The Groton Area football team led 7-0 late in the second quarter but Clark-Willow Lake scored 20 straight points to claim a 20-7 Northeast Conference victory on Friday.
The Tigers, now 1-5, will play at Aberdeen Roncalli, also 1-5, this Friday while the Cyclones improved to 4-1 and play at Deuel this week.
GA and Roncalli have played four common opponents. The Tigers lone win came against Webster Area 54-0 while the Cavs lost to the Bearcats 32-26. The two clubs each lost to Clark-Willow Lake (GA 20-7, AR 38-0); Mobridge-Pollock (GA 29-8, AR 50-0); and Deuel (GA 20-0, AR 48-26).
“Aberceen Roncalli is always a fun, hard fought game,” said Tigers boss Shaun Wanner. “It doesn’t matter what the records are, it’s always a nail-biter.”
Wanner felt his club showed definite improvement in its loss to Clark-Willow Lake.
“I thought the kids played well enough to win last Friday,” said Wanner. “We executed better on offense and moved the ball a lot better. Defensively, we just gave up a couple big plays that hurt us, but the kids played hard.”
Freshman quarterback Asher Johnson put the Tigers on the board first with an 11-yard run and Karson Zak booted the extra point with 9:12 on the clock in the second period. The Cyclones took an 8-7 lead into intermission on a one-ayrd run and two-point conversion.
Clark-Willow Lake scored on a two-yard run with three minutes left in the third period and put the game away with a five-yard scoring pass with 6:28 left in the contest while holding Groton Area scoreless in the second half.
The Cyclones ran for 164 yards and passed for 94, while Groton Area managed just 67 on the ground and 84 via the airways. Johnson completed 8-12 passes for 84 yards and was also the top rusher for the Tigers with 33 yards on 15 tries. Tucker Hardy led the defensive effort with 11 tackles.
FOR FULL STATS SEE THIS WEEKS JOURNAL
Temperature: 64°F Town: Britton, SD
Pressure: 1013 hPa
Wind: 10 mph
