The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal football team converted on all five of their two-point conversions. The De Smet Bulldogs converted on just two of their five two-point conversions. That difference led to the St Mary Cardinals picking up a 40-34 win over the De Smet Bulldogs on Friday, September 11th, in De Smet in a back-and-forth, exciting ball game.
The offenses for both teams put up a total of 30 combined points in the first quarter. The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff and scored in less than two minutes. With 10:10 to go, Matt Larson scored on a five-yard touchdown run to give De Smet an early 6-0 lead. The Cardinals answered back in less than two minutes. Josh Brown scored the first of his five touchdowns with 8:18 to go from 14 yards. Jacob Glazier ran the ball for the two-point conversion to give St Mary an 8-6 lead.
De Smet didn’t waste any time in jumping back into the lead. Larson found the end zone again, this time on a 38-yard pass from Broderick Poppinga with 5:36 to go in the first quarter. Larson also scored the two-point conversion, and De Smet led 14-8. St Mary answered right back with 2:25 left in the quarter. Brown scored again on a 15-yard run. Casey Hansen hit Glazier with a pass for the two-points to put the Cardinals back in front 16-14.
The defenses found their groove in the second and third quarters. St Mary scored the only touchdown of the second quarter with 3:42 to go. Brown scored for the third time on a five-yard run, and Glazier again converted the two-points to give the Cardinals a 24-14 lead heading into halftime. The Cardinal offense ran into some troubles in the third quarter. St Mary was intercepted, lost a fumble, and turned the ball over on downs in their three possessions in the third quarter. The Bulldogs turned those turnovers into a third quarter touchdown with 7:09 left. Poppinga tossed Adam Aughenbaugh a three-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Bulldogs pulled within four at 24-20.
De Smet took the lead with 10:02 to go in the game when Poppinga and Aughenbaugh connected again on a five-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion was again no good, but De Smet took a 26-24 lead. The Cardinals regained the lead 32 seconds later when Brown scored his fourth touchdown on a 38-yard run. Brown also scored the two-point conversion to give St Mary a 32-26 lead. The Bulldogs would again jump out in front with 6:52 to go on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Poppinga to Aughenbaugh again. The two connected for the two-point conversion, and De Smet held a 34-32 lead. The lead was short-lived as Brown ran the ensuing kickoff back for an 80-yard touchdown with 6:39 left in the game. Glazier again scored the two-point conversion, and the St Mary Cardinals went on to hold De Smet for the 40-34 win.
The two teams combined for 706 yards of total offense. St Mary finished with 338 total yards, and De Smet had 368 total yards.
Brown finished the night with 20 carries for 201 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Brown also added a kickoff return for a touchdown. Glazier ran the ball 15 times for 68 yards. Hansen was 2-3 passing for 54 yards and an interception. Both completed passes went to Glazier. Christian Schnieders led the defense with 14 tackles and a half sack. Dalton Houska tallied 11 tackles. Brown and Garret Frost each had seven tackles.
The Cardinals improve to 2-1 on the year. St Mary will host Castlewood/Estelline on Friday, September 18th for Homecoming. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.
Highlights