The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals cruised into the quarterfinals of the 9B playoffs after a 40-0 win in the opening round over Corsica-Stickney on Thursday, October 21st. Once the Cardinal offense found the endzone for the first time in the opening quarter, they were almost unstoppable.
Nic Gaspar got the scoring started with a three-yard touchdown run with 4:38 in the first quarter. Lucas Flemmer scored two and a half minutes later on a 16-yard run to make a 12-0 score. Ty Brown had an 11-yard touchdown run with 9:18 in the second quarter. Noah Olund was the fourth Cardinal to score after a one-yard run with 4:25 to play in the half. St Mary got their first two-point conversion on the fourth attempt on a pass from CJ Smith to Gabe Lindeman. After a Corsica-Stickney Jaguar fumble, Smith connected with Lindeman, this time for a touchdown from 10 yards away with :27 to play in the first half.
The Cardinals led 32-0 at halftime. Brown scored on the first offensive play of the third quarter on a 50-yard run. Flemmer scored the two-point conversion to give St Mary a 40-0 lead with 11:41 to play in the third quarter. That touchdown invoked the running clock the rest of the game.
St Mary finished with a total of 372 yards of offense, 297 rushing yards and 75 passing yards. The Jaguars were held to just 79 yards of total offense, 43 rushing yards and 36 passing yards. The Cardinals were 5-7 on third down attempts while holding the Jaguars to 1-8.
Brown led the ground attack with eight carries for 107 yards and two touchdowns. Gaspar had eight carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. Flemmer finished with 11 rushes for 61 yards and a touchdown, and Olund had 10 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown. Smith was 4-6 passing for 75 yards a touchdown. Gaspar had two catches for 53 yards. Lindman had an 11-yard touchdown catch, and Brown had an 11-yard catch.
Gaspar had a team-high nine tackles. Lindeman and John Pica both had eight tackles in the game. Pica also had a fumble recovery. Brown finished with five tackles and two interceptions. Aiden Allen added four tackles.
The Cardinals will play the Gayville-Volin Raiders in Gayville on Thursday, October 28th. Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m.