The Groton Area football team battled Mobridge-Pollock on nearly even terms in the second half but couldn’t overcome a 19-0 halftime deficit to suffer its first loss of the season.
The Tigers, now 1-1, will host defending Class 11B champion Winner (1-1) for homecoming on Friday at 7 p.m.
“Winner is always a perennial powerhouse in 11B,” said Groton Area coach Shaun Wanner. “They graduated 20 seniors from last year’s state championship team but will be another good test for us this Friday.”
The running game proved to be the difference in Friday’s contest with Mobridge-Pollock rushing for 210 yards on 39 tries while Groton Area ran 23 times for just 21 yards. The Tigers couldn’t find an answer for 210-pound junior runningback Mack Saxon who ran for 172 yards on 15 carries (11.4 ave.) and scored three touchdowns. He scored from 26 and 41 yards out in the first half and tacked on a 26-yard scamper in the final period.
Groton Area’s lone score came with 8:28 remaining in the contest when Conner Glines grabbed a 10-yard TD pass from Asher Johnson and Johnson passed to Keegen Tracy for the conversion.
“Mobridge-Pollock has a good football team and they have a number of kids back from last season,” noted Wanner. “Turnovers hurt us some in the first half and our youth showed some. I thought we played much better in the second half and the kids played hard.”
Freshman quarterback Asher Johnson passed for 134 yards with Keegen Tracy grabbing six for 65 yards. But the Tigers turned the ball over four times on three pass interceptions and a fumble.
On the defensive side of the ball GA forced three turnovers. Tucker Hardy led the defensive effort with 10 tackles and Ryder Johnson had a pair of pass interceptions.
Temperature: 65°F Town: Britton, SD
Pressure: 998 hPa
Wind: 7 mph
