New London drops home game
By Greg Seubert
Wins haven’t exactly been adding up for the Waupaca football team.
The Comets’ last win – a 54-7 home victory over Green Bay West on Oct. 11, 2019 – came nearly two years before the team headed to New London Sept. 10 and returned home with a 27-16 win over the Bulldogs.
Both teams headed into the Bay Conference matchup at Bulldog Stadium looking for their first win of the season. New London brought an 0-3 mark into the game, while the Comets were 0-2.
Waupaca took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. The Comets took over on their own 49-yard line after holding the Bulldogs to a three-play drive. Luke Schwenn connected with Braeden Ryan for a 51-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive with 10:47 to go in the first half.
Alex Pankratz added a 1-yard run with 4:07 remaining. Schwenn and Ryan kept the 65-yard drive alive with a 34-yard completion on fourth and 10 and Pankratz found the end zone on the next play.
New London scored on its next drive, as Cole Penn scored from 2 yards out with 26 seconds to go in the half that capped a 67-yard drive. Payton Ludick added the two-point conversion with a quarterback keeper and the Bulldogs trailed 14-8 at the break.
Schwenn’s 29-yard pass to Ryan turned out to be the only score of the third quarter, as Ryan’s catch and extra point gave Waupaca a 21-8 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
New London answered on its next drive on Ludick’s 10-yard pass to Landon Beyer with 8:15 remaining in the game. Ludick’s pass to Jackson Field for the two-point conversion cut the Comets’ lead to 21-16.
Pankratz wrapped up the Comets’ next drive with a 33-yard touchdown run with 2:29 to go. His interception of a Ludick pass on the second play of New London’s next drive gave the ball back to the Comets at their own 48-yard line and Waupaca was able to run out the clock.
Both teams have Bay Conference games scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17. Waupaca will host Shawano, while New London will head to Appleton to face Xavier.