Hawks’ season ends at hands of Tritons

Shawano hung with the WIAA’s defending Division 3 champion Notre Dame for over almost three quarters on Friday, going part of the way without starting quarterback Jack Hanauer, who went down with an injury late in the second quarter.

The Hawks, trailing 24-13 at the time, used Jarrett Laatsch as the backup, and continued to march down the field, but could not wear down Notre Dame in Friday’s 45-13 Level 1 road playoff loss.

“I’m really proud of their effort tonight,” Shawano head coach Al Tomow said. “We stepped in against a defending state champion, and I thought we gave them a pretty good game.”

The Hawks allowed a score on Notre Dame’s first possession of the second half for the Tritons to go ahead 31-13. Shawano responded with a 16-play drive, including a Laatsch scramble for a first down, a diving catch from Crede Timm and a 25-yard run by Kien Moorman to get the ball inside the 10.

The Tritons (9-1, 8-1 Fox River Classic Conference) stood tall at the goal line, stopping Shawano two yards short of scoring on fourth down. They then went 98 yards in two plays, a 56-yard run from Nate Ihlenfeldt, and a 42-yard run from Mike Gregoire to put the game out of reach.

Ihlenfeldt finished the game with 23 carries for 264 yards and three scores.

“I think I would have liked to see us be more aggressive at the point of attack,” Tomow said of his defense. “It’s the same thing all year. We need to get stronger, and as we do get stronger, we will be able to hang in there with these more physical football teams.”

Laatsch, who had limited time at quarterback on JV this season, stepped into the fire and had a strong showing for the Hawks. His focus had mostly been on the defensive side of the ball, where he is a starting linebacker.

“He knows the plays, he knows what we’re trying to do on offense, so obviously, he was a little bit rusty, but he looked good,” Hanauer said. “We’ll work with him this winter to make sure he’s ready to lead this team next year.”

Shawano used a consistent passing game, including comeback routes and in routes to find holes in the Notre Dame defense and move the ball throughout the game.

“A lot of the stuff the past couple of weeks that stopped us wasn’t the other team, but small missed assignments that we had,” Hanauer said. “So we cleaned that up and focused on the small things this week, and we did that on the field.

The Hawks (5-5, 4-4 Bay Conference) drove down the field in 3 minutes in the first quarter, capped by Hanauer’s 8-yard touchdown run. Seth Sousek forced a fumbled from Ihlenfeldt on the next possession, but a trick play would turn into an interception when Notre Dame’s Jack Allen jumped in front of Connor Klish to pick off Moorman’s pass.

The teams exchanged 54-yard touchdown receptions on the next two drives, with Notre Dame’s Jonathan Santaga finding Quinn Snyder behind the Shawano defense, and the Hanauer getting the ball to Moorman, who beat a linebacker on his route to run the open field for a touchdown.

Laatsch finished the game 11-for-21 passing for 119 yards, while senior receiver Dylan Sumnicht posted eight receptions for 89 yards and five rushes for 32 yards, and senior Connor Klish had five receptions for 51 yards.

Senior running back Kien Moorman had 16 carries for 81 yards in the loss.

“I’m so proud of our seniors,” Tomow said. “They never quit. When things didn’t go their way, they never quit, they never gave up on each other.”

Notre Dame 45, Shawano 13

Team 1 2 3 4 F

Shawano 6 7 0 0 13

Notre Dame 14 10 14 7 45

First quarter

ND: Nate Ihlenfeldt 7-yard run (PAT good) 7-0 (6:27).

ND: Mike Gregoire 41-yard reception from Janathan Santaga (PAT good) 14-0 (4:44).

S: Jack Hanauer 8-yard run (PAT missed) 14-6 (1:21).

Second quarter

ND: Quinn Snyder 54-yard reception from Santaga (PAT good) 21-6 (11:24).

S: Kien Moorman 54-yard reception from Hanauer (PAT good) 21-13 (7:40).

ND: Santaga 26-yard field goal, 24-13 (2:45).

Third quarter

ND: Ihlenfeldt 11-yard run (PAT good) 31-13 (9:13).

ND: Gregoire 42-yard run (PAT good) 38-13 (0:29).

Fourth quarter

ND: Ihlenfeldt 10-yard run (PAT good) 45-13 (8:45).