Wins haven’t exactly been adding up this season for the Shawano football team.
Heading into their Bay Conference game with Waupaca on Oct. 2 on the Comets’ home field, the Hawks were in the midst of a four-game losing streak that began after the team’s only win over Lakeland.
The losing streak is over, as the Hawks returned home with a 42-26 win following a 275-yard, three-touchdown effort from Marcus Brezgel.
Shawano improved to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in conference play, while Waupaca is 0-5 in the Bay and 0-7 overall.
“It’s an awesome feeling,” coach Alan Tomow said. “The kids deserve this one. We had a good week of practice, especially how bad things went last Saturday (against Fox Valley Lutheran). For us to regroup and come back and play a good Waupaca team, we knew the effort was going to be there. This is their homecoming game and they have a couple of tough games to finish out the year, but we knew they were going to give us their best shot. I think we got the best version of Waupaca tonight.”
Each team scored once in the first quarter.
Brezgel opened the scoring on the game’s second play with a 64-yard run for a 6-0 lead less than a minute into the contest. Waupaca answered on its first drive with a 4-yard run from Erik Harms and a successful extra point.
Waupaca almost came up with points on its second drive, as a 61-yard pass completion from JJ Peterson to Carter Solberg set the Comets up at the Shawano 14-yard line, but a missed field goal kept the score at 7-6.
After a Shawano fumble gave the Comets the ball at their own 20-yard line, Kevin Durham capped an 80-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run and a missed extra point try gave Waupaca a 13-6 lead with 7:12 to go in the first half. Shawano answered on its next drive with a 27-yard field goal from Austin Heling and the Hawks trailed 13-9 at the break.
Seven of the game’s touchdowns came in the second half.
Peterson connected with Dylan Johnson for a 25-yard touchdown pass for Waupaca with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter that gave the Comets a 20-9 lead, but Elijah Senft scored on a 5-yard run for Shawano on Shawano’s next drive that cut the lead to 20-15.
After Shawano’s defense forced a 3-and-out, the Hawks took the lead for good on Brezgel’s 14-yard run. Senft added the 2-point conversion run to give Shawano a 23-20 lead with 3:13 to go in the third quarter.
Shawano added to its lead on Tristan Lawe’s 4-yard quarterback keeper after Heling kept the drive alive by running for a first down on a fake punt play.
Braxon Beyersdorf ended Waupaca’s next drive with an interception, but the Comets soon had the ball again after Lawe lost a fumble.
The game’s next two plays turned out to be turnovers, as Shawano’s Nolan Kleinschmidt and Waupaca’s Solberg came up with an interception.
Solberg’s interception gave Waupaca the ball at the Shawano 19-yard line, but the drive ended after Beyersdorf came up with his second interception.
Waupaca soon had the ball on the Shawano 25-yard line after another fumble, and Harms scored on a 3-yard run with 3:20 left in the game that cut Shawano’s lead to 29-26.
Shawano added to its lead on its next drive, as Lawe scored on a 47-yard run.
Beyersdorf’s third interception led to Shawano’s final touchdown. The Hawks took over at their own 46-yard line and Brezgel added to his rushing total with a 54-yard touchdown run on the drive’s first play.
The game ended on another interception from Shawano’s Dominick Thorson.
Shawano ended up with 481 rushing yards. Lawe added 149 yards on the ground to go with Brezgel’s 275, but the Hawks also came up with five interceptions.
“We ran the ball really well,” Tomow said. “We turned the ball over in the red zone, which is a no-no. We kept on giving it back-and-forth between us late in the game. We work on it and emphasize it, but these guys made the last big play and finished the game. You see the touchdown runs, but there are a lot of things that go into that. It shows the fight that we have in these kids.”
Marcus Brezgel lines up in the backfield for Shawano on Oct. 2 during the Hawks’ 42-26 win over Waupaca. The junior running back and linebacker rushed for a game-high 275 yards and three touchdowns. (Greg Seubert)
A trio of Shawano defenders holds Waupaca’s Carter Solberg to a short gain in the first half of a Bay Conference football game at Waupaca High School. (Greg Seubert)
Shawano’s Austin Arrowood and Brayen Boivin team up to tackle Waupaca’s Erik Harms. (Greg Seubert)
Shawano quarterback Tristan Lawe hands the ball to Marcus Brezgel. (Greg Seubert)
