LA’s First Year As Grid Co-op With GA Successful

    This season marked the first year of the Groton Area-Langford Area football co-op, and the Tigers’ 24-year head coach Shaun Wanner considered it a success on all counts.
    Wanner’s crew finished the season with a 6-3 mark, falling to St. Thomas More in the first round of the Class 11B playoffs.  The Tigers were co-champions of the Northeast Conference with a 5-1 record, sharing the title with Clark-Willow Lake. 
    “We always set team goals at the beginning of every football season,” said Wanner.  “Our first goal is always to win a NEC conference championship.  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.”
    The Tigers will graduate 15 seniors from their 47-man roster.  Eleven LA players were on that roster with Caleb Mertz, Ryder Smith, and Jonas Friedman all seniors.
    Groton Area used some big second quarters on the way to its 6-3 mark, outscoring opponents 96-28 in that period and 218-166 for the season.  Offensive statistics were pretty even with the Tigers rushing for 1,115 yards compared to the opponents’ 1,280.  GA held the advantage through the air 996-923.
    Senior Korbin Kucker was the team’s offensive leader, passing for 548 yards and 11 touchdowns and running for 569 on 133 tries for a season offensive total of 1,117 yards.  Senior Christian Ehresmann added 44-162 yards rushing, junior Keegen Tracy 13-150, and LA sophomore Skyler Godel 19-126.  Ryder Johnson added 408 passing yards and three touchdown passes.
    Tracy was the top pass receiver with 19 catches for 284 yards and five TD’s and also the top punt and kick returner, averaging 14.5 and 24.8 yards respectively.  Ehresmann had 19 catches for 181 and seven scores, senior Teylor Diegel 14-178, senior Brevin Fliehs 11-122, and Korbin 8-103.  LA exchange student Joao Nunes hit three field goals and was 17-22 on extra points to rank fourth in scoring on the squad behind Kucker’s 66, Ehresmann’s 50, and Tracy’s 42.
    Tracy was the team’s leader in all-purpose yards with 815 (90.6 per game).  Kucker had 690 total yards, Fliehs 345, Ehresmann 343, Diegel 330, and Godel 148.
    On the defensive side of the ball things revolved around linebacker Ehresmann.  He recorded 98 tackles with 13 for loss and six sacks.  Fliehs was second in tackles with 63, LA’s Tucker Hardy had 54 and four sacks, and Kucker 48, along with three fumble recoveries.  Diegel led the secondary with six interceptions and Fliehs and Johnson had two thefts each as the Tigers intercepted 13 passes and recovered six fumbles for the year.