The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal football team bounced back from a couple of rough games and won their first home game of the year in an exciting game over the De Smet Bulldogs. The Cardinals won 28-26 in a back-and-forth game on Friday, September 9th, at Rickeman Field.
St Mary started the game with a 7:00 drive that ended on a one-yard touchdown run by Dalton Houska. The first quarter ended with the Cardinals ahead 6-0. The Bulldogs, however, scored on the first play of the second quarter to cap off a 5:00 drive. Jon Todd had a six-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 6-6. St Mary wasted no time in answering as Luke Brown scored :31 later on a 37-yard run. The two point conversion gave the Cardinals a 14-6 lead. The Bulldog offense responded on a 12-yard fourth-down touchdown pass from Cade Birkel to Todd with 8:04 to go in the half. They, too, scored a two point conversion to tie the game at 14-14. The Cardinals took the lead with just :27 to go in quarter on a three-yard touchdown run by Garret Frost with Houska scoring the two point conversion to re-gain the lead at 22-14. De Smet drove the ball deep into Cardinal territory, but Logan Gaspar intercepted a Birkel pass as time expired to preserve the 22-14 St Mary lead.
After both defenses held tough through most of the third quarter, De Smet scored on a short field after a recovered fumbled punt. With 2:15 to go in the third quarter, Zach Walkow tight-roped the sideline and scored on a 23-yard run to pull with two points at 22-20. The Bulldogs took the lead for the first time with 6:40 to go in the fourth quarter on another fourth down play. Todd scored again, this time from three yards away, and the Bulldogs led 26-22. The lead was short-lived as Frost scored a minute later on a 53-yard run to give the lead back to St Mary at 28-26. The Cardinal defense held tough the remainder of the game, and forced a turnover on downs with a minute left before kneeling down for the win.
Frost finished the game with 18 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Houska had 16 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown. L. Brown had five carries for 45 yards and a touchdown. L. Brown was also 3-6 passing for 42 yards. Zach Geraets had two catches for 21 yards. Evan Brown had one catch for 18 yards. Frost and Geraets led the defense with 9.5 tackles. L. Brown had 7.5 tackles, and Houska finished with 6.5 tackles and a fumble recovery.
St Mary improves to 1-2 on the year. The Cardinals will travel to Castlewood to take on Castlewood/Estelline on Friday, September 16th. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.
