SHAWANO, WI- Shawano quarterback Jerzy Brocker tossed a short touchdown pass in the game’s finals seconds to lead Shawano to a 52-48 Homecoming Saturday win.

“It was great to see them finally get over the hump,” Coach Al Tomow said.

Brocker found Jacob Landon in the middle of the end zone on one of the final plays of the game to recapture the lead after trailing 48-45 with three minutes to go.

“The pass was actually supposed to go to Ashton Henning low,” Brocker said. “Somehow Jacob came up with it, but I’ll take that.”

Winneconne struck first after turning a blocked punt into a two play scoring drive. Quarterback Brady Immel scored on a 32-year run to give the Wolves a 6-0 lead. Shawano responded as Brocker scored a rushing touchdown of his own on a 10-yard scamper to tie the game at 6-6.

The turnover bug started to bite Winneconne as a fumbled kick return gave the Hawks the ball back with good field position. Shawano scored on the first play on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Brocker to Logan Sipple. Then got the ball back again as the Wolves once again fumbled the kick return. This time it took 8 plays but Brocker found Ashton Henning on a 26-yard pass, giving the Hawks a 21-6 lead.

After getting the ball back, Henning scored on a 39-yard run, and Brocker stepped in front of a Brady Immel pass and returned it for a defensive touchdown, giving the Hawks a 33-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Wolves only ran 12 plays in the first quarter.

Photo Credit: Rich Montour

“It feels great, especially on Homecoming,” Brocker said.

In the second quarter Immel punched in a 2-yard run and a 33-yard run on back to back possessions. In between those scores, Brocker found Sipple on a short pass and it was 39-21 Shawano. The Hawks tossed an interception and fumbled once, allowing Winneconne to score on an Ethan Mathe run to cut the lead to 39-28 at the half.

Turnovers kept the Wolves offense off the field in the first half as the Hawks won the time of possession battle 18 minutes to 6 minutes.

“We took advantage of their mistakes and turned those into points.” Coach Tomow said despite having the lead, they knew they would have their work cut out for them in the second half. “We knew that we had to score a lot of points and that we would need to keep fighting.”

Winneconne scored on the opening drive of the second half with Immel throwing a touchdown pass to Dylan Sharratt who returned an interception for a touchdown on the next drive, giving the Wolves their first lead of the game 42-39.

Both offenses struggled the rest of the quarter and it was midway through the fourth quarter before the score changed. Jerzy Brocker picked up a fumble and returned it for his second defensive touchdown of the game. Winneconne took the lead with 2 minutes to go on Immel’s fourth rushing touchdown, setting the stage for Shawano’s final drive of the game.

Brocker ended with 23 rushes for 50 yards and a touchdown and was 21 of 39 passing with 336 yards and 4 touchdowns. Ashton Henning had four carries for 53 yards and a score. Jacob Landon caught 7 passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. Logan Sipple had 5 receptions for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

Tomow said he was proud of the young quarterback. “We are coaching him as tough as everyone else. There are no kid gloves involved and he can handle it, but he is only 15 years old and he is punching above his weight and he has become a focal point for other teams and he has earned all that.”

Winneconne was led by Brady Immel who had 16 carries, 207 yards and four rushing touchdowns. He was also 4 of 11 with 109 passing yards and a touchdown.

“They are going to win their share of games this year and we need them to keep winning,” Tomow said. That’s because the WIAA gives advantages to teams that finish one game below .500 in conference if they are able to beat teams with multiple wins. This year, it appears there will be a handful of teams that finish below .500 and make the playoffs.

“We had goals, and even with the injuries, our goal is to win a Conference Championship and that is still on the table for us. The first seven teams on our schedule are playoff teams from last year,” Tomow said. “We are better than 1-5 and hopefully this game shows that.”

Shawano is in a four-way tie for second place in the Bay and a game behind Xavier. The battle of the Hawks takes place Friday night at home. A Shawano win over Xavier will put them in the drivers seat for a Bay Conference title.

Listen To The Highlights From The Game