The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals had to wait 27 days to get a game played since their last game on October 2nd. And in that time, they also watched the opening round of the 9B playoffs. But once the Cardinals took to the field in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, October 29th, they made sure more football would be played this season.
The Cardinals made the long bus ride to Faith and then handled the Longhorns with a 40-22 victory.
St Mary scored 22 points in the opening quarter and never looked back. Noah Olund had two rushing touchdowns in the first two Cardinal possessions and Connor Libis added another one for a 22-8 lead after the first quarter of play. Olund scored his third touchdown with 10:42 to play in the second quarter. Libis then ended the half with a touchdown run with :30 on the clock as St Mary went into halftime leading 34-8.
Faith was able to make some adjustments on defense in the second half, and their offense got going as well. The Longhorns scored a touchdown in the third quarter to make the score 34-14. Faith would get another touchdown early in the fourth quarter after a blocked put, and all the sudden the Longhorns cut the lead to 34-22.
St Mary responded on the very next drive. They would put together a nine-play drive that ended with a 16-yard touchdown by Libis with 5:25 to play in the game. That touchdown proved to be the game-clinching score as the Cardinal defense held the remainder of the game.
The Cardinals finished the night with 352 yards of total offense, all of which were rushing yards. Faith had 202 yards of offense, 70 rushing yards and 202 passing yards.
Libis had 29 carries for 202 yards and three touchdowns. Olund had 18 carries for 63 yards and three touchdowns. Nic Gaspar finished with nine carries for 80 yards. Ashaun Roach-Valandra led the defense with seven tackles and two sacks. Noah Dennis finished with six tackles, and John Pica added five tackles. Nick Wolles, Libis, and Olund all had an interception in the first half of the game.
St Mary (6-2) will travel to Kadoka to play the Kadoka Area Kougars on Friday, November 6th. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.