The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal football team suffered a loss on the road on Friday, September 1st. The Cardinals lost 32-14 to the De Smet Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs scored two times in the first quarter to build an early lead. They had two rushing touchdowns, one from three yards and one from 17 yards. De Smet converted one two-point conversion and led 14-0 after the first quarter. Neither team scored in the second quarter, and the Bulldogs continued to lead 14-0 at halftime.
The Cardinals cut into the lead after a 38-yard touchdown run by Nic Gaspar. A made two-point conversion made the score 14-8. De Smet responded with a couple of touchdowns themselves. With 6:07 remaining in the quarter, they scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to extend the lead to 20-8. About three minutes later the Bulldogs had a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown for a 26-8 score. Their final touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a 15-yard run. St Mary scored with 2:15 left in the game on a five yard run by Jacob Flemmer.
The Cardinals had 236 yards of total offense, 165 rushing yards and 71 passing yards. De Smet finished with 198 yards of offense, 144 rushing yards and 54 passing yards.
Gaspar had 15 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown. Thomas LaVoy had two carries for 69 yards, and J. Flemmer had a carry for three yards and a touchdown. Trimmier Hanson was 6-16 passing for 71 yards and an interception. Gaspar had three catches for 30 yards, and Own Vargas had a catch for 31 yards.
Gaspar also had nine tackles and an interception on defense. Keaton Hansen had seven tackles and a sack. Mason Ahlers added a tackles and a fumble recovery. Maverick LeBrun had three tackles and a fumble recovery. Camden Gilbert and Hanson each had four tackles.
“The boys played hard. I really liked their effort. We have to clean up some mistakes and get better and get ready for a tough Castlewood team,” said head coach Ross Flemmer.
