Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley, Dells City Journal
The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals kicked off their 2020 season on the road at Henry against the Florence/Henry Falcons on Friday, August 21st. This was not the original opponent for the Cardinals. St Mary was originally scheduled to play the Estelline/Hendricks Redhawks, but that game was cancelled due to Covid earlier in the week. The Cardinals were able to find a replacement game with Florence/Henry less than 24 hours later.
With all the details finalized, St Mary made the trip to Henry on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, the Falcons were victorious by a score of a 18-6.
The Cardinals controlled the pace of the game in the first quarter. Even though their opening drive didn’t result in a score, St Mary held the ball for over six minutes. After holding the Falcons to just three plays on their first offensive possession, St Mary got the first score of the game on a 10-yard touchdown run by Connor Libis with 0:48 to play in the first quarter. The two-point conversion was no good, and St Mary led 6-0.
Florence/Henry was able to get the offense going late in the second quarter and in the third quarter. After a turnover by the Cardinals, the Falcons tied the game with 4:56 to play in the second quarter on a 10-yard run by Ashton Hanson. Their two-point conversion failed, and the game was tied 6-6 at halftime.
The Falcons then used two big plays in the third quarter to take the victory from St Mary. In the first possession of the second half, Mehki Keller scored on a 59-yard run with 10:15 to play to give Florence/Henry a 12-6 lead. The Falcons struck again with 3:18 to go in the third quarter when Hanson scored on a 55-yard run to push the lead to 18-6. That score was enough to give the Falcons the win.
St Mary finished the game with a total of 10 first downs compared to just four for the Falcons. The Cardinals had 158 rushing yards and 37 passing yards. Libis was 4-12 passing for 37 yards. Ashaun Roach-Valandra had two catches for 28 yards. Gabriel Lindeman led the team in rushing with 20 carries for 94 yards. Libis had 21 carries for 60 yards.
The Cardinals (0-1) will travel to Castlewood on Friday, August 28th. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.
| Dell Rapids St Mary | ||||||
| Florence/Henry |