NEW FOOTBALL CO-OP GETS FIRST WIN

    The Groton Area football squad opened its 2024 campaign with a 29-12 victory over Mobridge-Pollock on Friday.
    The contest marked the debut of the Groton Area-Langford Area co-op for football.  Coach Shaun Wanner’s squad will travel to Webster Area this Friday.  The Bearcats are 1-1 after an opening 36-0 win over Sisseton and a loss to McCook Central-Montrose 33-6 last week.
    “I thought our kids played well,” said Wanner.  “We did some good things.  Offensively we need to hold blocks until the whistle and defensively we need to tackle better.”
    The Groton boss expects a challenge from Webster Area this week.
    “Webster is a good football team.  They have a good number of starters back from last year, and are a physical team with some good athletes.  We need to sustain drives and be better on defense stopping the run.”
    Mobridge-Pollock drew first blood on Friday, scoring on a 14-yard run to grab a 6-0 advantage with 3:18 left in the opening period.  But Groton Area answered right back when Keegen Tracy returned the kickoff 84 yards.  LA exchange student João Nunes added the PAT kick and the Tigers never trailed again.
    Groton Area found the end zone twice in the second period to take a 22-6 lead into the half.  Korbin Kucker scored on a three-yard run and Brevin Fiehs added the conversion to make it 15-7 at the 9:10 mark, and then Tracy hauled in a 23-yard pass from Kucker and Nunes booted the PAT with 1:17 left in the half for the 16-point halftime margin.
    Mobridge-Pollock did show a little life in the final stanza, scoring from one yard out to cut the margin to 22-12 with 3:54 to play, but the Tigers sealed the deal with a 40-yard Kucker run and Nunes kick just 16 seconds later.
    The visitors actually won the statistical battle with a 281-223 total yardage advantage.  Mobridge-Pollock ran for 231 yards behind a 151-yard effort from Max Saxon, and passed for 50.  Groton Area had 82 on the ground and 141 via the airways.
    Kucker was the leading Tigers’ rusher with 41 yards on 12 carries, while Tracy was tops in the receiving corps with three catches for 68, and LA product Conner Glines added two catches for 23.
    LA 235-pound junior defensive end Tucker Hardy led the Tigers’ defensive effort with 13 tackles.  There was just one turnover in the game, a pass interception by the Tigers.