The Groton Area football team found itself in a 14-0 halftime hole against St. Thomas More in Class 11B first round playoff action on Thursday, and the Cavaliers tacked on 26 second half points for a 40-13 win to end the Tigers’ season.
GA, in its first year of a co-op agreement with Langford Area, ended with a 6-3 season mark, while 11th-seeded St. Thomas More stands at 7-2 heading into a quarterfinal matchup at number three Mount Vernon-Plankinton (7-2) on Thursday.
“We played a very good St. Thomas More team, and they matched our speed and size on the field,” said Groton Area coach Shaun Wanner. “We got down early but I was proud of our kids. They played hard and never quit.”
Big plays by St. Thomas More defined the playoff opener. The Cavaliers opened the scoring with a 54-yard run and then added a 32-yard TD pass for their 14-0 halftime advantage.
In the third period the Cavs scored on a 57-yard jaunt and a four-yard run to lead 27-0 before Groton Area was able to get on the scoreboard. Christian Ehresmann scored on a one-yard run to cut the margin to 27-6.
But St. Thoams More put the game away in the fourth stanza, finding paydirt on runs of 13 and 49 yards to lead 40-6. Ehresmann hauled in a 20-yard pass from Korbin Kucker and Joao Nunes added the kick for the final margin.
The game as won in the trenches as St. Thomas More ran for 333 yards, compared to just 98 for Groton Area, and held a 420-166 total yardage advantage.
“We always set team goals at the beginning of every football season,” concluded Wanner. “Our first goal is always to win a Northeast Conference championship and we were co-champions with Clark-Willow Lake at 5-1. Our second goal is to make the 11B playoffs, which we did. Our third goal is to have fun and enjoy the game of football. With the first year of the football co-op, I think it went very well. We certainly are going to miss our seniors. They all have contributed to the success of our season.”
GA (6-3) 0 0 6 7 – 13
STM (7-2) 7 7 13 13 – 40
STM – Dawson Inhofer 54 run (Broeden Sales kick)
STM – Sales 32 pass from Noah Wald (Sales kick)
STM – Inhofer 57 run (Sales kick)
STM – Grayden Juve 4 run (kick failed)
GA – Christian Ehresmann 1 run (run failed)
STM – Josh Elder 13 run (run failed)
STM – Juve 49 run (Sales kick)
GA – Ehremann 20 pass from Korbin Kucker (Joao Nunes kick)
RUSHING: GA, 33-98 (Korbin Kucker 18-53, Christian Ehresmann 11-41, Brevin Fliehs 4-4); STM, 34-333 (Dawson Inhofer 7-168, Grayden Juve 12-100, Josh Elder 6-24, Joseph Gracometto 3-22, Ryan Neugelbauer 2-12, Noah Wald 4-7)
PASSING: GA, 6-16-1-68 (Kucker 6-16-1-68); STM, 6-11-2-87 (Wald 6-11-2-87)
RECEIVING: GA (Keegen Tracy 3-40, Christian Ehresmann 1-20, Ryder Johnson 1-8); STM (Broeden Sales 3-42, Reeve Ross 2-31, Neugelbauer 1-11, Elder 1-8)
FIRST DOWNS: GA, 14; STM, 19
DEFENSIVE LEADERS: GA (Ehresmann 9 tackles; Kucker 8 tackles, fumble recovery; Fliehs 6 tackles; Teylor Diegel 3 tackles, 2 interceptions); STM (Gracometto 13 tackles; Elder 6 tackles, 1 interception)
