Groton Area jumped out to a 27-0 lead and coasted past winless Flandreau 34-6 to boost its season mark to 2-1 in a home contest on Friday.
The Tigers will face a challenge this Friday when they travel to unbeaten Clark-Willow Lake for a 7 p.m. tussle. The two clubs have played one common opponent in Flandreau with C-WL posting a 35-8 win in their season opener.
“C-WL has a great balanced attack between their ground game and air raid,” said GA boss Jordan Carson. “They have a seasoned quarterback with a physical running back, athletic WR’s and a solid front. We are going to have to play clean football and try to limit their explosive plays.
“It all starts by getting in front of the sticks,” stressed Carson. “If we can have positive first/second down plays that is when we have good drives. Getting manageable 3/4th down looks will be big this week.”
Carson was pleased with the way his squad responded to its first loss of the season.
“We came in prepared for a good bounce back game. Our goal was to establish a strong run game presence and to limit explosive plays on the defensive side. We saw #13 (Tucker Hemmer) making big plays on film and he was definitely a guy to key on all night long. He broke off a big kick return late in the third but we responded with an extended TD drive in the fourth.”
The Tigers dominated in the trenches, running the ball 48 times for 327 yards with a pair of 100-yard rushers. Quarterback Asher Johnson ran it 14 times for 127 yards and runningback Anthony Tracy had 11 carries for 119.
On the defensive side of the ball the Tigers shut down the Flyers attack. The visitors managed just 20 yards on the ground on 26 tries and were just 2-6 for 17 yards via the airways. GA outgained Flandreau 380-37 and recovered three Flyer fumbles. Gunner Hardy led the way with nine tackles and a pair of forced fumbles and Ryder Schelle had five stops.
Tracy gave the Tigers an early jump-start when he broke loose for a 65-yard score at the 8:49 mark of the opening quarter. Alex Abeln added a three-yard touchdown run in the second period for a 13-0 halftime advantage.
Ryder Schelle scored back-to-back TD’s in the third stanza on runs of five and three yards to give GA its commanding 27-0 lead before Hemmer put the Flyers on the board with a 91-yard kick return. Asher Johnson responded with a four-yard score late in the final quarter for the final margin.
Johnson also threw for 53 yards, hitting 6-11 pass attempts. TC Schuster led the Tigers’ receivers with three catches for 42 yards.
FOR FULL STATS, SEE THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL
