Winner used a solid ground game to score three times and shut out Groton Area 20-0 in the first round of the Class 11B football playoffs in Winner on Thursday.
The Warriors, now 8-1 and seeded fourth, will host fifth-seeded Deuel (7-2) on Thursday. Groton Area finished with a 4-5 season mark.
Winner scored once in each of the first three periods on short runs of six, two, and three yards. The Warriors ran the ball 43 times for 200 yards and passed just twice with one completion for 15 yards.
“We knew what type of game it was going to be against Winner from the moment we drew them as a playoff matchup – hard-nosed downhill football,” said GA coach Jordan Carson. “We were able to move the ball here and there on them but struggled to get the big play to push us over the hump. On defense we played pretty well but it was kind of the same story to a certain degree. We got into a few favorable situations but then they were able to make a play to keep a sustained drive going. Our guys played hard all the way down the stretch and I’m proud of the way they kept playing hard all the way through the last whistle.”
Carson was pleased with the progress his young club showed throughout the season.
“We started the year with a lot of young players and even more first-time varsity players. With our schedule we definitely had to do a lot of growing up throughout the year and that showed up in our last few games. Coaches always talk about trying to play your best ball at the end of the year, and I can positively say that was the case for us down the stretch. I thought that we got a lot better as the year went on, but we are far from our ceiling with this group. There is a lot of room for growth and I hope we can use a lot of the learning from this year to boost us into next year and years to come.”
The Tigers had 92 yards rushing on 29 tries and passed for 68 as Winner won the total yardage battle 215-160. Asher Johnson led the way with 55 yards rushing and hit 9-19 passes. Anthony Tracy was his favorite receiver, catching three balls for 21 yards.
Johnson also led the defensive effort with nine tackles and TC Schuster and Jordan Schwan had eight stops apiece.
