DE PERE, Wis. (NBC 26) -- Hortonville and West De Pere didn't even know they were playing each other until about 28 hours before they kicked it off on Friday.
They still delivered an instant classic, as Hortonville's Parker Lawrence came down with a game-winning touchdown catch with only with second on the clock to stun the powerhouse Phantoms by a final score of 43-39.
"This is amazing," Lawerence said minutes after his game-winning catch. "We came out here... we didn't even know we were going to play them. We thought we were playing Marshfield. We come (up here) with one day of practice and we just win."
You couldn't write a better script for the opening week of Hortonville's long-awaited high school football season. Thursday afternoon, both Hortonville and West De Pere lost their opponents. Marshfield and Menasha, respectively, had to cancel because of health concerns.
The two teams didn't have to look very far to find each other. The game came together in "about 20 minutes," according to West De Pere athletic director Scott Eggert.
Suddenly pitted against one of the top programs in the state, Hortonville rose to the occasion.
"This was an opportunity for a program-changing win and we got it tonight," Hortonville head coach Ben Stumpf said. "It was a heck of a job."
In a matchup of first-year head coaches, it was Stumpf whose gutsy decision to go for the end zone rather than try a potential game-tying field goal that paid off.
Just moments earlier, the Phantoms blocked a Hortonville field goal, which would have ended the game. However, West De Pere head coach Chris Greisen had called timeout, wiping the play out.
That's when Stumpf decided to take a shot to his "best player" in the endzone.
Now, Hortonville's seniors have a life-long memory in a season that feels like it could end at any moment.
"I told the seniors before the game, you've got to play it like it could be the only game," Stumpf said. "I'm speechless, they left everything out on that field."
"We don't even know if this is going to be our last game, so we seniors we just came out here and give it all we have," Lawrence said.
"This could be the last game," he said. "We might go home and everyone shuts everything down. This is amazing to get out here with the guys and get a win."
High school football scores from across the state Friday, September 25 are listed below.
Amherst 42, Weyauwega-Fremont 14
Baldwin-Woodville 34, Prescott 13
Baraboo 21, Sauk Prairie 3
Bloomer 34, St. Croix Falls 28, OT
Bowler/Gresham 52, Tri-County 8
Boyceville 34, Colfax 0
Brillion 6, New Holstein 3
Burlington 43, Delavan-Darien 8
Cambria-Friesland 56, Kingdom Prep Lutheran 0
Cambridge 45, Pardeeville 24
Catholic Memorial 21, Wauwatosa West 19
Cedar Grove-Belgium 42, Ozaukee 0
Cedarburg 49, Slinger 13
Chilton 46, Roncalli 6
Colby 54, Thorp 6
Coleman 28, Oconto Falls 6
Cumberland 56, Cameron 6
D.C. Everest 41, Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln 0
Darlington 34, River Valley 21
Durand 35, Neillsville/Granton 20
Edgar 37, Athens 8
Edgewood 17, Watertown 14
Ellsworth 28, Osceola 12
Franklin 24, Kenosha Bradford 21
Freedom 48, Winneconne 14
Germantown 27, Hamilton 21
Gilman, Md. 53, Bruce 0
Grafton 33, New Berlin Eisenhower 7
Grantsburg 42, Webster 0
Hartford Union 27, Nicolet 12
Highland 35, Altoona 6
Hilbert 26, Manitowoc Lutheran 14
Homestead 28, West Bend West 7
Hortonville 43, West De Pere 39
Howards Grove 6, Random Lake 0
Hudson 30, Menomonie 23
Hurley 39, Lake Holcombe/Cornell 6
Iola-Scandinavia 45, Wild Rose 0
Kenosha Saint Joseph Catholic Academy 35, Catholic Central 6
Kohler/Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian 50, Kiel 42
Lake Country Lutheran 61, Saint Francis 7
Lake Mills 30, Watertown Luther Prep 0
Lakeside Lutheran 34, Racine St. Catherine's 6
Lancaster 10, Richland Center 7, 2OT
Little Chute 28, Fox Valley Lutheran 13
Luck 44, Frederic 20
Luther 43, Boscobel 0
Luxemburg-Casco 41, Waupaca 15
Manawa 28, Shiocton 2
Martin Luther 61, Shoreland Lutheran 6
Mauston 48, Viroqua 6
McDonell Central 46, Lincoln 20
Medford Area 52, Hayward 7
Menominee, Mich. 42, Marinette 8
Menomonee Falls 21, Brookfield Central 20
Merrill 20, Ashland 14
Mineral Point 47, Dodgeville 12
Mishicot 32, Oconto 6
Mondovi 48, Osseo-Fairchild 20
Mosinee 25, Lakeland 16
Mukwonago 26, Waukesha North 14
Muskego 32, Arrowhead 24
New Berlin West 19, Port Washington 6
New Richmond 28, Rice Lake 27
Northern Elite 30, Crandon 16
Northwestern 62, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser 0
Northwoods 36, Prairie Farm 8
Oak Creek 13, Kenosha Indian Trail 0
Oconomowoc 28, Waukesha South 16
Pewaukee 47, Wauwatosa East 6
Plymouth 14, Kettle Moraine Lutheran 12
Portage 13, Reedsburg Area 7
Potosi/Cassville 42, Pecatonica/Argyle 7
Prairie du Chien 14, Platteville 10
Racine Lutheran 53, Kenosha Christian Life 0
Randolph 48, Johnson Creek 6
Reedsville 26, Oostburg 21
Regis 28, Elk Mound 6
Rhinelander 21, Antigo 18
River Falls 23, Chippewa Falls 8
River Ridge 42, Iowa-Grant 0
Saint Croix Central 56, Amery 14
Shawano 27, Seymour 0
Southern Door 44, Clintonville 7
Spencer/Columbus Catholic 27, Nekoosa 8
Spooner 20, Barron 6
St. John's NW Military Academy 26, Fall River 7
Stanley-Boyd 65, Fall Creek 6
Stratford 35, Wittenberg-Birnamwood 6
Turtle Lake 20, Cadott 15
Two Rivers 39, Valders 13
Waterford 42, Elkhorn Area 41
Waterloo 19, Palmyra-Eagle 18
Wausau West 48, Wausau East 3
Wausaukee 34, Lena/St. Thomas Aquinas 18
West De Pere 39, Hortonville 36
Westosha Central 41, Badger 39
Whitefish Bay 34, West Bend East 6
Wisconsin Dells 36, Westfield Area 8
Wrightstown 42, Denmark 6
Xavier 41, New London 7
Some high school football scores provided by Scorestream.com, https://scorestream.com/
