Wind, rain, and sloppy field conditions were not going to stand in the way of the Dell Rapids Quarriers…not on homecoming night. Dell Rapids put together a dominating performance in a 28-7 win over the Dakota Valley Panthers on Friday, October 4th.
The Panthers scored first late in the opening quarter on a two-yard touchdown run by Zion Robinson. The extra point was good by Treygun Bowen, and Dakota Valley led 7-0 with 3:01 to play in the first quarter. That was all the Quarriers would allow the rest of the game.
Dell Rapids scored the next four touchdowns on their way to victory. The Quarriers took the lead late in the second quarter. Colin Rentz threw a ball to Logan Ellingson, who was covered by two Panther defenders, and Ellingson made the leaping grab and walked into the endzone to put the Quarriers on the board. Colin Rentz scored the two-point conversion, and Dell Rapids led 8-7 with 3:29 to play in the half. The score remained 8-7 heading into halftime.
The Quarriers received the ball to begin the third quarter and took nearly five minutes off the clock in their opening drive of the second half. With 7:06 to play in the third quarter on a third and goal play from the one yard line, the snap to Colin Rentz was fumbled, but the Quarriers fell on the ball in the endzone for the touchdown. Logan Stone scored the two point conversion to give Dell Rapids a 16-7 lead. Less then five minutes later, Dell Rapids would score again. With 2:40 to play in the quarter, Mason Goeken blocked a Dakota Valley punt and recovered the ball in the endzone for another Dell Rapids touchdown. Dell Rapids put the exclamation point on homecoming with 8:06 to play in the game. Carter Rentz scored on a four-yard run to put the Quarriers comfortably out front at 28-7.
Dell Rapids made a big halftime adjustment to the defense. Dakota Valley had 169 yards of total offense in the first two quarters of play, but Dell Rapids held them to just 65 yards in the second half. The Quarriers finished with 210 yards of total offense, 168 rushing yards and 42 passing yards. Dell Rapids was also 4-7 on third down attempts.
Colin Rentz finished the game 2-3 passing for 42 yards and a touchdown. Ellingson had the touchdown catch for 34 yards, and Coby Maeschen had a catch for eight yards. Stone finished the game with nine carries for 65 yards. Maeschen had 11 carries for 43 yards, and Carter Rentz added 43 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Maeschen led the team in tackles with 11 in the game. Landon Ruesink and Drew VanRegenmorter both had eight tackles. Ellingson and Tyler Wood had six tackles each.
Dell Rapids (6-0) will host the Milbank Bulldogs on Friday, October 11th. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.