SHAWANO, WI- The Shawano Hawks gave Wrightstown all they could handle in a thriller Thursday night. The Hawks defense stepped up, holding the Tigers to a single touchdown, but it was a field goal that locked up a 10-8 win for Wrightstown.
The Tigers finished their season at State the last two years, finishing second both seasons. Coach Al Tomow said despite that, it hurts to fall short.
“We don’t play for moral victories, but our kids played really hard and it was a lot of fun.”
Tomow pointed to turnovers and missed assignments as key miscues.
“The guys are frustrated and disappointed, but they are starting believe,” he said. “I think at the start of the week, they did not think they could beat these guys and that 57-0 game last year was on their minds.”
Teams exchanged punts for the first four drives of the game, before back to back fumbles. With a scoreless game, Wrightstown used a 12 play drive and a 12-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Buntin to Bennett Stengel to take a 7-0 lead at the break.
Shawano answered on their first drive in the second half, with a 13 play scoring drive that went 47 yards and was capped off by a 3-yard-run by Marcus Brezgel. A successful 2-point conversion made it 8-7 Shawano. The Tigers Buntin kicked a 35-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter, giving Wrightstown a 10-8 lead that they were able to secure with an interception on the games final drive.
“We can only ask for a chance to win it in the fourth quarter and that is exactly what we did tonight, but it stings,” Tomow said.
Aiden Rasmussen was 8 of 14 with 73 passing yards. Brezgel and Ayden Byston both had 28 yards rushing.
Daniel Buntin was 3 of 8 for 31 passing yards and a touchdown. Theo Van Rossum carried the ball 17 times for 70 yards.
“I can tell you, the team were last week was not who we are and we took big steps tonight, but there is a long ways to go.”
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