Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley
The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals and Centerville Tornadoes played an “instant classic” in Dell Rapids on Friday, September 20th in the final regular season home game for St Mary. The Cardinals held for a 46-44 win in a wild finish.
Centerville struck first with a five-yard touchdown pass with 8:18 to go in the first quarter. A two-point conversion put the Tornadoes in front 8-0. St Mary responded, and Kade Lutt scored on a one-yard run. Trimmier Hanson got the two-point conversion, and the game was tied 8-8 with 6:24 in the opening quarter. Centerville went back in front later in the quarter. They had a 36-yard touchdown pass to take a 14-8 lead with 4:28 to play. The first quarter would end with Centerville leading 14-8.
The Tornadoes extended the lead after a 40-yard touchdown pass with 7:59 in the opening half. Another two-point conversion extended the lead to 22-8. The Cardinals got within six points, 22-16, after a 65-yard touchdown run by Lincoln LeBrun and two-point conversion by Hanson. Centerville, however, would get two more scores before halftime. With 5:18 to play in the half, the Tornadoes got a 38-yard field goal. They added a 12-yard touchdown pass, which was tipped at the goal line, with just :08 on the clock. A made extra point gave Centerville a 32-16 lead going into halftime.
The game belonged to St Mary for 22 minutes and 30 seconds of the second half. LeBrun got a two-yard touchdown run with 8:57 to play in the third. Hanson made his third two-point conversion to make the score 32-24. The Cardinals tied the game, 32-32, after a 29-yard touchdown run by Jake Kopsas and two-point conversion by LeBrun. The third quarter ended with a 32-32 tie score. St Mary took their first lead of the game with 8:13 left to play on a 26-yard touchdown run by LeBrun. The Cardinals looked to put the game away after a five-yard touchdown run by Hanson and two-point conversion pass from LeBrun to Jacob Flemmer. With 1:53 on the clock, St Mary led 46-32. That’s when the excitement turned up a few notches.
Just 40 seconds later, Centerville got into the end zone on an 11-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was no good, and St Mary led 46-38. The Tornadoes then recovered an onside kick. With :34 to go, Centerville scored again on a seven-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion was stopped again, so St Mary kept a 46-44 lead. For the second straight kickoff, the Tornadoes recovered the onside kick to set up a potential game-stealing drive. But with just :01 tick left on the clock, Jaxon Baumberger intercepted a pass in the end zone to secure the win.
“Our boys played a heck of a second half. Our offensive line did a great job controlling the line of scrimmage on offense and really moved people off the ball. Our kids showed a lot of heart, I’m very proud of their effort!” said head coach Ross Flemmer.
The Cardinals had 463 yards of offense, 385 rushing yards and 78 passing yards. Centerville finished with 463 yards of offense as well, 89 rushing yards and 374 passing yards. LeBrun had 25 carries for 276 yards and three touchdowns. Kopsas had four carries for 35 yards and a touchdown. Hanson had six carries for 39 yards and a touchdown. Lutt added four attempts for nine yards and a touchdown. Hanson was 5-7 passing for 78 yards. Baumberger had two grabs for 58 yards.
Keaton Hansen had 11.5 tackles and a sack. Kopsas finished with 6.5 tackles. Carlo Pica, Lutt, and Maverick LeBrun all had five tackles each. Alex Lindeman had four tackles. Baumberger ended with three tackles and an interception.
