the team with 28 rushing yards.
Buntin completed only three of his eight passes for 31 yards, while Theo Van Rossum led all rushers with 70 yards.
“I’m really proud of our team,” Tomow said. “We battled. We have to play 48 minutes of good football regardless of who’s across from us. Our guys did that tonight and unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end.
“Our guys care. There’s a lot of passion, frustration and disappointment, but there’s pride. They’re proud to play for Shawano, and they know we have big things ahead of us.”
The Hawks had opened the season with a 30-8 loss to Denmark and will open Bay Conference play at 7 p.m. Sept. 5 at home against Seymour.
“I like the parity in our league,” Tomow said. “We have Seymour next week, and we know what Winneconne’s about and what Xavier has. They’re very strong programs with very good athletes coming back. If we play our brand of football and make them play our style, we give ourselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter.
“We took huge steps compared to where we were last week and we’re going to continue to grow. We’re not done yet.”
