The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals lost a close and exciting game to the Deubrook Dolphins in White on Friday, October 4th, by a score of 40-38. The battle of two of the top teams in class 9B and 9AA had a 40-minute weather delay midway through the third quarter.
Deubrook scored early on a 10-yard touchdown run by Riley Hanson with 10:47 in the first quarter to give the Dolphins a quick 6-0 lead. The Cardinals answered right back on a 35-yard touchdown run by Josh Brown to tie the game at 6-6 with 9:32 to go in the first quarter. Deubrook picked up another touchdown on a 67-yard run by Hanson to go ahead 14-6 at the 7:03 mark. But Dell Rapids St Mary would tie the game with 3:07 to go in the first on a 31-yard touchdown run by Brown. The game was tied 14-14 at the end of the first quarter.
The Dolphins scored the only touchdown of the second quarter for either team on a 5-yard pass play from Dustin Trooien to Quinn Peterson. The extra point gave Deubrook a 21-14 lead going into halftime.
Dell Rapids St Mary struck first on a 36-yard touchdown run by Brown at the 8:19 mark of the third quarter. The 2-point conversion was no good, and the Dolphins lead 21-20. With 6:07 to go in the third, the game was delayed. When play resumed, Deubrook scored with 3:17 left in the quarter on another Hanson touchdown run, this time for 77 yards. The extra point was no good, and the Dolphins had a 27-20 lead after the third quarter.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, West Heinricy hit Ben Bunkers with a 21-yard touchdown pass. Again, St Mary could not convert on the 2-point conversion, and again trailed by one at 27-26. Deubrook would extend the lead again on Hanson’s 40 yard touchdown run, his fourth of the game, at the 9:35 mark. Deubrook’s extra point attempt was no good, and the Dolphins lead 33-26. Dell Rapids St Mary would score about four minutes later on a 5-yard touchdown run by Jacob Glazier. The 2-point conversion failed yet again, and the Cardinals were within one point at 33-32. With 4:25 in the game, Hanson found the end zone for the fifth time on a 5-yard touchdown run. The extra point was good, and that gave Deubrook a 40-32 lead. Dell Rapids St Mary would score one more touchdown with 1:08 to go on a 13-yard touchdown run by Bunkers. But once again, the 2-point conversion failed, and the Cardinals trailed by two points at 40-38. The onside kick attempted went out of bounds, and Deubrook ran out the clock for the win.
Brown had 28 carries for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Bunkers had 17 carries for 126 yards and a touchdown. Heinricy went 3-6 passing for 45 yards and a touchdown. Defensively for the Cardinals, Christian Schnieders had 6.5 tackles and one forced fumble. Bunkers had five tackles and a fumble recovery. Brown had 5.5 tackles and a fumble recovery. Jared Scholten finished the game with 4.5 tackles.
Head coach Ross Flemmer said, “The kids played hard, they kept fighting back and worked hard the whole game. Our offensive line did an outstanding job of opening holes for our backs. Defensively we had some trouble bottling up their running game, but came up big on several 3rd and 4th downs and got some turnovers from them. I was very proud of how our kids handled themselves in the face of adversity.”
Dell Rapids St Mary falls to 4-1 on the year. The Cardinals will host Estelline on Friday, October 11th.
Highlights