Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley
The St Mary Cardinals are headed back to the 9B semifinals after a 36-0 win over the Kadoka Area Kougars on Thursday, October 31st. The Cardinals were last in the semifinals in 2021.
“The boys played a great game! It was a hard fought game against a good team from Kadoka. I felt like our kids played their best game so far this year,” said head coach Ross Flemmer.
Lincoln LeBrun had a one-yard touchdown run with 8:15 to go in the first quarter to make the score 6-0. Jake Heinitz added to the lead after a one-yard run with 11:20 to play in the second quarter. The Cardinals got another score as time expired in the first half. Trimmier Hanson had a six-yard touchdown run. Hanson then threw a pass to Maverick LeBrun for the two-point conversion. St Mary led 20-0 at halftime.
As the defensive continued to play strong in the second half, the offense kept putting points up on the board. Hanson had a one-yard touchdown run. Jaxon Baumberger had a pass to Thomas LaVoy for the two-point conversion, and with 6:22 in the third quarter St Mary led 28-0. Heinitz got the final touchdown of the game on a two-yard run with 6:10 to play in the game. Hanson scored the two-point conversion.
St Mary had 343 yards of total offense, 285 rushing yards and 58 passing yards. Kadoka Area finished with 196 yards of total offense, 130 rushing and 66 passing yards. L. LeBrun had 16 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown. Hanson had 12 carries for 83 yards and two touchdowns. LaVoy finished with five carries for 38 yards, and Heinitz had seven carries for 15 yards and two touchdowns. Baumberger was 3-4 passing for 58 yards. M. LeBrun had a catch for 24 yards. L. LeBrun and Hanson both had a catch.
Keaton Hansen led the defense with 13 tackles. L. LeBrun had nine tackles. Josh Liebl added 6.5 tackles. M. LeBrun ended with five tackles. Hanson had four tackles and an interception. Jake Kopsas had four tackles. Carlo Picka finished with 3.5 tackles. Alex Lindeman had three tackles, and Baumberger had an interception.
