Groton Area earned a rematch with Clark-Willow Lake in the first round of the Class 11B football playoffs by blanking Baltic 43-0 in the final game of the regular season on Friday.
The Tigers improved their season record to 3-5 and are seeded 14th in the 16-team Class 11B playoff field. Clark-Willow Lake stands at 7-1 and is the third seed. The two clubs will kick off in Clark at 7 p.m. Thursday with the winner taking on the victor between sixth seed Woonsocket-Wessington Springs (7-1) and 11th seed Winner (5-4) on Thursday, Oct. 30.
The opening-round playoff game is a rematch from the regular season that saw the Cyclones top the Tigers in a hard-fought 20-7 contest. The teams have also played four common opponents this season with both clubs defeating Aberdeen Roncalli (GA 55-6, CWL 38-0) and Webster Area (GA 54-0, CWL 50-0). CWL stopped Deuel 20-14 and Mobridge-Pollock 44-6, while GA lost to Deuel 20-0 and fell to M-P 29-8.
Clark-Willow Lake has averaged 30 points a game while allowing just nine this season and is on a six-game win streak. Groton Area has won its last two outings and has scored 24 points per game and given up 16 per contest.
“Our kids are excited about playing them again,” said GA coach Shaun Wanner. “We played them well the first time for three quarters. We need to get the running game going and mix the pass in to keep them honest. Our offense was stagnant and we had some costly penalties. Defensively we have to stop the run and not give up any big passing plays. They are a good football team with good skill kids and good size on both the offensive and defensive lines. We are healthy, which is always a good thing going into the postseason.”
The Tigers put together a solid effort against Baltic to prepare for postseason play.
“We played well on both sides of the ball,” noted Wanner. “Offensively, our running game has really been good the last two games and our offensive line has been making some good holes for our running backs. Our execution was really good Friday night and defensively the kids played well.”
The Tigers grabbed an 8-0 lead after one period on an Anthony Tracy one-yard run and then exploded for 20 second quarter points to take charge. Asher Johnson passed eight yards to Keegen Tracy and added one and 30-yard scoring runs for the 28-0 halftime advantage. Johnson threw another TD pass to Jordan Schwan from 13 yards out and Anthony Tracy scored again, this time on a five-yard scamper, to wrap up the scoring.
GA piled up 194 yards on the ground and 98 through the air while limiting Baltic to just eight on the ground and 33 via the airways for a 292-41 total yards advantage. Tucker Hardy led the defensive effort with six tackles and Conner Glines and Schwan had four stops each. Lincoln Krause had two pass interceptions and Ryder Johnson had one.
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