By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
DE PERE – The West De Pere football team was seconds away from getting an opening-season win for first-year Head Coach Chris Greisen.
But Hortonville’s Parker Lawrence had other intentions.
The senior receiver hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass between two defenders from quarterback Sam Dodd with 1 second remaining in Hortonville’s 43-39 Bay Conference victory over the Phantoms Sept. 25 at West De Pere High School.
“It was an amazing victory,” said Lawrence. “We seniors had never played West De Pere before. We have a great group of guys. I just went up and got the ball. Sam threw a great ball.”
Trailing 39-36 with 7 seconds left, the Polar Bears lined up for a potential game-tying 37-yard field goal.
The attempt was blocked, but the Phantoms had called timeout before Drew Klein’s kick.
After the timeout, Hortonville Head Coach Ben Stumpf put his offense back on the field.
“Once West De Pere called timeout and we got another opportunity, I didn’t think about trying to kick it again,” Stumpf said. “We threw it to our best player, and he made the play.”
The teams weren’t even supposed to play one another.
A day before the game, West De Pere received word Menasha couldn’t play because of some positive COVID-19 cases.
Hortonville’s scheduled game with Marshfield was also called off.
“I told our seniors before the game, we had to play it like it could be our only game,” said Stumpf. “I’m speechless – they left everything on the field. I’m extremely proud of my guys – it was a program-changing win.”
The Polar Bears jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a Chase Hughes 1-yard score and a Lawrence touchdown from nine yards out.
“We had a few breakdowns in coverage initially,” said Greisen. “We were slow and sluggish at first, but we settled down some after that.”
Phantoms quarterback Josh Blount hit running back David Vanderlogt with a 26-yard score on the first play of the second quarter to make it 14-6.
The extra-point attempt was blocked.
West De Pere’s second score – a Najeh Mitchell 6-yard run – was set up by a Jake Hendricks interception.
A pair of touchdown runs by Vanderlogt put the Phantoms up 26-14 with 3:13 remaining in the half, but Hortonville changed the momentum back in its favor less than a minute later.
Dodd hit Lawrence with an 87-yard bomb down the left sidelines to bring the Polar Bears to within 26-21.
Austin Guyette ended a late West De Pere drive when he picked off a Blount pass inside the 20-yard line.
Hortonville scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to go back ahead, 36-26.
The first score came on a 64-yard gallop by Hughes, before Dodd hit Lawrence with a 37-yard pass with 3:50 remaining in the third quarter.
Vanderlogt scored on the first play of the fourth quarter to pull the Phantoms to within three, 36-33, before a blocked Hortonville punt by West De Pere’s Joseph Joiner set up a Blount 7-yard score around the left end to make it 39-36 Phantoms.
The extra-point attempt hit the left upright.
“It was an exciting first game,” Greisen said. “The fans who were here saw an amazing, back-and-forth game. Both teams showed great perseverance and played hard.”
Hortonville’s final drive began on its own 30-yard line with 2:22 showing on the clock.
Greisen said he was happy to get in a game under the circumstances surrounding COVID-19.
“Our Athletic Director, Scott Eggart, worked his tail off to get us this game when we were supposed to be playing Menasha,” he said. “Everyone is watching us, and all these schools are watching us and not playing football. We’re on an island – we’re one of the only schools going in-person five days per week and playing football. We don’t have any major breakouts, and the cases we do have, are not traced back to the school. We are doing everything right. I commend our superintendent (Dennis Krueger) for sticking his neck out and doing what’s right for the kids. Even though we ended with a loss, it’s what right for these boys.”