When Groton and Aberdeen Roncalli meet in any sport, everything from the atmosphere to the competition is always special.
Friday night, Groton gave new meaning to that term, riding special teams play to a 55-6 Northeast Conference football win over the Cavaliers at Dacotah Bank Stadium.
The Tigers returned three punts for touchdowns, blocked a punt, and also forced and recovered a Roncalli fumble on a punt, to snap a five-game losing skid.
“We always talk about special teams,” said Groton coach Shaun Wanner. “Every time we play the Cavs it always comes down to a few special teams plays.”
It started less than two minutes into the contest, when Groton forced a three-and-out and Ryder Johnson returned a punt 44 yards for a touchdown.
“We thought we could pin ’em early,” Wanner said. “We were going to go for the punt block, and hopefully take a little advantage, and Ryder catches it there and takes it in for a touchdown and off we go.”
That set the tone for the evening, as Groton would not relinquish the momentum.
“I knew that was a big momentum builder,” Wanner said.
Soon Keegen Tracy got in on the action, eventually finishing with a pair of punt returns for touchdowns, including a 74-yard return in the third quarter.
“We haven’t had one all year,” Tracy said. “We were struggling on special teams, and just in general, so we just came out with a different mindset and said let’s just take one back, and we decided to take three back.”
Those handful of special teams plays alone were the difference makers in the contest.
“Special teams killed us for sure. Our defense, I wouldn’t say played great, but they didn’t play bad enough to give up 55 points,” said Roncalli coach Billy Young. “We killed ourselves on special teams. A partially blocked punt, a fumbled punt, it was a circus, there’s no other way to put it.”
The Cavaliers were unable to slow down the Groton runners when they caught the punts.
“We didn’t execute great,” said Roncalli senior Isaiah Shaving. “We missed a lot of tackles.”
Tracy said returning punts takes a combination of reading where his blockers are and then hitting a hole as fast as he can.
“You have to catch it and then look up and see any openings,” Tracy said, “and then just hit it as hard as you can, and make a move, and if you break free, you break free.”
And once Tracy broke free, nobody was going to catch the senior who is a sprinter in track and field.
“That’s my biggest strength,” Tracy said, “get in the open field and then see if I can turn it up or not.”
Young said the Cavaliers needed to get down field faster to prevent those plays from taking place.
“That’s all effort. That’s just guys not hustling down and making the play,” Young said. “Part of it, they’re gassed because there’s not a whole lot of depth right now to put guys in, but one of those was early in the game, so nobody should have been tired.”
Groton was also able to run the ball consistently racking up 227 yards on the ground, using its speed and athleticism once runners got around the edge.
“We were just trying to contain their run,” Shaving said. “We knew they’d probably run it a lot. We were trying to guard their outside because we knew that Tracy and them would be outside, but some missed assignments.”
Interestingly enough, three of Groton’s key cogs on Friday night were two freshmen and a sophomore. Freshman quarterback Asher Johnson and freshman running back Anthony Tracy, each scored a pair of touchdowns, and sophomore back Ryder Schelle rushed for 102 yards and one TD.
“We lost a lot of people last year and we have a lot of positions filled with younger kids,” Keegen Tracy said. “They started slow, but they’re starting to come around, which it’s nice to have them here, too.”
Roncalli’s lone touchdown came thanks to Will Haskell, who had a 60-yard kickoff return, and then capped a seven-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.
The Cavaliers continue to play with a host of players sidelined with injuries.
“Missing starters obviously sucks,” Shaving said, “but still proud of the guys who’ve been backups and stepping in.”
In the end, it was big night for Groton, which won its first game since the opening week of the season.
“It’s a great place here,” Keegen Tracy said of Dacotah Bank Stadium. “It’s in a cool atmosphere, and we’ve always had that rivalry with Roncalli, so we needed to have a good game, and we had a good game today.”
Roncalli, 1-6, will close out its season with a game at Milbank next week. Young said he expects a lot of underclassmen to be on the field.
“We’re going to get some of those young guys in and let them get a taste of varsity experience, the ones that haven’t yet, and see where the chips fall,” Young said. “At this point, we’re in the process of evaluating guys, and of course we want to try to send the seniors out on a positive note, but primarily right now, that’s not our concern. Our concern is trying to get guys experience.”
The Tigers, 2-5 on the year, have a bye next week before traveling to Baltic, and are still alive in the hunt for a possible playoff berth.
“It’s one of those things where you just keep trying to get better, and give yourself a chance at the end of the year,” Wanner said, “and if all the cards go right, we could end up maybe a decent seed if we beat Baltic, but nothing’s easy.”
Groton (2-5) 21 13 15 6 – 55
Aberdeen Roncalli (1-6) 0 6 0 0 – 6
First Quarter
G – Ryder Johnson 44 punt return (Karson Zak kick), 10:13.
G – Asher Johnson 6 run (Zak kick), 6:46.
G – Keegen Tracy 42 punt return (Zak kick), 5:29.
Second Quarter
G – A. Johnson 2 run (Zak kick), 10:45.
AR – Will Haskell 5 run (kicked failed), 6:26.
G – Anthony Tracy 5 run (kick failed), :45.217
Third Quarter
G – A. Tracy 12 run (A. Tracy pass from A. Johnson), 8:28.
G – K. Tracy 74 punt return (Zak kick), 5:26.
Fourth Quarter
G – Ryder Schelle 1 run (kick failed), 5:44.
OFFENSE: Groton, rushing 37-227 (Schelle 18-102, A. Johnson 8-75, A. Tracy 7-40, K. Tracy 1-10), passing 2-4-0 for 44 (A. Johnson 2-4-0 for 44), receiving (K. Tracy 2-44), first downs 19; Aberdeen Roncalli, rushing 20-28 (Haskell 15-43), passing 3-13-2 for 33 (Austin Fisher 2-7-1 for 26, Jett Johnson 1-6-1 for 7), receiving (Brock Bowman 1-21, Haskell 1-7, Ian Kramer 1-5), first downs 4.
DEFENSE: Groton, Glines 8 tackles and 1 sack, Logan Warrington 5 tackles and 1 sack, A. Johnson 5 tackles A. Tracy 1 INT, K. Tracy 1 INT; Aberdeen Roncalli, Ryder Shaving 8 tackles, Bowman 8 tackles, Beau Binder 7 tackles, Ryan Schmidt 6 tackles.
