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Tiger rally comes up two feet short in loss to Groton Area


Less than one yard. That was the difference at the end as Groton Area held on to defeat the Tigers 28-26 at Tiger Stadium on Friday.
The Tigers trailed Groton Area 28-26 when they forced a punt and got the ball back at the Groton Area 49 with 3:03 to play. Five plays later the Tigers were inside the 20 at the 19 after Caden Halsey hit Braxton Albers for a 19-yard gain on third and 10. After a holding call moved the Tigers back 10 yards, Halsey hit Reese Cerney to get eight yards back and then on fourth down, the Tigers drew a pass interference call on Groton Area, making it first and goal at the nine with 10 seconds left. Halsey’s first pass fell incomplete, but the second hit Albers at the three. Albers turned and lunged for the goal line but could not quite reach as the game clock went to zeroes.
“One yard, two feet,” said coach Paul Goehring. “That’s the part that’s so heartbreaking about it. The kids fought back and came up two feet short.”
After taking an 8-0 lead on a Halsey to Cerney eight-yard pass in the first quarter, Groton Area scored four of the next five touchdowns. They scored twice in the second quarter on Jonathan Doeden passes of 67 yards to Lucas Hinman and 12 yards to Brody DeHoet to take a 12-8 halftime lead.
The Tigers drew within two points when Hasley hit Albers for a 17-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. On the play, Albers stretched out and made a diving catch.
Groton Area struck right back when Hinman scored on a 51-yard run just a minute later, and then after forcing a Tiger punt from deep in their own territory, took a 28-12 lead with 5:59 left in the third quarter, on a one-play drive that saw Hinman carry the ball into the end zone from 20 yards out.
The Tigers had an answer of their own. The ensuing kickoff got things going as Zane Reinert ran the ball all the way back to the Groton Area 45-yard line. On first down, Halsey hit Cerney for 29 yards and on the next play ran for 12, taking the ball down to the four. Three plays later, Halsey bulled across the goal line to cut the deficit to 28-20.
On the next Groton Area possession, the Tigers forced a fumble and Noah Feyereisen fell on the ball. A Halsey to Albers pass for 25 yards got the drive started. As the quarter switched frmm the third to the fourth, the Tigers were facing third and long, 41 yards from pay dirt. Halsey hit Feyereisen for 11 yards to create a manageable fourth down, which was followed by a Groton Area pass interference that gave the Tigers first and 10 from the 15. Halsey hit Gavin Reinert for 11 yards and a first down at the three, before calling his own number and scoring with 10:07 to play and the Tigers within two points at 28-26.
“The tight end screen was the key,” said Goehring. “That gave us the chance to go for it.”
Even though they had the two-touchdown deficit staring them in the face, Goehring said he could sense momentum turning in the Tigers’ favor.
“The whole second half I was thinking we’re going to get this,” said Goehring. “I knew if we had a little more time to throw, we could get to them.”
It all started with Halsey, who after losing the starting job, came on to lead the Tigers on four touchdown drives while throwing for 221 yards and two touchdowns and running for 42 yards and two more scores.
“When Caden threw the ball, he looked poised and confident,” said Goehring. “When he ran the ball, he looked determined.”
Halsey was 18 of 27 for 221 yards. In his first start, Cayden Eisemann went eight of 19 for 80 yards. That’s a combined total of 26 for 45 for 291 yards.
On starting Eisemann, Goehring said that the offense had been struggling and with the sophomore’s performance in the fourth quarter against Stanley County, he had earned his shot.
Cerney and Albers had big nights catching the ball. Cerney caught nine balls for 147 yards, while Albers caught six for 82. In the second half, they combined for 11 catches and 180 yards.
“It was nice to see players pick it up,” said Goehring. “Braxton stepped up. Not only on offense, he had a big interception, too. All the receivers, not just Reese and Braxton, ran their routes hard.”
Along with throwing the ball 45 times, the Tigers ran the ball 31 yards, but only gained 67 yards on the ground.
“When your line is that young and that light, it seems like sometimes you can’t get a yard,” said Goehring. “
It looks like the Tiger future may hold an air raid offense.
“That’s what we’re going to do,” said Goehring. “That can be the key to the playoffs.”
The coach said that he was particularly proud of the actions and reactions his Tigers had when they watched the game film.
“A lot of people credited the team for coming back,” said Goehring, “but after watching film, the players all admitted there are things they can do better. For them to see those things and know they can do better is a plus.”

Braves
The Tigers will try to square their record at 3-3 when they travel to Eagle Butte to take on the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Braves on Friday. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.
After opening the season with a 24-0 win over St. Francis Indian, the Braves have lost four straight, but Goehring knows that the Mobridge-Pollock game is a red-letter date for the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte squad.
“They’re always out to get us,” said Goehring. “They are going to try to come out and hit us in the mouth right away. We’ve gone into Eagle Butte before and started slowly because of that. Our goal is to not let that happen.
The Tigers and Braves are playing for the 33rd time in a series that dates back to Mobridge and Cheyenne Agency in 1937. The Tigers are 29-3 in the all-times series. The Braves won three of the first seven games including a 13-7 win in 1947, but the Tigers won a 31-0 game the next year, the last against Cheyenne Agency. The next time the two teams played, they were Cheyenne-Eagle Butte in 1965. The Tigers won that one and have one every game since, making it a 25-game winning streak.

Groton Area (4-2) 0 12 16- 28
Mobridge-Pollock (2-3) 8 0 12 6- 26
First Quarter
MP- Reese Cerney 8 pass from Caden Halsey (Cerney pass from Halsey) 4:35
Second Quarter
GA- Lucas Hinman 67 pass from Jonathan Doeden (conversion failed) 9:40
GA- Brody DeHoet 12 pass from Doeden (conversion failed) 3:20
Third Quarter
MP- Braxton Albers 17 pass from Halsey (conversion failed) 9:42
GA- Lucas Hinman 51 run (Doeden run) 8:40
GA- Hinman 20 run (Doeden run) 5:59
MP- Halsey 1 run (conversion failed) 3:23
Fourth Quarter
MP- Halsey 3 run (conversion failed) 10:07
Groton Area: Rushing 3-159 (Hinman 12-111, Doeden 17-68); Passing (Doeden 3-6-1-05); Receiving (DeHoet 2-38, Hinman 1-67); 4 first downs; 4 turnovers; 9-103. Defense: Austin Jones 8 tackles, Thomas Cranford 6 tackles, DeHoet interception.
Mobridge-Pollock: Rushing 31-67 (Halsey 14-42, Isaac Olson 7-35, Noah Feyereisen 1-1, Jayce Chasing Hawk 2-0, Cerney 1-(-2), Cayden Eisemann 6-(-9)); Passing 25-46-1-291 (Halsey 18-27-0-221, Eisemann 8-19-1-80); Receiving (Cerney 9-147, Albers 6-82, Zane Reinert 4-29, Feyereisen 3-20, Braden Goehring 2-7, Bryston Goehring 1-6); 17 first downs; 1 turnover; 8-67 penalties. Defense: Trace Cerney 6 tackles, blocked punt; Chasing Hawk 6 tackles, Albers interception, R. Cerney fumble recovery, Feyereisen fumble recovery.

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