Groton built momentum for the postseason Friday night, while Aberdeen Roncalli found out it missed out on the playoffs by the narrowest of margins.
Groton scored three late touchdowns to pull away for a 28-0 Northeast Conference football win at Dacotah Bank Stadium. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers learned after the game that they had been edged out by a fraction of a point of landing a spot in next week’s playoffs.
“It’s incredibly disappointing to come up 0.175 points short of getting in,” said Roncalli coach Billy Young, “but that’s the system we all have to play under.”
Groton, which received a 1-yard touchdown run from quarterback Asher Johnson in the middle of the first quarter, had a hard time shaking the Cavaliers who stayed within striking distance for most the contest.
“Whenever you’re looking at a rivalry, you never know what could happen,” said Groton coach Jordan Carson. “And then all of a sudden, you’re sitting there at halftime and it’s 7-0.”
The margin remained that way until late in the third period when Johnson spotted Anthony Tracy who hauled in a 20-yard touchdown strike.
“They were kind of in a battle there and then Anthony broke outside,” Johnson said. “I had to give to give him a chance. He’s a great player and he comes down with it 90 percent of the time.”
Carson said the plan going into the contest was to run the ball to set up other options.
“You think about that when you’re calling plays, that old adage that you have to try to establish the run and establish the run,” Carson said, “and eventually you can get out there with whatever is the counter to that, and hopefully get a big play out of that.”
Groton, which rushed 45 times for 219 yards, eventually wore down the Cavaliers and tacked on two more scores in the closing minutes of the game, one on a Ryder Schelle 40-yard run, and the other on a 10-yard run from Tracy.
“Roncalli and Groton football is physical football,” said Roncalli senior Jean Anthony Thomas. “I like to play that game, but after so many drives, it’s only going to wear and tear. There’s only so much you can do for so long.”
Young said the Cavaliers got caught in a situation where several starters were not on the field at key moments.
“We had some guys, a couple ankles that were getting taped … we were having to piecemeal together some stuff and put freshmen in positions that maybe they weren’t quite ready for,” Young said. “It’s all we had available.”
Roncalli had several scoring opportunities, one of which was snuffed out on a fumble in the Groton end zone, but ended up getting shutout for the third straight game.
“It’s been that way all year. We’ll get close, get in the red zone, and can’t come away with anything,” Young said. “I think a lot of that is when you’re dealing with such a young, inexperienced team. It only takes one mistake and then all of a sudden you’re back in a second-and-15, with your back against the wall and you’re having to throw the ball or do something to get out of it.”
The Tigers started the regular season and ended the regular season with shutouts. Carson credited defensive coordinator Travis Kurth following the contest.
“Travis Kurth dials up a pretty good defensive plan when it comes to games,” Carson said. “That’s not the first time we were able to put a zero on the scoreboard this year.”
Groton, 4-4 on the season, will head to Winner on Thursday in the opening round of the Class 11B playoffs. They will go there following back-to-back wins to close out the regular season.
“When you get momentum it’s hard to be stopped,” Johnson said. “Hopefully we can just keep it going, because we’re going to have a tough game next week for sure.”
The Tigers will try to harness that energy and use it to their advantage in the postseason.
“Momentum is a huge thing when you get to the end of the year,” Carson said, “and if you’re playing well, and your guys are playing well together with each other, all those things add up to big things.”
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers had their season come to an end with a 2-6 record.
“I can’t be prouder of our seniors. They continued to fight until the last second ticked off the clock,” Young said. “We were an extremely young team this year and I think we are on the verge of something special. The record doesn’t necessarily reflect it, but we saw a lot of growth this year.”
Groton (4-4) 7 0 7 14 – 28
Aberdeen (2-6) 0 0 0 0 – 0
First Quarter
G – Asher Johnson 1 run (Ryder Schwan kick), 6:46.
Third Quarter
G – Anthony Tracy 20 pass from Johnson (Schwan kick), 2:17.
Fourth Quarter
G – Ryder Schelle 40 run (Schwan kick), 3:43.
G – Tracy 13 run (Schwan kick), 3:19.
OFFENSE: Groton rushing 45-219 (Johnson 16-76, Schelle 9-71, Tracy 11-45, Kyson Kucker 3-12), passing 5-11-1 for 64 (Johnson 5-11-1 for 64), receiving (Tracy 3-35, TC Schuster 2-29), first downs 18; Aberdeen Roncalli rushing 20-10 (Brock Bowman 11-26, Will Haskell 2-4), passing 8-22-1 for 76 (Austin Fischer 8-21-1 for 76, Drake Winter 0-1-0 for 0), receiving (Haskell 2-56, Creighton Fischer 2-22, Ian Kramer 1-6), first downs 7.
DEFENSE: Groton, A. Johnson 10 tackles and 1 interception, Schelle 8 tackles, Layne Johnson 6 tackles 1 fumble recovery 1 forced fumble , Isaiah Scepaniak 5 tackles, Braden Fliehs 5 tackles; Aberdeen Roncalli, Scott Lohman 12 tackles, Bowman 6 tackles 1 interception, C. Fischer 6 tackles, Jean Anthony Thomas 6 tackles.
