Groton Area gave defending state Class 11B champion Winner, currently ranked fourth in 11B, all it could handle before falling 36-22 on the Tigers’ homecoming Friday.
This week Coach Shaun Wanner’s club, now 1-2, travels to Milbank to meet the 1-1 Bulldogs.
“We played better on Friday against a very good football team,” said Wanner, “and went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in 11B. They wore us down in the fourth quarter. They are a big physical team that had 64 rushing attempts and 25 first downs. Our offense did a good job of moving the ball, but we had the ball only six times. We continue to keep getting better. I saw a lot of positives from this young team.
“Milbank will be another good test for us,” Wanner noted. “They have good size with some good skilled kids back from last season. They are well coached and have good numbers. We need to establish a running game and continue to keep getting better in all facets of the game.”
Winner started fast, jumping out to a 14-0 lead with 4:10 remaining in the first half. But Groton Area came up with a big 66-yard pass play from Asher Johnson to Keegan Tracy and Tracy caught the conversion pass from Lincoln Krause to cut the lead to 14-8 at intermission.
The Tigers put Winner on its heels to start the second half. Tracy scored his second touchdown on a seven-yard toss from Asher Johnson less than two minutes into the third period, and Ryder Johnson grabbed a two-yard TD pass from Asher Johnson three minutes later to give GA. Karson Zak added both conversion kicks for a 22-14 lead.
Winner’s Zac Olson, who finished with 157 yards on 20 carries, countered with 25-yard touchdown run to knot the game at 22-all at the end of three quarters. The visitors took the lead back at the 10:05 mark of the final quarter and then salted away the win with another Olson touchdown with 40 seconds remaining.
The key statistic in the contest was Winner’s dominance on the ground, rushing for 297 yards on 64 tries. The Tigers had just 12 carries for 79 yards. GA did win the aerial battle with Johnson completing 9-12 for 114 yards and three touchdowns. Winner managed just 1-3 for 17 yards.
Asher Johnson and Tucker Hardy led the Tigers’ defensive effort with 12 tackles apiece, Ben Hoeft had 11 stops, and Ryder Johnson 10. GA had just one turnover in the game, a pass interception. Winner fumbled the ball five times but did not have a turnover in the contest.
SEE ALL THE STATS IN THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL
