Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley
The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals were not slowed by the rain and wet field conditions at Rickeman Field on Friday, August 19th. St Mary cruised to a 52-20 season-opening win over the Waverly-South Shore Coyotes.
The Coyotes got one first down in their opening drive of the game, but struggled to get much of anything going after that the rest of the first half. The Cardinals scored on their first three possessions and converted on all three two-point conversions for a 24-0 lead.
After a back-to-back possessions that didn’t end in a score, St Mary scored on their final two possessions of the first half and extended their lead to 38-0. The Coyotes made a surge down the field in the final minutes of the first half and got on the board with a touchdown as time expired. The Cardinals led 38-6 at halftime.
St Mary scored on their first possession of the second half to make the score 46-6, which triggered the running clock for the rest of the game. The Cardinals scored one more time early in the fourth quarter to make the score 52-6. The Coyotes got two late scores in the fourth quarter.
Game Stats
Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley
The Cardinals finished with 231 yards of total offense, 176 rushing and 55 passing. Waverly-South Shore had 112 yards of offense, 61 rushing and 51 passing.
Nic Gaspar had 12 carries for 89 yards and three touchdowns. Tate Bunkers had seven carries for 24 yards and a touchdown. Dylan Mathis added five carries for 29 yards and a touchdown. Owen Vargas had two carries for 17 yards and a touchdown. CJ Smith was 2-4 passing for 55 yards and an interception.
The defense was led by Gaspar with nine tackles and a sack. Gabriel Lindeman had four tackles and a sack. Wyatt Geraets had two tackles and a sack. Bunkers finished with two tackles and an interception, and Mathis had one tackle and two interceptions.
“The boys played well tonight. They did a lot of good things and gave us a lot to build off of heading into next week,” said head coach Ross Flemmer.
St Mary (1-0) will travel to Hamlin on Friday, August 29th.
**Photos taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley**
