The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal football team started their 2018 season at home on Friday, August 17th against the Arlington/Lake Preston Badgers. The Badgers handed the Cardinals a 50-12 loss at Rickeman Field.
Arlington/Lake Preston scored on their first two possessions of the game to take an early 14-0 lead. St Mary got on the scoreboard after a 28-yard touchdown pass from Connor Libis to Weston Geraets to make the score 14-6. The Badgers were able to add another score before the end of the first quarter to extend their lead to 22-6 after one quarter of play. The Badgers also scored on their first two possessions of the second quarter to lead 38-6, which is also where the score remained at halftime.
The two teams were kept off the scoreboard through much of the third quarter. Arlington/Lake Preston got the ball across the goalline with 3:19 to go in the third quarter to extend their lead to 44-6. St Mary scored the first touchdown of the fourth quarter on an eight-yard run by W. Geraets to make the score 44-12. The Badgers scored the final touchdown of the game on the very next offensive possession to make the final score 50-12.
Libis finished the game 3-9 passing for 31 yards, two interceptions and a touchdown. W. Geraets had one catch for 28 yards and a receiving touchdown. He also carried the ball five times for 24 yards and a rushing touchdown. Payton Park had 10 carries for 28 yards. Eli Longville led the defense with 6.5 tackles. Ethan Geraets had five tackles, and W. Geraets finished with 4.5 tackles.
St Mary (0-1) will host Estelline/Hendricks on Friday, August 24th at 7:00 p.m. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.