Shawano Leader Sports Headlines

Sousek, Sumnicht come up big for ShawanoBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader photo by Chris Caporale SCHS senior Dylan Sumnicht runs down the right sideline on a hook-and-ladder play in the closing seconds of the first half to put Shawano up 14-7. Seymour would come back and defeat the Hawks, 27-26.
Leader photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School senior Kien Moorman (24) looks for a hole in the Seymour defense as Dakota Maltbey (62) and Brayden Dickelman (23) block. Moorman finished Friday’s game with 38 yards and a TD.

Mental lapses down the stretch proved to be too much to overcome for the Shawano Hawks on the road in Seymour.

Driving down the field in the closing minutes, a holding call and a dropped ball stalled the drive before the Hawks turned the ball over on downs with 1:13 left in the game, allowing Seymour to seal the 27-26 victory.

“Mental lapses on both sides of the football. As we want to move toward a successful program, we have to overcome those things, and that’s part of the growing process,” Shawano head coach Al Tomow said. “Maybe we had a little deer-in-the-headlights look, and this moment might have been a little too big for us, but at the same time, it’s a chance for us to learn, and there’s a lot of season left.”

Shawano hurt itself in the fourth quarter when, after getting the ball at its own 24-yard line with 4:46 remaining, Hanauer threw an incompletion on a trick play, stopping the clock and forcing the team to call for a pass play on third down.

This time, Seymour’s Jake Roskom slid back in coverage and cut under the route of senior Connor Klish, picking the ball off and returning it 40 yards for the go-ahead score.

“We don’t play conservative,” Tomow said. “If we have a chance to win the game, we are going to take it, and we thought it was a good opportunity for us to try to seal it up. Unfortunately, we missed protection on the backside, and they were able to get their hands on our quarterback to disrupt it.”

Seymour, which had been winless on the season, made the biggest play of the game.

“It’s huge. Once you get to that point, you’ve got to find a way to make a play, and we found a way,” Seymour head coach Matt Molle said.

Everything seemed to go Shawano’s way throughout the second and third quarters as it built a 26-13 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.

Seth Sousek read the eyes of Seymour quarterback Devin VerVoort for an interception deep in Thunder territory, and the junior outside linebacker came up with a big stop on fourth and 1 on the edge of the red zone of Seymour’s next possession.

word missing? After?Sousek’s interception in the second quarter with Seymour backed up on its own 1-yard line, Kien Moorman punched the ball in from 3 yards out to put the Hawks on the board.

With the ball on the 20-yard line, Hanauer found Austin Kohl for 26 yards, Connor Knish for 12 yards and the Klish again on fourth-and-7 on the 30-yard line with 12 seconds left. Klish cut to the middle of the field before pitching the ball to Dylan Sumnicht, who raced down the right sideline the final 20 yards for the score in the closing seconds of the half.

“We thought we liked the hook and ladder more than our other one, so Connor caught the ball, made a great pitch, and then Dylan, one of the fastest kids around, he took it to the house,” Tomow said.

Seymour (1-4, 1-3 Bay Conference) came out after the halftime intermission to pull within one, but Hanauer responded, finding Sumnicht on broken coverage down the right sideline for a 48-yard score.

On the ensuing squib kickoff, Sousek jumped on the ball to give Shawano (3-2, 2-2 Bay Conference) possession yet again. The Hawks would turn the ball over on downs, and then Richard Johnson recovered a fumble and took it 20 yards for the score with 1:50 left in the quarter.

Sumnicht led the Hawks with 95 yards and two scores, while Hanauer had 274 passing yards and two touchdowns. Kien Moorman rushed the ball 16 times for 38 yards and a TD.

Seymour was led by Jamison Sassman’s 147 rushing yards. Alex Palubicki had 74 yards and a TD for the Thunder.

“There’s two ways we can go,” Tomow said. “We can hang our heads and say ‘almost’ and play that card all the way through, or we can come out angry and show that there’s a season left to play, and Green Bay West is in our way.’

Team 1 2 3 4 F

Shawano 0 14 12 0 26

Seymour 7 0 6 14 27

First quarter

Se: Alex Palubicki 10- yard run (PAT good) 7-0 (2:42).

Second quarter

Sh: Kien Moorman 3-yard run (conversion missed) 7-6 (4:06).

Sh: Dylan Sumnicht 30-yard reception from Jack Hanauer (conversion good) 7-14 (0:02)

Third quarter

Se: Ethan Schmidt 6- yard run (conversion missed) 13-14 (8:02).

Sh: Sumnicht 48-yard reception from Hanauer (PAT blocked) 13-20 (6:05)

Sh: Richard Johnson 20-yard fumble recovery (conversion missed) 13-26 (1:50)

Fourth quarter

Se: Gavin Bunkelman 2-yard run (PAT good) 20-26 (10:29).

Se: Jake Roskom 40-yard interception return (PAT good) 27-26 (3:46).

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FOOTBALL

Amherst 42

Bonduel 22

Parker Bohm completed eight passes for 152 yards as Bonduel fell in Amherst on Friday night.

Brandon Olsen posted 100 receiving yards for Bonduel (3-2, 1-2 Central Wisconsin Conference-8).

Chandler Benn led Amherst (4-1, 3-0 CWC-8) on the ground with 111 yards and three scores.

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Hrabik, Leiser close gap on ClippersBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School senior Sam Leiser swims the 100-yard freestyle in Thursday’s dual meet against Sturgeon Bay. Leiser finished in second place. The Clippers defeated Shawano, 97-73.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano/Bonduel swimmer Britney Angeli took third place in the 100 breaststroke Thursday at Shawano Community High School. The Hawks fell to Sturgeon Bay, 97-73.

Despite having the larger team, the Shawano/Bonduel girls swim team could not escape Thursday’s home dual with Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol with a single event victory.

The Hawks earned 10 second-place finishes in the 11 varsity races, including a large comeback effort by Peyton Hrabik in the 200-yard freestyle relay, but fell to the Clippers, 97-73.

“We knew it would be a tough meet,” Shawano head coach Liz Teetzen said. “Sturgeon Bay has elite swimmers where they swim all year round, where we only have a handful that does, so we knew it would be a tough meet.”

Hrabik gave Shawano/Bonduel its best chance to get a victory twice on the night, but never moreso than in the 200-free relay, when she took the anchor leg trailing by nearly four seconds.

“She always gives it her all,” Teetzen said. “She’s a good anchor because she fights until the last stroke. She has the right mentality. Even if we are behind, she will come out and fight as hard as she can.”

Hrabik set out on her rapid pace, swimming her 50 yards in 28.57 seconds, making a run at Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol senior Julia Gomez, who finished the 500 free about five minutes earlier.

Gomez reached for the wall just 0.6 seconds prior to Hrabik, giving the Clippers the eight points for the victory in the relay.

Hrabik also finished 0.7 seconds away from a first-place finish in the 50 free and barely out-touched teammate Sam Leiser, who took third.

Leiser took second in the 100 free behind the Clippers’ Molly Banks by over 10 seconds. Banks was a part of four first-place finishes on the night.

Teetzen wants to continue to see the times drop for her swimmers, as she did on Thursday. Megan Fischer posted a 1:25.97 in the 100 breast, five seconds faster than her previous times in the event, and sophomore Skye Bohm lost over a minute on the 500 free in her quest for fourth place in the dual.

Despite the depth on the team, Teetzen wants more girls fighting for the top spots in the races to help the Hawks take dual meets this fall.

“(It) puts it into perspective that there are very competitive teams out there in our conference,” Teetzen said. “Just because they are smaller doesn’t mean that we can beat them since we have more swimmers.”

Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol 97, Shawano/Bonduel 73

Shawano top-3 finishers

200 medley relay: 2, Shawano/Bonduel (Lydia Colon, Megan Fischer, Emme Quandt, Peyton Hrabik), 2:11.42; 3, Shawano/Bonduel (Anna Palmer, Britney Angeli, Alexis Beschta, Hannah Wendorff), 2:26.70.

200 free: 2, Colon, 2:23.98.

200 IM: 2, Quandt, 2:39.49; 3, Abigail Palmer, 3:05.33.

50 free: 2, Hrabik, 29.69; 3, Sam Leiser, 29.75.

100 butterfly: 2, Emme Quandt, 1:11.23.

100 free: 2, Leiser, 1:09.77; 3, Hrabik, 1:09.80.

200 free relay: 2, Shawano/Bonduel (Colon, Leiser, Quandt, Hrabik), 1:58.86; 3, Shawano/Bonduel (Abigail Palmer, Anna Palmer, Angeli, Nicole Thornock), 2:11.77.

100 back: 2, Colon, 1:15.89.

100 breast: 2, Megan Fischer, 1:25.97; 3, Angeli, 1:34.19.

400 free relay: 2, Shawano/Bonduel (Wendorff, Serenella Caratozzolo, Mallory Busch, Katie Zook), 5:10.07; 3, Shawano/Bonduel (Tatiana Kunschke, Elise Oss, Ashauntee Smith, Emily Thornock), 5:46.33.

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VOLLEYBALL

Shawano 3

Green Bay East 0

Junior Averi Vomastic had 11 kills and six digs as Shawano swept the Red Devils on the road Thursday night, 25-18, 25-10, 25-21.

Sophomore setter Bayleigh Laabs had 19 assists and three aces, while Taylor Wilber and Tori DePerry each had four kills for the Hawks (11-5, 1-1 Bay Conference).

Julia Klement recorded six kills and seven digs to help defeat East (1-5, 0-2 Bay).

Witt-Birn 3

Bonduel 1

Kailee Pedersen tallied 15 digs and Brynn Reinke recorded 28 assists as Bonduel fell to the Chargers at home Thursday night.

Emily Sorenson had 10 kills and three blocks for Bonduel (4-13, 1-3 Central Wisconsin Conference-8).

The Chargers improved to 19-4 overall and 4-0 in the CWC-8 behind Madison Bushman’s 45 assists and Taylor Nier’s 22 kills.

Bowler 3

Gresham 0

Mackenzie Hoffman posted 11 digs as Gresham fell on the road Thursday night.

Sydney Jensen had eight kills to lead Gresham, which dropped to 6-5 overall, 2-2 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-10.

Tigerton 3

Marion 0

Monika Minniecheske had 12 kills and nine digs as Tigerton topped the visiting Mustangs in a Central Wisconsin Conference-10 showdown Thursday night.

Lonna Minniecheske added 10 kills, and Charity Desrochers recorded 11 assists for Tigerton (9-2, 3-1 CWC-10).

Alliyah Neveaux had seven aces.

BOYS SOCCER

Shawano 3

Little Chute 1

Jacob Dickmann had a goal and assist to lead Shawano in its road victory Thursday.

Michael Klement and Braxten Surber each added goals for the Hawks (5-3-1, 2-1-0 Bay Conference).

Payden Buck and Jacob Moesch each had assists, and Tyrell Hesse stopped nine shots from the Mustangs (2-7-0, 0-2-0 North Eastern Conference).

Clintonville 7

Gresham/Bowler 1

Neal Cerveny recorded the Wildcats’ lone goal in Thursday’s road loss.

Justice Paiser saved eight of 17 shots for Gresham/Bowler (5-5).

Clintonville moved to 10-1-0 overall, 3-0-0 in the North Eastern Conference.

CROSS-COUNTRY

Hawk boys 10th, girls last in Bay Port

Brandon Pagel had Shawano’s best time of the day at 18 minutes, 48 seconds, and Griffin Bohm was just seven seconds behind as they finished in 39th and 41st, respectively, at the Bay Port Invitational on Thursday afternoon.

Karsten Anderson followed in 46th, and Santana Lyons and Michael Mault finished next to each other as the Hawks tallied a score of 243. Appleton North won the boys meet with a score of 56.

The Hawks girls team finished in last place with a score of 363. Alice Hoffman (22:58) and Sarah Mente (23:49) finished among the top 62 runners. Caitlin Daniel (24:58), Madeline Hanson (25:34) and Makayla Stoddart (26:08) completed the scoring.

Kimberly won the girls race with a score of 57, including three of the top five runners on the day.

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Miller, Otto, Blunk to be honored Oct. 1By: 

Leader Staff

Shawano Community High School’s athletic hall of fame will have three new members once the class is inducted on Oct. 1.

The Class of 2016, which will be honored in a ceremony prior to the homecoming football game, includes King Miller, Lee Otto and Dennis Blunk.

Miller, a 1952 graduate of Shawano High School, competed in all 12 athletic seasons of his high school career in football, basketball and track.

Miller displayed his prowess on the football field as the team’s fullback. He was also a member of the 1952 conference championship basketball team and was described as an outstanding defensive player. In the spring, Miller earned recognition as the high-hurdle conference champion.

Otto received four varsity letters, two in basketball and two in baseball from 1960-1961. Otto was a dominant all-around player leading his team in scoring, rebounding and free-throw percentage.

During Otto’s senior season in 1961, the Shawano Indians varsity basketball team earned a berth in the state tournament. There were no divisions in the early 1960s, so each school, no matter its size, had an opportunity to win the single-elimination tourney. Shawano (17-6) drew Waukesha (23-0), the No. 1 team in the state. The matchup was at the time thought to be one of the greatest games ever played in the state finals. The Indians lost 88-86 on a shot made with 4 seconds left in the game.

Otto’s efforts were recognized at the state level with second team all-state honors. He also represented the Indians as a second team all-conference player. Otto’s teammates and coach Rudy Ellis named him the 1961 team captain and most valuable player.

Otto continued his athletic success in the spring on the baseball diamond, where he led the Indians in hits, runs, RBIs and a .422 batting average.

At 6-foot-11, Blunk was a dominant force on the basketball court. He earned two varsity letters.

During the 1972-73 season, Blunk helped Shawano to a conference championship in his senior year by leading the team in scoring and rebounding. Blunk was named a unanimous selection to the All-Wisconsin Valley team after leading the conference in scoring with 298 points.

During his final season as a Shawano Indian, Blunk scored 520 points, averaging 22.6 points per game. Blunk was unstoppable, scoring 41 and 46 points in back-to-back games. Blunk set three school records by scoring most points in a game (46), gym record in a single game (41) and earning the highest field goal percentage at nearly 60 percent. He was named to the all-state second team.

The inductees will also be recognized during the homecoming parade at 6 p.m. Sept. 30 as part of the Shawano Community High School Booster Club float.

SCHS will hold the annual induction ceremony at 12:15 p.m. Oct. 1 in the high school commons. The homecoming football game against Waupaca will start at 1 p.m. The inductees will be introduced again on the field prior to the game.

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Miller, Otto, Blunk to be honored Oct. 1By: 

Leader Staff

Shawano Community High School’s athletic hall of fame will have three new members once the class is inducted on Oct. 1.

The Class of 2016, which will be honored in a ceremony prior to the homecoming football game, includes King Miller, Lee Otto and Dennis Blunk.

Miller, a 1952 graduate of Shawano High School, competed in all 12 athletic seasons of his high school career in football, basketball and track.

Miller displayed his prowess on the football field as the team’s fullback. He was also a member of the 1952 conference championship basketball team and was described as an outstanding defensive player. In the spring, Miller earned recognition as the high-hurdle conference champion.

Otto received four varsity letters, two in basketball and two in baseball from 1960-1961. Otto was a dominant all-around player leading his team in scoring, rebounding and free-throw percentage.

During Otto’s senior season in 1961, the Shawano Indians varsity basketball team earned a berth in the state tournament. There were no divisions in the early 1960s, so each school, no matter its size, had an opportunity to win the single-elimination tourney. Shawano (17-6) drew Waukesha (23-0), the No. 1 team in the state. The matchup was at the time thought to be one of the greatest games ever played in the state finals. The Indians lost 88-86 on a shot made with 4 seconds left in the game.

Otto’s efforts were recognized at the state level with second team all-state honors. He also represented the Indians as a second team all-conference player. Otto’s teammates and coach Rudy Ellis named him the 1961 team captain and most valuable player.

Otto continued his athletic success in the spring on the baseball diamond, where he led the Indians in hits, runs, RBIs and a .422 batting average.

At 6-foot-11, Blunk was a dominant force on the basketball court. He earned two varsity letters.

During the 1972-73 season, Blunk helped Shawano to a conference championship in his senior year by leading the team in scoring and rebounding. Blunk was named a unanimous selection to the All-Wisconsin Valley team after leading the conference in scoring with 298 points.

During his final season as a Shawano Indian, Blunk scored 520 points, averaging 22.6 points per game. Blunk was unstoppable, scoring 41 and 46 points in back-to-back games. Blunk set three school records by scoring most points in a game (46), gym record in a single game (41) and earning the highest field goal percentage at nearly 60 percent. He was named to the all-state second team.

The inductees will also be recognized during the homecoming parade at 6 p.m. Sept. 30 as part of the Shawano Community High School Booster Club float.

SCHS will hold the annual induction ceremony at 12:15 p.m. Oct. 1 in the high school commons. The homecoming football game against Waupaca will start at 1 p.m. The inductees will be introduced again on the field prior to the game.

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By: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

The Green Bay Packers are exactly where they wanted to be at this stage of the National Football League season, which is to say hundreds of miles north of Florida.

Their 27-23 win in Jacksonville last Sunday marked the second straight season that the Packers started 1-0, after three consecutive years of opening-day losses.

Sunday night’s showdown with defending NFC North champion Minnesota is at hand, and barring any solar flares over the next few days, the winner will be determined in a much more playable climate than last week’s cookout.

When it was determined that the rotating schedules of divisional opponents this year would pit the NFC North with the AFC South, the lesser lights of the scheduling committee decided that it would be a good idea for the teams from the north to travel south for the early-September openers.

So in addition to the Packers in the Jacksonville sauna, you had Chicago broiling in Houston, Detroit simmering at Indianapolis and Minnesota baking in Tennessee, to better create the furnace effect so conducive to 60 minutes of football.

Temperatures on the field in Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium exceeded 110 degrees – a lurking Heatstroke City for the guys wearing 20 pounds of gear, and a condition that might have contributed to some of the weirdness unleashed by the Packers’ offense.

Although they played well enough when it counted, their overall performance wasn’t one that you necessarily want to see repeated. There were too many instances where you could’ve sworn the plays were being diagrammed on the ground in the huddle.

There was the delay of game penalty to start the second half, which was bad enough until the Packers committed another delay of game penalty in the fourth quarter after already having called a timeout.

By the time they failed to score on third-and-goal from the Jacksonville 2-yard line, it only made sense that the reason was that half of the offensive line was pass protecting and the other half was run blocking.

“Half the guys thought it was a run, and I was one of them,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “That’s why I handed the ball off. The other half was doing a pass. You’re not going to win a lot of games like that.”

Probably not, no.

There were enough encouraging plays to stay positive, though, like Davante Adams’ diving catch in the end zone to close out the first half, and cornerbacks Quinten Rollins and Damarious Randall coming up big in the last minute to preserve the win. Running back Eddie Lacy broke a couple of nice gains – one on a run and one on a run after catch – and wide receiver Jordy Nelson caught a TD pass in his first game back since the 2014 season.

As for the game coming up, the Packers figure to have their hands full despite the Vikings’ being without their injured No. 1 quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater.

Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer has been effective in neutralizing Rodgers’ impact, dating back to Zimmer’s days as defensive coordinator at Cincinnati. Rodgers and the O-line must solve the continual riddle of whom among the Vikings’ seven-man fronts Zimmer will be bringing.

The Vikes’ coach also left an element of guessing for which quarterback the Packers would have to prepare. Minnesota won its opener behind Shaun Hill, who played in three games last year as Bridgewater’s backup, but acquired Sam Bradford from Philadelphia after the injury to Bridgewater.

Bradford was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2010 draft (by the Rams), so it’s likely he’ll be tasked with leading Minnesota’s offense to its first touchdown over the last nine and a half quarters – the last one coming in last year’s regular-season finale. Their opponent that day was the Packers, whose job Sunday night is to keep the Vikings’ offense on ice.

Veteran sportswriter Gary Seymour’s column appears weekly in the Leader. To reach him, send an email to [email protected] this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Invite is only home meet for seasonBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader photo by Chris Caporale SCHS junior Chase Lhokta races against Green Bay East’s Erick Carranza with roughly half a mile remaining in the Shawano Invitational on Saturday at Shawano Community High School.
Leader photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel’s Ashlyn Schnell tries to stay ahead of Winneconne’s McKenna Goetz, center, and Kaukauna’s Natalie Kuehl, right. Schnell would pace the Bonduel girls team with her 43rd-place finish.

Running on their home course in a competitive meet for the only time this season, the Hawks wanted to show off just how fast they are.

Overall, Shawano head coach Steve Stomberg was happy with the results, especially on the wet course, especially with his girls team that is comprised almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores. The girls took 16th place overall, and the boys finished 10th.

Freshman Sarah Mente led the Hawks with a 59th-place finish at 22:43, and Alice Hoffman finished 69th. Sophia Holstrum, Caitlin Daniel and Madeline Hanson all finished within almost a minute of each other in the final three racing spots.

“I know a lot of girls were talking they had a PR on this course already today,” Stomberg said. “When you look at running on a course like this today and having a PR, that’s incredible and showing you are applying yourself and working.

“I told the kids, ‘You’ve got to get yourself ready for this. This is our only time to run on this course in front of our home fans. You know the course better than anybody. You’ve got to go out and do it.’”

The start of the 26-team invitational would prove difficult, as Shawano’s top boys runner Chase Lhotka got boxed in on the opening stretch, preventing him from jumping out with the leading group.

Lhotka still came in with the top time for the boys at 17:41, followed by seniors Griffin Bohm and Brandon Pagel. Freshman Karsten Anderson ran the 3.1-mile course around Shawano Community High School in 19:09, and Ben Carroll recorded the final time of 19:27.

“They are seeing their times are improving, they are feeling good about themselves and what they are accomplishing,” Stomberg said. “That’s what it’s all about, personal accomplishments.”

The Bonduel girls team topped Shawano by 41 points, as Ashlyn Schnell (22:14) took 43rd place, followed by Arianna Factor (22:37) in 54th and Laney Richmond (23:40) in 93rd.

“We’re just trying to ramp up, and so far, we are on that track,” Bonduel head coach Diane Schnell said.

Schnell would like to see her teams run closer together, especially on the boys side, where Jared Wondra (18:21) finished nearly a minute and a half ahead of the fifth runner, Alex Schill.

“I want to see all eight varsity runners to run as a team and shorten the distance between our first runner and our seventh and eighth runner,” Schnell said.

The Bonduel boys team has just one senior runner, Austin Kurey, who ran the course in 18:50, putting him in 60th place overall. Sophomore Colin Ewing was just four seconds ahead of Kurey for second place for the Bears. Jacob Moede was fourth for the Bears, with a time of 19:18.

Shawano Invitational

Sept. 10

Shawano Community High School

Boys team scores (overall): Green Bay Preble, 47; Oconto Falls, 151; Hortonville, 154; Manitowoc Lincoln, 172; New London, 185; Green Bay East, 194; Kaukauna, 223; Appleton West, 224; Xavier, 249; Shawano, 270; Peshtigo, 298; Bonduel, 329; Brillion, 341; Oshkosh North, 355; Winneconne, 378; West De Pere, 399; Seymour, 413; Antigo, 436; Marinette, 454; Sturgeon Bay, 620.

Bonduel: 35, Jared Wondra, 18:21; 57, Colin Ewing, 28:46; 60, Austin Kurey, 18:50; 78, Jacob Moede, 19:18; 99, Alex Schill, 19:48; 116, Carter Kurey, 20:21; 118, Daniel Gumieny, 20:23; 126, William Beaumier, 21:03.

Shawano: 21, Chase Lhotka, 17:41; 43, Griffin Bohm, 18:33; 52, Brandon Pagel, 18:39; 72, Karsten Anderson, 19:09; 82, Ben Carroll, 19:27; 98, Camron Wickman, 19:47; 113, Brett Lorge, 20:17.

Girls team scores (overall): Green Bay East, 102; Hortonville, 137; Manitowoc Lincoln, 147; Green Bay Preble, 163; West De Pere, 165; Xavier, 173; Oshkosh North, 210; Marinette, 228; Brillion, 251; Peshtigo, 261; Oconto Falls, 300; Winneconne, 322; Kaukauna, 356; New London, 401; Bonduel, 417; Shawano, 458; Sturgeon Bay, 461; Antigo, 527; Marion, 536.

Bonduel: 43, Ashlyn Schnell, 22:14; 54, Arianna Factor, 22:37; 93, Laney Richmond, 23:40; 109, Abby Owen, 24:04; 118, Allyssa Moser, 24:47; 126, Grace Tubutis, 25:46; 127, Julia Richmond, 25:50; 135, Elena Shest, 27:11.

Shawano: 59, Sarah Mente, 22:43; 69, Alice Hoffman, 22:58; 100, Sophia Holstrum, 23:53; 111, Caitlin Daniel, 24:12; 119, Madeline Hanson, 24:56.

Marion: 3, Delaney Greene-Gretzinger, 19:42; 122, Melody, Riemer, 25:06; 132, Tailyn Beyersdorf, 26:41; 138, Harmony Riemer, 28:11; 141, Kayla Jung, 28:58; 142, Megan Vollrath, 29:06; 143, Lauren Pamperin, 29:30; 144, Nancy Taha, 30:25.

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Hawks can’t find goal in 3-0 lossBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School senior Braxten Surber tries to beat Seymour’s Dalton Lehrer to the ball during Shawano’s 3-0 loss at home Monday.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School freshman Michael Klement battles with Seymour defender Dalton Lehrer for a ball in the first half of Shawano’s 3-0 loss at home Monday.

Once Seymour forward Nicholas Yohr got going Monday night, around the 20th minute, the Shawano Hawks had difficulty slowing down the Thunder offense in a 3-0 defeat at home.

Rhett Driessen missed a one-on-one opportunity with Shawano goalkeeper Will Bergner early in the match, but Yohr got behind the defense nine minutes later.

Shawano defender Mike Teeter slid to help direct Yohr’s shot away from the goal, but clipped the forward’s leg in the box, giving away a penalty kick, which Yohr converted for the 1-0 lead.

“Once he gets going, he’s of the style that just tries to keep muscling his way through and carrying it and see what he can get, so that’s kind of how we started getting our chances there,” Seymour head coach Todd Messner said.

Yohr had another chance just two minutes later, but it wasn’t until the 44th minute that Seymour (2-2-1, 1-1-0 Bay) would double its lead. Driessen dribbled down the right side of the box before striking his shot, which got deflected, throwing off the timing of Bergner’s jump on his line as the ball floated over his head into the net.

It’s not like the Hawks (3-3-1, 1-1-0 Bay Conference) were without chances on their end either.

In the 37th minute, Seymour goalkeeper Michael Kuehne dropped the ball after a save, leaving it rolling in front of the net. No Hawks players were in the vicinity to take advantage of the opportunity.

Shawano head coach Bob Croschere made some changes to bring players forward in the second half to find a way to get on the board.

“We had opportunities early,” Croschere said. “We had opportunities late, but can’t score, can’t win.”

Jacob Moesch had an opportunity to score, but his shot flew less than a foot over the goal.

Jacob Dickmann then sent a deep free kick just over the goal with Kuehne off his line while jumping forward and misreading the ball.

Messner was happy that Kuehne and his defenders were able to hold on for the shutout.

“Now that we still held it and got a shutout, I think that should go in our favor quite a bit,” Messner said of building momentum for his team.

Bergner recorded 13 saves in goal for the Hawks.

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Shawano prepares for final week of regular seasonBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School senior Cheyenne Knueppel connects on a forehand in a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Maria Parolini on Tuesday.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School senior Colleen McFarlane backhands a volley at the net in a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Green Bay East. The Hawks swept the Red Devils at home on Tuesday, 7-0.

Shawano Community High School junior Sydney Steinbach was pushed all the way to the end of her match Tuesday against Green Bay East’s Kee Xiong.

Steinbach, holding a 5-2 lead in the second set, lost back-to-back games, and then while having a triple match point, was forced into playing a deuce before taking the match 6-2, 6-4 as the Hawks swept the Red Devils at home, 7-0.

“She really stepped up her game and played a great No. 1 singles match,” Shawano head coach Matt Zoll said. “The match she put together was a total match and had a little bit of adversity and had to fight back, and it was well fought back by her.”

Steinbach and Xiong had some long rallies, and Steinbach was working hard early to hit her spots on the court.

“I was trying to play angles on her. I’ve been working a lot on top spin,” Steinbach said. “I was just trying to get her to move and tire her out early on.”

With Steinbach seemingly coasting through the second set, Xiong made her comeback, holding her serve before breaking Steinbach’s to get back within a game at 5-4.

Steinbach responded right away with a break of her own to seal the match.

“I was pretty nervous. I was like, ‘I do not want to go into a third set or a tiebreak,’” Steinbach said. “So I knew I had to break down and get all the balls back consistently.”

Shawano’s No. 3 doubles team of Gabrielle Tuma and Addie Shuler dropped its first set before bouncing back with dominant victories in both the second and third sets for the 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.

“They were hitting lobs to the front court player, and she’s a tall player playing at the net, and you’re hitting easy shots to her, she’s going to finish them,” Zoll said of what went wrong in the first set.

After last week’s match against Fox Valley Lutheran got postponed twice and Saturday’s tournament in Kaukauna got canceled because of the weather, Zoll put the girls through an intrasquad match in practice on Monday to get them prepared for East.

“We had a great practice yesterday,” Zoll said. “One thing I told the girls I’ve been working toward this year is converting the skill into game time.”

And that’s exactly what the Hawks did.

Shawano will travel to New London on Tuesday and the rescheduled match against Fox Valley Lutheran awaits on Sept. 22.

“The girls, they’re going to need confidence going into that,” Steinbach said of facing the Foxes. “Everyone knows they are a good team.”

The regular season concludes on Sept. 24 at the Bay Conference tournament.

Shawano 7, Green Bay East 0

Singles: Sydney Steinbach (S) def. Kee Xiong (GBE) 6-2, 6-4; Cheyenne Knueppel (S) def. Maria Parolini (GBE) 6-0, 6-0; Kaliegh Zoll (S) def. Deyssi Pino (GBE) 6-1, 6-1; Lydia Williams (S) def. Jessica Martin (GBE) 6-0, 6-1.

Doubles: Julia Haarth/Dakota Hass (S) def. Sarai Haese/Abigail Swisher (GBE) 6-3, 6-2; Lexi Wilber/Colleen McFarlane (S) def. Melissa Bunker/Cindy Xiong (GBE), 6-0, 6-3; Gabrielle Tuma/Addie Shuler (S) def. Taylor Gillis/Alexis Watts (GBE), 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

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Hawks improve throughout home tourney
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School junior Averi Vomastic passes a ball in serve receive during Saturday’s Shawano Invitational. Vomastic led the Hawks in kills (30), aces (7) and digs (39).

In the Shawano Invitational semifinals Saturday, the host Hawks almost came back from a 10-5 deficit in the third set to Kewaunee, which would have sent them to the championship game.

Instead, after taking a 12-10 lead behind the serving of Averi Vomastic, Shawano allowed the Storm to win five of the next six points and fell in the decisive third set, 15-13.

Shawano (10-5, 0-1 Bay Conference) rebounded from the loss to Kewaunee for a straight-set victory, 25-18, 25-19, over Rhinelander, which had defeated the Hawks earlier in pool play, to secure third place in the eight-team tourney.

Shawano head coach Breanna Young said she saw improvement since the Hawks’ straight-set loss to Xavier in the Bay Conference opener Thursday at home.

“They were definitely playing as one team instead of six individuals, which we played like on Thursday,” Young said. “I expected to see better mental toughness today, which I did.”

Shawano was led by Vomastic’s 30 kills and 39 digs. Vomastic added seven aces over the five matches. Julia Klement added 17 kills and 24 digs, and Brandi Gueths posted 10 kills, four blocks and eight digs.

Libero Selena Bergner, who filled in for Saige Henning, who was sick, tallied 32 digs. Sophomore setter Bayleigh Laabs recorded 63 assists.

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VOLLEYBALL

Weyauwega-Fremont 3

Bonduel 0

McKenzie Wollenberg tallied 14 digs to lead the way in Bonduel’s road loss Tuesday.

Emily Sorenson and Kailee Pedersen each recorded six kills for the Bears (4-12, 1-2 Central Wisconsin Conference-8).

Setter Brynn Reinke had 17 assists.

Tri-County 3

Gresham 2

Senior middle hitter Sydney Jensen had 16 kills to lead Gresham in Tuesday’s home loss.

Mackenzie Hoffman recorded 24 digs for the Wildcats (6-4, 2-1 Central Wisconsin Conference-10).

Setter Dani Huntington posted 30 assists.

Witt-Birn 3

Shiocton 0

Madison Bushman tallied 29 assists to lead the way in Tuesday’s road victory.

Senior Taylor Nier had 13 kills and 17 digs for the Chargers (18-4, 3-0 Central Wisconsin Conference-8).

Lauren Bushman recorded six kills and 12 digs, and Marissa Groshek pitched in six kills.

Witt-Birn wins 3 at Merrill Invite

Wittenberg-Birnamwood won its final three matches at the Merrill Invite on Saturday after dropping the first two.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood (17-4, 2-0 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) dropped matches to De Pere and Tomahawk before rebounding against Goodman/Pembine, Chippewa Falls and Stanley Boyd.

Taylor Nier had 57 kills, 10 aces and 31 digs, while Madison Bushman added 83 assists for the Chargers. Helia Gagnon recorded 50 digs, and Maykayla Verkuilen posted 30 digs.

GIRLS GOLF

Bonduel 2nd at Oconto Falls Invite

Mariah Diemel led Bonduel with a round of 102, trailed closely by Morgan Cornette (106) and Allissa Tilleson (108) at the Oconto Falls Invite on Monday.

Jessie LaBerge rounded out the scoring with her 115.

Shawano was led by Brianna Zook’s round of 105, and Kennedy Clemens tallied a 113. Brinley Kowalkowski shot a 119, and Kylie Rusch shot a 123 for a team score of 460.

Bonduel’s score of 431 trailed only Wrightstown (398). Oconto’s Meg Ryan shot an 87 to become the medalist.

Hawks 4th, Bonduel 5th in Bay meet

Shawano shot a team score of 213, trailed closely by Bonduel at 219, at Tuesday’s Bay Conference meet at Mid Vallee Golf Course in De Pere.

Brinley Kowalski led the Hawks with a round of 50, and Brianna Zook and Kylie Rusch posted 52s.

The Bears were paced by Mariah Diemel’s 52. Morgan Cornette and Jessie LaBerge each posted rounds of 55, and Allissa Tilleson added a 57. Kylie Guenther rounded out the scoring with a 59.

Meg Ryan and Clair Phakamad each shot 38 to be the medalists. Xavier won the meet with a score of 178.

BOYS SOCCER

Shawano 3

West De Pere 1

Shawano got three first-half goals, one each from Jacob Dickmann, Braxten Surber and Michael Klement, in Tuesday’s home victory.

Shawano (4-3-1, 2-1-0 Bay Conference) also got an assist from Dickmann.

Shawano’s Tyrell Hesse stopped seven shots on goal, and Will Bergner posted two saves for the Hawks in defeating the Phantoms (0-3-0, 0-2-0 Bay).

Gresham/Bowler 3

Gibraltar 2

Gresham senior Neal Cerveny had a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s road victory.

The Wildcats (5-4) also got goals from Nathan Juga and Zack Ferhman, and Todd Otradovec added an assist.

Goalkeeper Justice Paise saved 10 shots for Gresham/Bowler.

CROSS-COUNTRY

Bonduel boys, girls 4th at home meet

Both of Bonduel’s cross-country teams took fourth place at its home meet Tuesday.

The boys team was led by Jared Wondra’s 17th place finish in 18 minutes, 23 seconds, followed by Austin Kurey just four seconds behind him.

Shawano came in sixth place with a score of 146, led by Griffin Bohm’s 11th-place finish. Karsten Anderson took 26th.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood took fifth place, paced by Cole Schairer’s time of 18:47.

Menominee Indian finished eighth of the nine teams with scores. Tyler Komanekin finished the race in 19:31 for 36th place to lead the Eagles.

Gresham/Bowler’s Levi Schick led his team with a 54th-place finish.

Omro took the boys title with 28 points.

The Bears girls team (126) was led by Ashlyn Schnell, who finished in 22:21 for 16th place. Teammate Arianna Factor followed 23 seconds behind her for 17th place.

Shawano finished in fifth place with 135 points, led by Alice Hoffman in 14th place and Sarah Mente in 18th.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood took second with 55 points. Freedom finished with a perfect score of 15 as its runners finished first through sixth.

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Bonduel fumbles 3 times in lossBy: 

Chris Caporale [email protected]

Leader photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel linebacker Riddik Bohm a brings down Iola-Scandinavia running back Bryce Huettner for a loss early in Friday’s 27-14 loss to the Thunderbirds at home.

With both Bonduel and Iola-Scandinavia relying heavily on the run, it was three explosive plays by the Thunderbirds that made up the difference in a 27-14 loss for the Bears at home.

Bonduel had a fumbled exchange on its second play of the game, which led to a Jayden Sivertson 55-yard fumble recovery for a score, his first of TDs on the night. Sivertson would rush for a 41-yard score later in the first quarter, and then a 41-yard halfback pass to Jonathan Block in the third quarter gave the Thunderbirds its final score of the game against the stingy Bonduel defense.

“We battled tooth and nail to get yards here today, and we were able to get some big plays,” Iola-Scandinavia head coach Scott Erickson said. “And that was the difference in this game — the big plays.”

The Bears fumbled on their first two possessions of the game and again in the fourth quarter, leading to 14 points off turnovers for the Thunderbirds.

Bonduel failed to convert a fourth and 4 at the 28-yard line with just over seven minutes remaining in the game while trying to close the gap on the 13-point deficit, giving Iola-Scandinavia a chance to run down the clock.

“If we want to be a great football team, we have to do what we can control, and that’s not have penalties, not turn the ball over, the little things we stress every day,” Bonduel head coach James Westrich said. “If we want to be a great team, you can’t beat yourselves, and we did that a lot tonight.”

The Thunderbirds would impose their will on the final drive, moving the ball 47 yards, but using the duration of the clock to prevent the Bears from getting the ball back.

The Bears had a chance to come back, facing a fourth and five at the 22-yard line with nearly eight minutes left in the game, quarterback Parker Bohm found Brandon Olsen in the endzone, but Olsen’s left foot landed out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Thunderbirds.

“We didn’t make the plays we needed to, and we had too many mistakes,” Westrich said.

Bonduel’s second fumble of the night would come on its second possession of the game in the red zone, but Sivertson would gift the ball back to the Bears by throwing an interception to Wyatt Erb at the Iola-Scandinavia 22-yard line. The Bears would turn that into their first score of the game just three plays later when Eli Mastey when 12 yards for the TD.

The Bears would fumble for the third time late in the third quarter, which led to Iola-Scandinavia putting its final points on the board.

The Bears (3-1, 1-1 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) used their passing attack, which showed promise throughout the first half to pull back ahead after the long Siverston score. A Thunderbird defender jumped a short route, leaving Olsen wide open down the left sideline. Bohm would hit him in stride for the 67-yard touchdown with 2:40 remaining in the first quarter for a 14-13 lead.

Iola-Scandinavia (4-0, 2-0 CWC-8) had a chance to extend its lead prior to halftime, but Kyle Jobke pushed a 37-yard field goal wide right as the Thunderbirds held to the 20-14 advantage.

Mastey would finish the game with 78 rushing yards, while Jacob Banker tallied 62. Olsen had three catches for 115 yards on the night, and Bohm completed five passes for 149 yards in total.

The Thunderbirds were led on the ground by Sivertson, who had 81 yards, and Bryce Huettner, who recorded 67 yards.

Iola-Scandinavia 27, Bonduel 14

Team 1 2 3 4 F

Iola-Scandinavia 13 7 7 0 27

Bonduel 14 0 0 0 14

First quarter

I-S: Jayden Siverston 55-yard fumble recovery (PAT blocked) 6-0 (9:49).

B: Eli Mastey 12-yard run (PAT good) 6-7 (4:57).

I-S: Sivertson 41-yard run (PAT good) 13-7 (3:59).

B: Brandon Olsen 67-yard reception from Parker Bohm (PAT good) 13-14 (2:40).

Second quarter

I-S: Sivertson 2-yard run (PAT good) 20-14 (6:23).

Third quarter

I-S: Jonathan Bauer 41-yard reception from Bryce Huettner (PAT good) 27-14.

Fourth quarter

No scoring

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FOOTBALL

Shawano 42

New London 28

Kien Moorman rushed 18 times for 165 yard and four touchdowns in Friday’s Bay Conference victory at home.

Quarterback Jack Hanauer had 105 rushing yards and two TDs to go with his 116 passing yards on the night for the Hawks (3-1, 2-1 Bay Conference).

Wide receiver Dylan Sumnicht added seven receptions for 110 yards.

Sevastopol 42

Menominee Indian 6

Antonio Mahkimetas returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown on Friday in a home Great-8 North loss.

Mahkimetas also had an interception on defense for the Eagles (1-3, 0-3 Great-8 North).

Menominee Indian threw four interceptions on the night.

Pacelli 21

Witt-Birn 7

MacLaen Alwes had a 3-yard rush in the fourth quarter to cut Pacelli’s lead to 7 points, but the Chargers could not come any closer in Friday’s home Central Wisconsin Conference-8 loss.

The Cardinals added a late score to go up by 14 points on Wittenberg-Birnamwood (1-3, 0-2 CWC-8).

Xander Schmitz had two rushing touchdowns for Pacelli.

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Hoffman boosts Gresham to victoryBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Gresham Community School junior setter Dani Huntington passes a ball over the net during the final set of the Wildcats’ sweep Thursday at Menominee Indian.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Gresham Community School junior Hailey Hoffman hits around the block of Faith Munson for a kill in the first set of the Wildcats’ win over Menominee Indian on Thursday. Hoffman tallied seven aces on the night.

Gresham Community School junior outside hitter Hailey Hoffman sparked the Wildcats’ offense in Thursday’s sweep of Menominee Indian on the road.

After a sluggish start for both squads, Hoffman had two kills to push the Gresham lead to four points, and then an 11-point serving streak, including three aces, to finish off a 25-11 victory in the first set.

The Wildcats eased to 25-12 and 15-15 wins in the second and third sets, respectively.

“(Hoffman) really got us going. She had a few big kills there in the first (set),” Gresham head coach Tim Wild said. “It seemed like they were all pretty close, one after another. And then she got to serving and pretty much ran the game out for us. That was huge.”

Gresham would continue the momentum, jumping out to a 12-1 lead in the second set, then pushing it to a 13-point lead at 16-3.

The Wildcats used a strong defensive performance, led by Mackenzie Hoffman’s nine digs, to hold the Eagles in check. Gresham allowed fewer than 10 kills all match.

“We don’t have a tall front row, so we know we have to be ready in the back row, and we’ve got to be using our quickness to save balls because we can’t be giving those away,” Wild said.

Menominee Indian cut the deficit to 11 points, 22-11, later in the game, but could not fight all the way back.

“They have some pretty good hitters. We were trying to cover the court a little bit, use our middle blocker to cover the court for tips,” Menominee Indian head coach Jackson Miller said. “We should have been able to cover the court a lot better than we showed.”

Sydney Jensen had seven kills for Gresham, while Makena Arndt recorded six.

Junior setter Dani Huntington added 11 assists, and Hoffman tallied nine digs.

“Every girl out there hopefully got some confidence out of this game,” Wild said. “I told them at the end of the game that we had 11 girls that played great volleyball out there tonight.”

The Eagles (1-7, 0-2 Central Wisconsin Conference-10) held a 4-3 advantage in the final set, but the Wildcats (6-3, 2-0 CWC-10) took the next five points. Gresham ran off six consecutive points later in the set for a 15-7 lead before Miller used his first time out. The Eagles responded by cutting the lead to six, but the Wildcats persevered for the 25-15 victory and the sweep.

Jalen Corn led Menominee Indian with four kills, along with making a few hustle plays on the defensive side of the ball.

“She’s always been a good hustler back there, but definitely showed it today,” Miller said, “kind of stepping it up, picking it up.”

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1st class will be inducted next yearBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Menominee Indian High School is planning a permanent way to honor its standout athletes.

Athletic Director Chuck Raasch has begun the process of creating an athletic hall of fame.

“It will be a source of pride for them, their families, the school and the community,” Raasch said.

The school is accepting nominees through Nov. 4. A nine-person selection committee will make the final decision on the hall’s first inductees before the end of the year.

The committee is composed of Duane Waukau, Al Pyatskowit, Mary Arnold, Jeff Waukau, Chris Clache, Kirk Bahr, Paul Wilke, Teri Wynos and Raasch.

Raasch said the committee members were chosen because of their knowledge of the MIHS athletic history.

Some committee members at some point might be inducted into the hall of fame for their contributions as athletes or coaches, Raasch noted.

Nominees must have graduated at least five years ago. They can be athletes, teams, coaches or anyone deemed to have given meritorious service to the athletic program.

The committee will be specifically looking for nominees who have exemplified high standards of sportsmanship and ethics.

The date of the inaugural induction ceremony will be announced in the spring.

For information or nomination forms, contact Raasch at 715-799-2324 or [email protected].

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BOYS SOCCER

Ashwaubenon 4

Shawano 0

Shawano was held scoreless in Thursday’s home nonconference meeting with the Jaguars.

Hawks goalkeeper Will Bergner saved 15 shots.

The Hawks are 3-2-1 overall, 1-0 in the Bay Conference.

Gresham/Bowler 3

Amherst 2

Gresham senior Neal Cerveny tallied a hat trick in Thursday’s road victory.

Goalkeeper Justice Paiser saved 12 shots for the Wildcats.

Gresham moved to 4-4 with the victory.

GIRLS SWIM

Seymour 113

Shawano 57

Emme Quandt won the 200-yard individual medley as the Hawks fell to Seymour at home Thursday.

Lydia Colon added a second-place finish for the Hawks in the 200 free.

Shawano’s 200 medley and 400 free relays each finished in second place.

VOLLEYBALL

Xavier 3

Shawano 0

Shawano managed four kills while getting swept by Xavier at home in a Bay Conference opener Thursday, 25-8, 25-10, 25-18.

Julia Klement and Averi Vomastic each had two kills for Shawano (7-5, 0-1 Bay Conference).

Libero Saige Henning had six digs for the Hawks.

Bonduel 3

Manawa 0

Senior middle hitter Emily Sorenson tallied 14 digs, nine kills and two blocks in Bonduel’s road sweep of Manawa on Thursday, 25-23, 25-17, 25-16.

Setter Brynn Reinke dished out 28 assists for the Bears (4-6, 1-1 Central Wisconsin Conference-8).

Witt-Birn 3

Weyauwega-Fremont 0

Wittenberg-Birnamwood senior middle hitter Taylor Nier totaled 19 kills, 16 digs and two blocks in Thursday’s home victory, 25-19, 25-17, 25-23.

Madison Bushman added 33 assists, and Lauren Bushman tallied 11 kills and 12 blocks for the Chargers (14-2, 2-0 Central Wisconsin Conference-8).

Wittenberg-Birnamwood trailed throughout much of the third set before coming back to win 25-23 to seal the sweep.

GIRLS TENNIS

Green Bay West 5

Shawano 2

Cheyenne Knueppel at No. 4 singles and the No. 3 doubles team of Addie Shuler and Gabrielle Tuma won their respective matches for Shawano on the road Thursday.

Shuler and Tuma battled for over 2 1/2 hours in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory, while Knueppel needed a tiebreaker in the first set to take the 7-6 (2), 7-5 victory.

At No. 2 doubles, Carlie Hinnefeld and Olivia Schultz forced a third set before falling 1-6, 6-1, 7-5.

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By: 

Gary Seymour, [email protected]

They say you can’t win ‘em all, nor in the National Football League preseason do you really even care to.

The irrelevance of preseason games was never more clearly demonstrated than by the 2008 Detroit Lions, who breezed through the exhibitions games with a 4-0 mark but failed to outscore any of their opponents in the regular season.

Their 0-16 mark surpassed the previous standard bearer of bad, the ’76 Tampa Bay Bucs, whose 0-14 finish produced not only inept football but some self-deprecating zingers from their coach John McKay, who when asked after another loss about his team’s execution said, “I’m in favor of it.”

For the deluded among Lions fans encouraged by the perfect ’08 preseason, the toppling of high hopes was never louder.

In falling to the Kansas City Chiefs 17-7 last Saturday, the Green Bay Packers finished with a 3-1 record in a preseason that, despite the setback at Arrowhead Stadium, was arguably as close to perfect as it gets.

Unlike last year, the Packers will enter this season with most all hands on deck, the two most notable of which belonging to wide receiver Jordy Nelson. Back at a reported 100 percent, Nelson’s presence makes quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the offense more potent by orders of magnitude.

This time around, it was the defending NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings who took it on the chin in the preseason injury department. Their quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater, was lost for the year to a knee injury. If there is a season-ending injury more damaging to an offense than one suffered by its best wide receiver, it is one to the starting quarterback. Minnesota will need an extraordinary year from running back Adrian Peterson and its defense to have any chance of repeating as division champions.

As for the Packers’ defense, Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers were both cleared in a league investigation involving performance-enhancing drugs, which although not a huge surprise was good to hear nonetheless.

As it sits today, the pieces are in place for a run at Super Bowl LI as the Packers prepare for Sunday’s season-opener in Jacksonville. They are favored by a little less than a touchdown to beat the improved Jaguars.

In fact, the Packers have been installed by at least one computer that runs these types of programs as the favorite in every single one of their games.

Not to say that they’re projected to become the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to finish a perfect season, and so far no one has drawn any parallels between this year’s Pack and the ’07 New England Patriots, who averaged more than 36 points a game in going 16-0 during the regular season.

But at this moment, in sizing up all 16 of the matchups on their schedule, the Packers are favored to win every one of them.

Packers fans not excited by this may want to check for signs of a pulse.

Someone once made this remark on the interminable slog of one of his favorite, but rather protracted pastimes: The only thing longer than a bowling league season is infinity.

In a similar vein, the waiting has been the hardest part for Packers fans curious to find out how their team at full strength really stacks up with the other big dogs.

After a disappointing 2015 that often felt like the team was made to play with one hand tied behind its back, some answers are finally nigh.

Good thing, too, because the proverbial window of opportunity on winning a Super Bowl has a way of inching shut like a retractable dome.

Summer is almost over, which is never a good thing until you realize what that also means. The unbeaten Packers are hungry, at full strength and finally playing for real.

Not a minute too soon.

Veteran sportswriter Gary Seymour’s column appears weekly in the Leader. To contact him, send an email to [email protected] this article:  Select ratingGive it 1/5Give it 2/5Give it 3/5Give it 4/5Give it 5/5 No votes yet

Late service errors hurt BonduelBy: 

Chris Caporale, [email protected]

Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School senior Kailee Pedersen is blocked by the Amherst duo of Heather Pearson and Grace Moe in the first set of Bonduel’s 3-0 loss to the Falcons at home Tuesday.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School sophomore McKenzie Wollenberg passes a ball during the Bears’ final set, a 27-25 loss, Tuesday at home against Amherst.

Amherst middle hitters Heather Pearson and Geena Jensen controlled the net play, combining for 26 blocks in the Falcons’ sweep of Bonduel in Central Wisconsin Conference-8 action Tuesday.

In addition to 14 blocks, Pearson posted 21 kills, and outside hitter Kendra Dombrowski added 19 kills in a 25-17, 25-14, 27-25 road victory.

“Amherst just kind of came out gangbusters hitting real well right away, and we struggled with that,” Bonduel head coach Kim Bodoh said. “We struggled with their blocking.”

Amherst, which finished sixth in the CWC-8 last season, knew it would have enough height at the net, but wasn’t sure what to expect from the Bears.

“We knew heightwise, we had a little bit of an advantage, but overall, we don’t really know what to expect when we come in,” Amherst head coach Beth Cegielski said.

Bodoh would have liked to see her hitters make more adjustments during the game.

“We can’t just smash the ball in the middle every time because sometimes that doesn’t work when we are up against big blockers,” Bodoh said. “That’s something we definitely need to work on.”

The Bears (3-6, 0-1 CWC-8) made a late run in the third set. Trailing 17-14, Emily Sorenson posted a kill before going to the service line and rattling off three serves to give Bonduel the 18-17 lead.

Holding a 19-18 lead, the Bears missed three serves before the Falcons (2-0, 1-0 CWC-8) rallied for the victory.

“(Missed serves) were at crucial times when we really needed the points,” Bodoh said of her team’s seven mistakes on the serve. “Not really happy about the serving tonight.”

“I just feel like we need that mental toughness to push us through those last couple of points,” Bodoh said. “All of the sudden they play scared instead of playing confident in their skills. That’s just something they need to work on mentally.”

Sorenson led Bonduel with 13 kills and three blocks, while Kailee Pedersen added 19 digs to go with her nine kills.

Setter Brynn Reinke posted 23 assists for the Bears.

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Speedway crowns 5 track championsBy: 

Scott Owen, Special to the Leader

Five track champions were crowned Saturday at the Shawano Speedway as part of the Shawano County Fair.

Travis Van Straten won his third consecutive title and his 11th feature of the season in the IMCA Stock Cars class, and Marcus Yarie won his second IMCA Modifieds crown.

Brett Swedberg (Late Models), Jordan Barkholtz (IMCA Sports Mods) and Grant Kastning (Mighty Fours) each won their first Shawano Speedway track championships.

In feature race action, Ron Berna won his third Late Model feature of the year, Mitch Stankowski secured his first IMCA Modifieds win, Kyle Raddant scored win number three in IMCA Sport Mods action and Brad Wedde brought home his fourth Mighty Fours feature win.

Late Models

Berna, a 10-time track champion, led the entire Late Model feature in a race that ran green to checkered for 25 laps. Over the first half of the race, Berna was challenged by Joel Bennett and Jeff Curtin. On lap 10, Nick Anvelink moved to second with a pass on Curtin. By this point of the race, Berna had already built up a straightaway lead. As the race continued on, Anvelink was able to chip away at the lead lap after lap.

Berna would not be denied victory though as Anvelink had to settle for second. Brett Swedberg finished third and secured his first Shawano Speedway track championship. Jared Siefert and Curtin rounded out the top five.

IMCA Modifieds

Chris Engels and Shawn Frelich raced door to door at the start of the IMCA Modified feature. Engels held the lead on lap one, but Frelich took over on lap two. As the lead duo continued to race side by side for the lead, Stankowski moved to third.

On lap 10, Engels held the advantage over Frelich and led the lap. On lap 11 though, Stankowski made a charge to the inside of Engels in turn three and took the lead away. Frelich, Engels and Marcus Yarie raced three wide for second behind Stankowski. On lap 13, Yarie moved to second, but his car came to a stop on the next lap, bringing out a caution and ending his night.

As the race resumed, Stankowski continued to lead the way followed by Frelich, Engels, Matt Oreskovich and Lance Arneson. Arneson steadily began working his way through traffic and got up to second on lap 17.

Arneson tried to muster a pass for the lead, but Stankowski was up to the challenge and made his way to victory lane. Frelich, Engels and Mark Weisnicht completed the top five. Though Yarie did not finish the race, he was crowned as the track champion.

IMCA Stock Cars

BJ Giese took control of the IMCA Stock Car feature at the start of the race. Giese led the first nine laps of the race. He was pursued early on by Harley Simon. Van Straten passed Simon for second on lap seven.

Van Straten got underneath Giese on lap 10 to make the pass for the lead. As Van Straten began to pull away, Giese and Mike Schmidt battled for the second spot. Schmidt got ahead of Giese on lap 15 to take the second position.

Van Straten cruised to victory, putting an exclamation mark on his third straight track championship. Schmidt, Giese, Shawn Wagner and Simon finished second through fifth.

IMCA Sport Mods

Brock Saunders led the opening four laps of the IMCA Sport Mod feature, as Kevin Bethke made his way to the second position. Bethke got underneath Saunders to take the lead away on lap five. On lap six, Raddant took to the outside of the track and put the pass on Bethke for the lead.

Bethke kept pace with Raddant though, as the two battled side by side for the lead with Bethke running the inner-most line on the track. On lap 10, Bethke held the lead by a bumper. Raddant, though, continued to run the high groove and put his mount back out in front.

Raddant was able to fend off Bethke for the duration of the race to pick up the win. Lucas Lamberies, Saunders and Jordan Bartz completed the top five. Jordan Barkholtz finished sixth in the race, securing his first career track championship.

Mighty Fours

Mike Brehmer led laps one and two of the Mighty Four feature before Wedde took over the top spot. Wedde would lead the rest of the race for the victory.

Wedde was followed across the line by Josh Slewinski, Calvin Stueck, Hollie Welch and Dalton Nelson. Grant Kastning finished 10th in the race and accumulated enough points to be the track champion.

Shawano Speedway

Sept. 3

Fabiano Brothers Distributing Night

Race Summary

Late Model Feature: 1) Ron Berna, 2) Nick Anvelink, 3) Brett Swedberg, 4) Jared Siefert, 5) Jeff Curtin, 6) Justin Hirt, 7) Tom Naeyaert, 8) Joel Bennett, 9) Troy Springborn, 10) Michael Stangl.

Heat 1: 1) Curtin, 2) Naeyaert, 3) Anvelink.

Heat 2: 1) Berna, 2) Swedberg, 3) Doug Blashe.

IMCA Modified Feature: 1) Mitch Stankowski, 2) Lance Arneson, 3) Shawn Frelich, 4) Chris Engels, 5) Mark Weisnicht, 6) Beetle Bailey, 7) Jerry Muenster, 8) Matt Oreskovich, 9) Eddie Muenster, 10) Adam Clark.

Heat 1: 1) Oreskovich, 2) Engels, 3) Marcus Yarie.

Heat 2: 1) Frelich, 2) Stankowski, 3) Eddie Muenster.

IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1) Travis Van Straten, 2) Mike Schmidt, 3) BJ Giese, 4) Shawn Wagner, 5) Harley Simon, 6) Dan Michonski, 7) Tom Riehl, 8) Trent Nolan, 9) Nate Michonski, 10) Chris Loewenhagen.

IMCA Stock Car Last Chance Qualifier 1: 1) Asa Doxtator, 2) Aaron Karcz, 3) Kurt Schwalbach.

IMCA Stock Car Last Chance Qualifier 2: 1) Kurt Olson, 2) Devin Snellenberger, 3) Bret Koehler.

Heat 1: 1) Simon, 2) Wagner, 3) Riehl.

Heat 2: 1) Van Straten, 2) Giese, 3) Nolan.

Heat 3: 1) Nate Michonski, 2) Junior Karcz, 3) Vern Stedjee.

IMCA Sport Mod Feature: 1) Kyle Raddant, 2) Kevin Bethke, 3) Lucas Lamberies, 4) Brock Saunders, 5) Jordan Bartz, 6) Jordan Barkholtz, 7) Jason Jach, 8) Jason Ebert, 9) Tyler Thiex, 10) Jordan Reinke.

Heat 1: 1) Lamberies, 2) Bartz, 3) Raddant.

Heat 2: 1) Bethke, 2) Wyatt Block, 3) Barkholtz.

Heat 3: 1) Ryan Besaw, 2) Jach, 3) Saunders.

Mighty Four Feature: 1) Brad Wedde, 2) Josh Slewinski, 3) Calvin Stueck, 4) Hollie Welch, 5) Dalton Nelson, 6) Brad Nelson, 7) Mike Brehmer, 8) Brayden Goeser, 9) Jason Hopinka, 10) Grant Kastning.

Heat 1: 1) Stueck, 2) Wedde, 3) Travis Welch.

Heat 2: 1) Hollie Welch, 2) Brehmer, 3) Brad Nelson.

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