Lawrence scores game-winning TD
By Rich Palzewic
The West De Pere football team was seconds away from getting an opening-season win for first-year coach Chris Greisen.
Hortonville’s Parker Lawrence, however, had other ideas.
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 victory over the Phantoms Sept. 25 at West De Pere High School.
“It was an amazing victory,” said Lawrence, who hauled in six receptions for 185 yards with four touchdowns. “We seniors had never played West De Pere before. We have a great group of guys. Sam threw a great ball and I went up and got it.”
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, first-year Hortonville 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,” he 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 two positive COVID-19 cases in the school.
Hortonville’s scheduled game with Marshfield was also called off.
“I told our seniors before the game we had to play like it could be our only game,” Stumpf said. “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 9 yards out.
Hughes ran for 196 yards on 19 carries and scored twice.
“We had a few breakdowns in coverage initially,” Greisen said. “We were slow and sluggish at first, but we settled down 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 to end the half.
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 quarter.
Vanderlogt scored on the first play of the fourth quarter to pull the Phantoms to within 36-33 before a blocked punt by Joseph Joiner set up Blount’s 7-yard touchdown run to make it 39-36 Phantoms after 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 30-yard line with 2:22 showing on the clock.
Vanderlogt rushed for 212 yards on 30 carries, while Blount added 155 yards on the ground in his 10 carries.
Blount was also 5 of 11 passing for 182 yards, while Dodd completed 14 of 33 passes for 331 yards.
• Rich Palzewic is the sports editor of the Press Times, an MMC publication based in Green Bay.