A second half comeback by the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals fell a few minutes short as the #4 ranked Colman-Egan Hawks ran out the clock for an 18-14 win on Friday, August 31st in Colman.
Colman-Egan got out to a 12-o lead early in the game. After forcing the Cardinals to punt in their opening drive, Ryan Voelker scored on a two-yard run to give the Hawks a 6-0 lead. After a St Mary fumble on their next drive, Colman-Egan scored again two plays later on a Nate Tolley 14-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 12-0. St Mary was able to regroup and put together a 60-yard drive that ended in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Connor Libis to Weston Geraets. After a two-point conversion, the Cardinals trailed 12-8 at the end of the first quarter.
The Hawks were able to get another score across with just over two minutes to play in the first half. Ryan Hawkins scored on a 31-yard run to make the score 18-8. The Cardinals threatened to score again before halftime. W. Geraets caught a pass at the Colman-Egan three yard line with just under a minute to play, but the play was called back due to a holding call. The half ended with St Mary trailing 18-8.
The two defenses held strong in the third quarter as neither team was able to score keeping the game at 18-8 in favor of Colman-Egan after three quarters of play. With just over three minutes to play in the game, Libis scored on a two yard run to cut the lead to 18-14. The Hawks, however, were able to run out the clock on the ground to hang on for the victory.
St Mary finished with a total of 217 yards of offense. Colman-Egan ended the night with a total of 290 yards of offense. Libis had 16 carries for 23 yards and a touchdown. Libis was also 11-21 passing for 161 yards and a touchdown. W. Geraets had four catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. Ethan Geraets had five catches for 61 yards. E. Geraets led the defense with nine tackles and a sack. Eli Longville had 8.5 tackles and a sack. W. Geraets added 7.5 tackles, and Payton Park had 7.5 tackles and a forced fumble.
The Cardinals (1-2) will have their bye week on September 7th and will be back to action on Friday, September 14th in De Smet.