Groton Area came out on the short end of a midseason Northeast Conference football showdown with Clark-Willow Lake on Friday, falling 43-7.
The Cyclones improved their season mark to 4-1, 4-0 in the NEC, while the Tigers fell to 3-2 and 3-1 in league play. This week Coach Shaun Wanner’s squad hosts Aberdeen Roncalli, who sports a 4-1 mark with its only loss to Clark-Willow Lake by an unusual 2-0 margin.
The two clubs have three other opponents in common. Roncalli defeated Webster Area 27-0 (GA won 14-7), Mobridge-Pollock 42-0 (GA won 29-12), and Deuel 21-12 (GA won 14-9).
“Roncalli has been playing well,” said Wanner. “We have to control things up front on both sides of the ball or it’s going to be a long night. We have to be physical and also manage the clock on the offensive side of the ball. Special teams and turnovers also are a key, and it’s always a fun game. We knew coming into this season that CWL and Roncalli were going to be very good football teams.”
Clark-Willow Lake jumped out of the starting blocks with 21 first quarter points. Korbin Kucker scored on a 42-yard for the Tigers at the 5:23 mark of the second period and Joao Nunes added the kick to cut the margin to 21-7. But the Cyclones answered right back and led 28-7 at halftime. The hosts added scores in each of the third and fourth periods while holding the Tigers scoreless for the final margin.
“We had a bad first quarter,” said Wanner. “We got down 21-0 and couldn’t recover. We didn’t execute very well offensively and had too many turnovers. We didn’t do a good job defensively reading our keys.”
CWL won the total yards battle 356-106, running for 198 yards and passing for 158. The Tigers ran for 63 and passed for 43. Kucker led GA with 38 yards rushing on 12 carries, and Skyler Godel added 4-17. Kucker also passed for 38 yards with Brevin Fiehs catching one for 28 yards.
Christian Ehresmann once again led the defensive effort with 12 tackles and Fliehs had nine stops. Kucker had a fumble recovery and Teylor Diegel a pass interception.
GA (3-2) 0 7 0 0 – 7
CWL (4-1) 21 7 7 8 – 43
CWL – Ernesto Garcia 20 run (Garcia kick)
CWL – Lincoln Reidburn 27 pass interception (Garcia kick)
CWL – Josh Kannegieter 8 pass from Emmerson Larson (Garcia kick)
GA – Korbin Kucker 42 run (Joao Nunes kick)
CWL – Griffin Musser 2 run (Garcia kick)
CWL – Jackson Stormo 21 pass from Kaden Wookey (Diego Garcia run)
RUSHING: GA, 27-63 (Korbin Kucker 12-38, Skyler Godel 4-17, Ryder Schelle 5-12, Christian Ehresmann 3-3, Brevin Fliehs 2-3); CWL, 40-198 (Emmerson Larson 14-58, Griffin Musser 8-49, Ernesto Garcia 6-32)
PASSING: GA, 4-17-2-43 (Kucker 2-10-2-38; Ryder Johnson 2-6-0-5, Bradyn Small 0-1-0-0); CWL, 8-17-1-158 (Larson 7-16-1-137; Caden Wookey 1-1-0-21)
RECEIVING: GA (Fliehs 1-28, Teylor Diegel 1-10, Keegen Tracy 1-7); CWL (Lincoln Reidburn 2-63, Josh Kannegieter 3-33, Musser 1-33, Jackson Stormo 1-21)
FIRST DOWNS: GA 6, CWL 21
DEFENSIVE LEADERS: GA (Ehresmann 12 tackles, Fliehs 9 tackles, Diegel pass interception, Kucker fumble recovery); CWL (Elliot Bratland 5 tackles; Musser 5 tackles, pass interception; Reidburn pass interception)
