The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal football team earned their third straight win on Friday, September 22nd. The Cardinals built an early lead and finished with a 36-6 victory over the Oldham-Ramona-Rutland Raiders in Rutland.
Nic Gaspar put the Cardinals on the board on the first offensive play of the game. Gaspar scored on a 41-yard touchdown run for a quick 6-0 lead. On Cardinals’ next possession, Gaspar scored again on a 25-yard touchdown run. Lucas Flemmer had the two-point conversion, and St Mary led 14-0 with 9:08 left in the first quarter. Owen Vargas threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Gaspar with 7:02 remaining in the quarter. Trimmier Hanson threw a halfback pass to Flemmer for the two-point conversion, and St Mary led 22-0.
The Raiders scored in the first minute of the second quarter. With 11:12 to play in the half, Oldham-Ramona-Rutland scored on an eight-yard run to make the score 22-6. The score remained 22-6 at halftime.
Gaspar scored his fourth overall touchdown of the game on a two-yard run with 8:34 to play in the third quarter to extend the lead to 28-6. Lincoln LeBrun added a seven-yard touchdown run with 5:23 to play in the game. Vargas connected with Gaspar for the two-point conversion for a 36-6 score.
“It was a hard-fought game. I felt like we played pretty physically. Overall the boys played hard, and we know what we need to get better at,” said head coach Ross Flemmer.
The Cardinals finished with 309 yards of total offense, 271 rushing yards and 38 passing yards. The Raiders had 183 yards of total offense, 171 rushing yards and 12 passing yards.
Gaspar had 11 carries for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Flemmer had 11 carries for 36 yards. Hanson added five carries for 24 yards, and LeBrun had six carries for 14 yards and a touchdown. Vargas was 1-5 passing for 38 yards and a touchdown. Gaspar had a catch for 38 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively for St Mary, Gaspar had 19.5 tackles. Keaton Hansen had 11 tackles. Maverick LeBrun added 10 tackles. Flemmer had six tackles and a fumble recovery. L. LeBrun finished with 5.5 taclkes, and Hanson had 4.5 tackles and a pass break up.
