Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School defensive back Brett Ainsworth, bottom, and Seth Sousek, left, combine for a tackle of West De Pere’s Alex Wagner in the second quarter of Shawano’s season-opening 42-0 loss at home Friday.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School quarterback Jarrett Laatsch, left, hands the ball off to running back Roman Purull in the first quarter of Shawano’s season-opening 42-0 loss at home Friday. Purull led Shawano with 12 rushes for 38 yards.
West De Pere quarterback Josh Blount rushed the ball just six times in the first half but amassed 120 yards and four touchdowns as the Phantoms blew out Shawano, 42-0, in both teams’ season opener Friday in Shawano.
Blount found the end zone more times in the first half than Shawano found the red zone all game. The Hawks reached the 20-yard line just twice, once in each of the first two quarters.
“As good of a program as they’ve been over the last 15 years, it was important for us to come out and answer the intensity that they set, and I thought we did,” Shawano head coach Al Tomow said. “We did push back. I thought we fought all the way through.”
The Hawks (0-1, 0-1 Bay Conference) finished with 175 total yards; West De Pere (0-1, 0-1 Bay) compiled 315.
“This is one of the best defensive fronts that we’re going see all season, and we had some success against them, so our guys are going to get more comfortable in their schemes,” Tomow said. “There’s a lot of football left to to play. I hope everyone continues to support us because we’re going to get better and we’re going to put a better product on the field going forward.”
The Phantoms were bigger than the Hawks and more experienced, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
“We probably had them on experience a little bit. We had more kids coming back, but by no means is (Shawano) a bad football team,” West De Pere head coach Jack Batten said. “They’re going to win their fair share of football games this year.”
Even with the inexperience the Hawks had flashes of strong offensive play in the first half.
“I’ll be honest. Shawano moved the ball on us pretty well,” Batten said. “They have a pretty potent offense.”
Shawano reached the red zone on its second possession, but a false start penalty forced a fourth-and-seven, and the Phantom defense held senior quarterback Jarrett Laatsch to just a 3-yard carry for the turnover on downs.
Blount, who scored from 2 and 14 yards out in the opening quarter, kept the West De Pere offense moving, scampering for 32 yards before Austin Beaumier broke free for a 26-yard run down to the 6-yard line. Blount took the ball in for a score for a 21-0 lead with 9:44 left in the first half.
On the Hawks’ next possession, sophomore running back Brayden Dickelman went down with a knee injury. From there, Shawano settled for a punt, but Garrett Kempen broke through the line, blocked the punt, scooped up the ball and trotted into the end zone.
Shawano’s offense got back on track as Laatsch got more comfortable in the pocket, finding junior Crede Timm for a 15-yard gain later in the half and then senior Brad Bartz on a slant. Bartz fought his way toward the end zone but was stripped by Alex Spitzer inside the 5-yard line. The ball bounced into the end zone and was recovered by the Phantoms for a touchback.
Blount scored on a 66-yard touchdown just two plays after the fumble, and then after Shawano muffed the kickoff, Beaumier, who finished with a game-high 168 rushing yards, scored on the first play to give West De Pere two touchdowns in 10 seconds and a 42-0 lead at the half.
Laatsch completed 11 of 16 passes for 85 yards, with Bartz hauling in 34 yards on four catches and Dickelman 25 yards on four catches.
“As we continue to progress through our season, and Jarrett gets more comfortable with his wideouts and the offense, we’re only going to get better,” Tomow said. “So we’re hoping it happens a little quicker, and we can start progressing and kind of opening up a little more.”
Junior Roman Purull led the Hawks in rushing with 38 yards on 12 carries. Laatsch carried the ball 13 times for 11 yards.
West De Pere 42, Shawano 0
Team 1 2 3 4 F
West De Pere 14 28 0 0 42
Shawano 0 0 0 0 0
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
WDP: Joshua Blount 14-yard run (7-0) PAT good (10:47).
WDP: Blount 2-yard run (14-0) PAT good (4:03).
Second Quarter
WDP: Blount 6-yard run (21-0) PAT good (9:44).
WDP: Garrett Kempen blocked punt (28-0) PAT good (7:31).
WDP: Blount 66-yard run (35-0) PAT good (2:18).
WDP: Austin Beaumier 35-yard run (42-0) PAT good (2:08).
Third Quarter
No scoring
Fourth Quarter
No scoring