Langford Area football players will take the field on Friday as part of the Groton Area football team when the Tigers host Mobridge-Pollock for a 7 p.m. contest.
The two schools have signed a co-op agreement and will compete in Class 11B this season. LA played a junior varsity schedule a year ago due to low numbers and played just four games.
Groton coach Shaun Wanner, who began his career as the head coach at Langford from 1986-91 and was at Ipswich for nine seasons, has been the Tigers’ head coach 24 years.
A total of 48 players reported for practice this fall, 12 of them from Langford Area. Among that group are 26 letterwinners from Groton including eight starters on each side of the ball. LA has nine letterwinners and six starters back from its team of a year ago.
Groton Area had a bye the first week of the season while Mobridge-Pollock has one game under its’ belt, a 32-0 win over Lead-Deadwood on Friday. Groton Area came out on top in last year’s matchup 20-8.
Wanner said the addition of the LA gridders will fill out what already was a pretty strong returning roster.
“We have good skill kids and our juniors and seniors have played a lot the last couple of years,” said Wanner. “Some of the older kids at Langford Area have also been playing for two or three years because they had to be on the field, and that experience will help us, especially with depth on our line. We’ve been really struggling with size on our offensive and defensive lines the last couple of years and I think that will be a big boost.”
With an extra week of practice due to the bye week the Tigers are chomping at the bit to get into action.
“The kids are ready to play,” said Wanner. “It was nice having an extra week of practice with the co-op with Langford Area. The Langford kids have been adapting well. Mobridge-Pollock will be a good test for us this week. They have some size on both sides of the ball with some good skill positions back from last season. We should have some good leadership with 15 seniors and a good number of starters back from last season. It should be a fun season.”
Three LA players will be in the starting lineup on Friday. Tucker Hardy (5-11, 235, Jr.) will be at offensive guard and defensive end, Conner Glines (6-2, 180, Jr.) tight end and defensive end, and Caleb Mertz (5-11, 185, Sr.) will start at a linebacker spot. Skyler Godel (5-9, 155, So.) is also listed as a kick returner.
Rounding out the offensive lineup for the Tigers are Payton Mitchell (5-10, 185,. Sr.) at center, Gavin Englund (6-0, 245, Jr.) at guard, Karter Moody (6-4, 285, Jr.) and Logan Warrington (6-2, 210, Jr.) at the tackle slots, Teylor Digel (5-11, 165, Sr.) and Keegen Tracy (6-1, 175, Jr.) at wide receiver, Korbin Kucker (5-11, 180, Sr.) and Christian Ehresmann (5-11, 180, Sr.) at running back, and Ryder Johnson (6-4, 170, Jr.) at quarterback.
Other defensive starters include Moody and Englund at tackle, Ehresmann, Kucker, and Brevin Fliehs (5-9, 180, Sr.) at linebackers, Diegel and Tracy at defensive back positions, and Johnson at safety.
Wanner feels his squad has a lot of weapons.
“We should be able to run it and throw it with some great receivers and runningbacks with a lot of speed and one of the bigger lines we have had since our state runner-up finish in 2016. Depending on who we play, we can really mix it up, and our special teams should also be pretty good with a good punter and kicker back and with our depth we will have fresh faces out there.”
The Tigers play in the strong Northeast Conference, and Wanner knows his club will face a stiff challenge every week.
“We take a lot of pride in the Northeast Conference, and our number one goal is to win the conference title and get a high seed in the playoffs,” concluded the Tigers’ coach. “The other things I always tell the kids is to have fun and enjoy it.”
Temperature: 14°F Town: Britton, SD
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