City Reports Strong Use of Campground in 2021
City officials reported strong use of the Dell Rapids City Campground in 2021 during the most recent regular meeting of the Dell Rapids City Council on Monday, November 16th. The campground was flooded in 2019 and closed for construction in 2020.
The city added 14 full service campsites and also a shower comfort station facility. Campground reservations were also moved to an online system. The report also mentioned the online reservation system worked really well and saved many hours of City staff time dealing with answering questions, processing payments, and tracking reservation.
For the 2021 camping season, the city collected $35,200 in fees. The average revenue that was generated by the campground for the years of 2015 through 2018 was approximately $12,500.
St Mary Captures First Football Title in School History
Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley
The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals won their first ever state football championship in dramatic fashion on Thursday, November 11th. CJ Smith threw a two-point conversion pass to Gabe Lindeman for the game-winning conversion to beat the Potter County Battlers 44-42 in the 9B Championship game at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion.
The game couldn’t have been more back-and-forth than it was for the entire duration. The Cardinals struck first after a 32-yard interception return by John Pica for a touchdown with 10:33 to play in the second quarter. Ty Brown got the two-point conversion to put St Mary ahead 8-0. The Battlers tied the game just :46 later. Grant Luikens threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Drake Bassett and the two-point conversion was good to tie the game 8-8 with 9:47 in the half. Potter County had the advantage at halftime after Luikens ran a three-yard touchdown run into the end zone with 2:28 to play. The Battlers led 14-8 at halftime.
St Mary did all of the scoring in the third quarter. The Cardinals tied the game with 7:08 in the quarter after a one-yard touchdown run by Brown. St Mary then took the lead with 2:33 in the quarter after a 27-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Tate Bunkers. The two-point conversion was no good, and the Cardinals led 20-14 heading into the final quarter.
The Battlers put the pressure on the Cardinals in the fourth quarter. Luikens had a 30-yard touchdown pass to Rider Falkenhagen with 11:53 to play in the game. The two-point conversion was no good, and the game was tied 20-20. After a fumble recovery by Potter County, Luikens scored on an eight-yard run with 7:08 to go. The two-point conversion was good, and the Battlers led 28-20.
St Mary had one more scoring drive in them before the end of regulation. Smith threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Nic Gaspar with 1:06 left in the game to finish a 10-play, 67-yard drive. Smith connected with Gabe Lindeman for the two-point conversion to tie the game 28-28. Potter County nearly won the game in regulation as they drove the ball deep into Cardinal territory. The final play of regulation ended at the St Mary two-yard line as time expired.
The Cardinals went on offense first in the first overtime. Gaspar had an eight-yard touchdown run, and then Smith threw a two-point conversion pass to Gaspar for a 36-28 lead. The Battlers responded on their first offensive play of overtime when Luikens threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Drake Basset. Luikens ran the two-point conversion into the end zone to tie the game 36-36.
Potter County got the ball first in the second overtime. Again Luikens had a 10-yard touchdown pass, this time to Falkenhagen. Luikens, though, was stopped short of the goal line on the two-point conversion attempt. The Battlers led 42-36. The Cardinals needed three plays, but Gaspar put the ball into the end zone on a two-yard run to tie the game 42-42. On the two-point conversion, Smith threw a pass to Lindeman who caught it just beyond the goal line for the game-winning score.
The Cardinals finished with 345 yards of total offense, 247 rushing yards and 98 passing yards. Potter County had 319 total yards, 297 passing yards and 22 passing yards. St Mary held the ball on offense for 31:33 of the 48:00 minutes in the game.
Gaspar, who was named a South Dakota High School Football Coaches Association Outstanding Back in the game, had 21 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Brown finished with 19 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown. Noah Olund had 13 carries for 58 yards. Smith was 5-12 passing for 98 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. Gaspar had three catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. Bunkers had a catch for 27 yards and a touchdown. Lindeman also had a catch for six yards.
Pica led the team with 11 tackles in the game, one for a loss, and an interception returned for a touchdown. Olund had seven tackles. Ty Brown had six. Lucas Flemmer, Lindeman, Gaspar, and Smith all had three tackles each. Gaspar also had a fumble recovery and an interception. Pica was named the South Dakota High School Football Coaches Association Outstanding Lineman for the game.
St Mary’s championship season ends with an 8-3 overall record.
Dell Rapids Elementary Holding Winter Clothing Drive
The Dell Rapids Elementary School is holding a winter clothing drive to help the kids in the community stay warm all winter long. Donations of new and gently used clothing can be left at the Dell Rapids Elementary School (309 15th St) or at County Fair Food Store (1002 State Hwy 77).
Items in need are hats, mittens, coats, scarves, boots, gloves, snow pants, sweatpants, sweatshirts, underwear and socks. Donations will be accepted Monday, November 8th through Tuesday, November 23rd. Questions can be directed to Dell Rapids Elementary PTO at dellspto@gmail.com.
Goal Line Stand Sends Cardinals to Championship Game
The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal football team is headed back to the Dakota Dome for the 2021 South Dakota Class 9B championship game. The #5 seeded Cardinals traveled to #1 Avon and handed the Pirates their first loss of the season on Friday, November 5th, and it was a goal line stand in the final seconds the preserved the win for St Mary.
The Cardinals started this game the same way they had throughout the playoffs. They took the opening drive of the game down the field, and after a five minute drive, Nic Gaspar had a three-yard run for a 6-0 lead. The St Mary defense then forced a fumble. With 3:26 left in the opening quarter, Lucas Flemmer had an 18-yard run and then a two-point conversion for an early 14-0 Cardinal lead. That’s when the fireworks erupted for the remainder of the quarter.
Just thirteen seconds later, Brady Bierema had a 59-yard touchdown run to put the Pirates on the board. Seventeen seconds after that, Gaspar had a 69-yard touchdown run to push the Cardinal lead back to 14 points at 20-6. Just over a minute later, Bierema had a 60-yard touchdown run. Avon made the two-point conversion, and after the dust settled on the first quarter, St Mary had a 20-14 lead.
The defenses played strong in the middle two quarters. Neither team had a score in the second quarter, and the Cardinals continued to lead 20-14 at halftime. The Pirates got the only touchdown in the third quarter. With 7:55 to play in the quarter, Bierema had another touchdown run, this time from six yards away to give Avon a 22-20 lead.
The Pirates added to the lead early in the fourth quarter. With 10:06 left in the game, Riley Rucktaeshel had a 19-yard run, and Jaden Stahl made another two-point conversion to push the Avon lead to 30-20. The Cardinals got some momentum back just nine seconds later. Gaspar broke loose for a 68-yard touchdown to pull the Cardinals within four points at 30-26.
With just under three minutes left in the game, the St Mary defense forced an Avon punt. The Cardinals marched down the field aided by a 55-yard pass from CJ Smith to Gaspar on third down. Smith then had a 24-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Lindeman with 1:21 to go to put the Cardinals back in front 32-30.
Avon was not done. They used a hurry-up style offense to push the ball all the way down to the Cardinal five-yard line with just seven seconds left in the game. After a timeout, the Pirates ran a reverse to Bierema, and he ran to the left side of the field as Ty Brown tackled him just short of the goal line to send the Cardinals to the dome.
The Cardinals had 455 yards of total offense, 281 rushing yards and 174 passing yards. Avon finished with 365 yards of offense, 347 rushing yards and 18 passing yards.
Gaspar had 17 carries for 209 yards and three touchdowns. Flemmer had eight carries for 38 yards and a touchdown. Brown had 11 carries for 30 yards. Smith was 7-9 passing for 174 yards and a touchdown. Gaspar had three catches for 96 yards. Lindeman had two catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Flemmer had one catch for 23 yards, and Tate Bunkers had a catch for 22 yards.
Noah Olund led the defense with 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. Smith had 9.5 tackles. John Pica finished with nine tackles, and Lindeman had eight tackles, one sack, and one force fumble. Gaspar had 7.5 tackles, Lamb added seven tackles, and Brown had six tackles and a fumble recovery.
“The boys played hard tonight. They played a full 48 minutes and overcame a lot of diversity. I am very proud of the way they played!” said head coach Ross Flemmer. This was also Flemmer’s 150th win.
The Cardinals will play in the 9B championship game against Potter County at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 11th.
Quarriers Fall Just Short Against Bulldogs in Semifinals
Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley
The #4 seeded Dell Rapids Quarriers traveled to the #1 seed Madison Bulldogs for the semifinal game in the 11A playoffs of Friday, November 5th. On the line was a trip to the Dakota Dome on Friday, November 12th for the 2021 South Dakota 11A Championship.
Both defenses held each other out of the endzone in the opening quarter. Dell Rapids got the first blow with 8:23 to play in the second quarter. Austin Henry had a one-yard touchdown run, and the extra point was made by Aiden Boechler to give Dell Rapids a 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs tied the game two minutes later, and the score remained 7-7 at halftime.
Madison got the two touchdowns on the second half. With 8:18 to play in the third quarter, Trey Smith had a one-yard run, his second touchdown of the night, to give the Bulldogs a 13-7 lead. Nate Ricke had a 16-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Bickett with 5:00 to go in the quarter to push the lead to 20-7. Henry had his second rushing touchdown with 2:13 left in the third quarter on a two-yard run. Boechler made the extra point to cut the lead to 20-14, which was the score heading into the final quarter.
The Bulldogs had an answer for every score the Quarriers had in the second half. Smith scored four the third time with 10:24 in the game on a four-yard run. The two-point conversion was good to extend the lead to 28-14. Henry added a 10-yard touchdown run with 8:28, and the Quarriers cut the lead to 28-21. Madison responded again on the very next offensive play on a 65-yard touchdown run by Ricke to make it a two touchdown lead again at 35-21. Dell Rapids answered right back when Henry completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Landon Ruesink with 7:31 to play. The made extra point made the score 35-28. Madison, however, got a game-sealing 30-yard field goal from Smith with 2:18 on the clock for the 38-28 victory.
The Quarriers finished with 385 yards of total offense, 197 rushing yards and 188 passing yards. Madison had 481 yards of offense, 294 rushing yards and 187 passing yards. Ruesink finished with 16 carries for 114 yards along with two catches for 48 yards and a touchdown. Henry had 13 carries for 46 yards and three touchdowns. He also was 10-24 passing for 188 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Brayden Pankonen had four catches for 65 yards. Boechler had two catches for 50 yards, and Camden Justice had two catches for 25 yards.
Aiden Geraets led the defense with 13 total tackles, one sack, and four tackles for loss. Mason Stubbe and Ryler Evens both had eight tackles. Pankonen had seven tackles and an interception. Ian Mason had six tackles, two sacks, and four tackles for loss. Will Jaton and Jade Anstine also both had six tackles.
Dell Rapids finishes the 2021 season with an overall record of 7-4.
Ethan Rallies for Region 4B Win over Cardinals
Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley
In a Region 3B tournament game of evenly matched teams, #4 seed Ethan Rustlers defeated #5 Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals in Chester on Tuesday, November 2nd. The match was close as expected, but the Rustlers were victorious in the five-set match.
Ethan got out to an early lead in the opening set which was enough to give them a 25-22 win. The Cardinals pulled within a point a couple of times in the set, but Ethan was able to hold them for the win. The second set was close throughout as well, but the Cardinals took a 24-20 lead. After Ethan tied the score at 24-24, St Mary scored the final two points for a 26-24 win.
St Mary continued the momentum into the third set. They were able to take the match advantage after a 25-23 win in the third set. The Rustlers got out to an early 11-5 lead in the fourth set. The Cardinals scored the next three points to pull within three points at 11-8, but Ethan then went on a big run. The Rustlers outscored St Mary 8-1 for a 19-9 lead. Ethan won the fourth set 25-12. That momentum carried over into the fifth set. Ethan led 6-1, and the Cardinals could not close the gap as the Rustlers won the fifth set 15-7 to win the match.
Courtney Brown finished with 20 digs and 15 kills to lead the team in both categories. Ella Griffin had 11 kills, 11 set assists, seven digs, and four ace serves. Maya Heinitz had 14 digs, 10 kills, and two ace serves. Brianna Lindeman added 22 set assists, 14 digs, eight kills, and three ace serves. Addy Gilbert finished with six digs and four kills. Brianna Griffin had five kills and two digs. Madala Hanson had 15 set assists and four digs. Josie Baumberger added 19 digs, and Jaycee Tebay had two digs and two ace serves.
The Cardinals finished with an overall record of 16-11.
Trojan and Mustang Volleyball Seasons End in Region 3A Tournament
Both the West Central Trojan and Tri-Valley Mustang volleyball seasons came to an end in the opening round of the Region 3A Tournament.
The Trojans entered the tournament as the #7 seed and traveled to Garretson to play the #2 seed Blue Dragons. The match was held on Monday, November 1st. Gararetson won in straight sets by scores of 25-10, 25-14, and 25-18. West Central’s season ends with an overall record of 7-19.
Tri-Valley was the #8 seed in the tournament and played #1 Sioux Falls Christian in Sioux Falls on Tuesday, November 2nd. The Chargers also won in straight sets by scores of 25-11, 25-9, and 25-10. The Mustangs finished the season with a record of 1-23.
No stats were available for either match at the time of writing.
Quarrier Rally Falls Short in Region 3A Match
The Dell Rapids Quarriers rallied from a 2-0 set deficit to force a fifth set, but the Madison Bulldogs held off the Quarrier rally to advance in the Region 3A tournament. The #6 seeded Quarriers traveled to Madison to play the #3 seeded Bulldogs on Tuesday, November 2nd in the opening round of the Region 3A Tournament.
Madison took the first two sets of the match. They won the first one by a score of 25-21 and 25-14. Dell Rapids rallied in the next two sets earning wins by scores of 25-14 and 25-16. The Bulldogs, however, found momentum between the fourth and fifth set. They stormed out to a big lead in the fifth set and eventually won by a score of 15-2 to win the match.
JoJo Henry finished with 12 kills. Sophi Randall had 11 kills. Henry also led the team with 18 digs and three ace serves. Riley Hill had 24 set assists, 12 digs, and two ace serves. Randall also had 21 set assists, seven and four blocks. Kenzie Garry finished with 16 digs, and Emma Molskness had 10 digs. Kylee Fiddelke had three blocks.
Dell Rapids finishes the 2021 season with a record of 16-14.