Groton Area battled unbeaten Clark-Willow Lake to a 14-14 standoff at halftime on Friday, but the Cyclones outscored the Tigers 22-0 in the final two quarters to move to 4-0 on the year.
The Tigers fell to 2-2 and will host unbeaten Elk Point for homecoming on Friday at 7 p.m. Elk Point stands at 3-0 and the two clubs have not played any common opponents.
“Keys for this week are just as old as the game itself - gonna have to try and stop their ground game,” said Tigers’ boss Jordan Carson. “EPJ has a big line and a deceptive attack. They run the ball just as well as anyone across the state. We will be ready for a physical test.
“On offense we will be focusing on making positive plays to give us first down opportunities and have our number one goal to limit turnovers,” added Carson. “After losing the turnover battle this past weekend our biggest focus for a potential rain game Friday is ball security.”
Carson was happy with his team’s effort against a strong Clark-Willow Lake ballclub last week.
“I thought we stood toe to toe with a great football team on Friday night. CWL is a well-coached team with a good combination of size and speed throughout their roster. We were able to move the ball on the ground, capitalize on a defensive score, and made a big pass and catch into the wind to tie them up before the half.
“In the second half we struggled for a series or two right away and they put points on us quickly,” Carson noted. “We were moving the ball in the fourth on the ground and had an unfortunate fumble that led to another score for them.” Groton Area never took the lead but in the first half had answers for the CWL attack. The Cyclones drew first blood on the first of four touchdown passes from senior signal-caller Joey Ries, but GA answered with a 30-yard interception return by Asher Johnson at the 1:11 mark and TC Schuster grabbed Johnson’s conversion pass to knot the contest at 8-all after one period.
The hosts found the end zone again on a pass play midway through the second stanza, but Johnson connected with Anthony Tracy from 19 yards out and the game was tied 14-14 at intermission.
The Tigers just couldn’t find an answer for the Cyclones passing game in the second half as Ries connected twice more and the hosts added a rushing score for the final margin.
Statistically, the two clubs were about even in the rushing department. GA had 159 total yards, led by Johnson’s 92, and CWL had 165. But the Cyclones won the air battle 198-54 for a 363-213 total yards edge. Tracy had four catches for 45 yards to lead the Tigers.
SEE FULL STATS IN THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL
