On paper, it wasn’t a very intriguing matchup.
Two high school football teams with identical 1-6 records – Shawano and Waupaca – faced each other Oct. 9 at Comet Field in Waupaca and ended up combining for eight touchdowns and 55 points.
Although Shawano scored on three of its first four possessions and led 21-7 at halftime, the Comets outscored the Hawks 27-0 in the second half and ended up with a 34-21 Bay Conference win.
Shawano opened the game with a three-play, 60-yard drive. Aiden Rasmussen found Austin Heling for a 32-yard completion on the game’s first play and Marcus Brezgel’s 14-yard run two plays later gave the visitors the lead less than two minutes into the game.
The Hawks’ second drive ended with a missed 31-yard field goal, but they found the end zone two more times before halftime.
After Waupaca turned the ball over on downs at the Shawano 13-yard line, Rasmussen connected with Elijah Senft for a 76-yard touchdown pass and the Hawks led 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
Waupaca cut the lead in half on its next drive on Austin Adamczak’s 3-yard quarterback keeper with 3:44 to go in the half.
That was plenty of time for Shawano to drive 80 yards for what turned out to be the Hawks’ final touchdown, Rasmussen’s 1-yard run with six seconds remaining.
“We controlled the clock in the first half,” coach Alan Tomow said. “We left some points out there when we had the ball at the 10-yard line and came away with nothing. Defensively, we wanted to take away Austin’s first read. We thought if we could get him off his first read, it would cause some problems.”
The Comets opened the second half with a 70-yard drive, as Adamczak scored from a yard out to cut Shawano’s lead to 21-14.
Waupaca tied the game on the second play of the fourth quarter on Adamczak’s 17-yard run and took the lead for good with 8:33 remaining in the game on Wyatt Buenning’s 7-yard run.
Waupaca soon had the ball again, as John Zeamer recovered Joseph Kleinschmidt’s fumble to set the Comets up at the Shawano 19-yard line. Adamczak capped the drive with a 6-yard run.
The Hawks turned the ball over on downs on their next drive and never had the ball again.
Shawano only ran a handful of plays on one drive in the third quarter.
“We had chances to get off the field, and that’s where things flipped, because we gave them a chance to tie the game,” Tomow said. “We knew they were going to come back with that quarterback draw up the middle. He’s a good athlete, and we had to stop it. We’d come in a little reckless or out of control, and that’s where three or four yards turn into seven or eight or nine yards on first down. You can do anything you want, because you have three downs to pick up one or two yards.”
Shawano didn’t have an answer for Adamczak, who finished with 178 rushing yards and 159 passing yards to go with his four touchdowns on the ground.
Rasmussen completed eight of nine passes for 162 yards, but the Comets held the Hawks to fewer than 100 yards on the ground.
The Hawks will wrap up the season Oct. 17 in Appleton against Fox Valley Lutheran.
“They continue to fight,” Tomow said. “They show up, they’re positive, they understand their limitations. They know how close we are.”
