The Cardinals of St Mary’s opened up their playoff run on Thursday against Irene-Wakonda. That game would see the Cardinals dominate the Eagles.. The game started at 3:00 p.m. and would finish less then an hour and a half later with a score of 72-6.
First Quarter
Senior Trimmier Hanson nearly got the scoring started on the opening kickoff. Hanson would field the Eagle kick at the 20 yard line before taking the ball 60 yards on the return. This set up a five-yard Lincoln Lebrun touchdown run. Thomas Lavoy would take the ball in for the two point conversion, 8-0 Cardinals. If the quick touchdown wasn’t enough, freshman Jacob Geraets jumped on a mishandled kick to get the Cardinals the ball back. After a big Lebrun run, Lavoy cut up field for an 11-yard touchdown with a Hanson throw to Jake Heinitz making it 16-0. A three-and-out would give the Cards the ball back. Hanson would call his own number for a 65-yard touchdown. A Hanson pass to Jaxon Baumberger made it 24-0 with just under 8:00 minutes to go in the quarter.
The Eagles had to punt, consequently, Hanson brought the punt 75 yards to the end zone. Baumberger pitched to Heinitz for the two-point conversion. Immediately in the Eagles next possession, Baumberger intercepted an I/W throw and took it 57 yards for another touchdown. Geraets dove into the end zone for the two-point conversion, which would take the lead to 40-0 with 6:00 minutes still in the quarter. After getting the ball back, Lebrun took a handoff 46 yards for the score. Hanson followed Lebrun into the end zone for the two-point. A fumble gave St Mary’s the ball back, and Hanson would throw to Heinitz for a 25-yard touchdown. Lebrun took a Hanson pitch in for the two-point making it 56-0, ending the first quarter.
Second Quarter
Irene-Wakonda finally showed life offensively starting the second. Punching into the end zone after a seven minute, 56-yard drive, making it 56-6. On the ensuing drive, Geraets would take a handoff from Baumberger 25 yards into the end zone. Lavoy took a pitch in for the two-point making it 64-6. After forcing a turnover-on-downs, it was Pano Skliris finding the end zone from 24 yards away. Geraets threw to Aaden Ehrichs for the two-point, making it 72-6. The Eagles couldn’t answer, ending the game.
Final Stats
Watching the Cardinals dominate the Eagles in their playoff opener obviously came with some excellent performances. Lebrun finished with 140 yards on seven carries, two touchdowns, and a two point conversion runs. Additionally, Hanson added 84 yards, a touchdown, and a two point on three carries. Hanson would also finished with 140 return yards, notably a 75-yard return resulting in a touchdown. Geraets had four carries for 35 yards, a touchdown and a two-point. Furthermore, Lavoy had 30 yards on three carries, a touchdown run, and two two-point runs. Skliris had a 24-yard touchdown carry, and Heinitz had a two-point conversion carry. Heinitz would also finish with a 25-yard touchdown reception coming on Hanson’s one completion of two attempts. Hanson and Geraets both threw for two-point conversions, Hanson to Baumberger and to Heinitz, Geraets to Ehrichs.
Defensively, Gavin Pica led the way with six tackles while Lebrun added five and a half. Logan Bauer had five tackles and a forced fumbled coupled with Carlo Pica’s three tackles. Furthermore, Josh Liebl and Jacob Flemmer each had two and a half tackles. Liebl added a sack. Colter Griffin, Ricky Lindeman, Theo Miller, and Hanson all had two tackles each. Miller had a forced fumble, with Griffin and Hanson adding fumble recoveries. Jaxon Baumberger had one and a half tackles with two pass break-ups and an interception returned for a touchdown.
From Coach Flemmer
“The guys came out and played hard from start to finish. They showed excellent effort and really got after it today!”
Corsica-Stickney
After watching the Cardinals dominate the Eagles, attention turned to the Corsica-Stickney Vs Kadoka Area game to see who the Cards play in the quarterfinal. The Jaguars of Corsica-Stickney moved on and will play St Mary’s right here in Dell Rapids, another 3:00 game. The #9 seeded, 6-3 Jaguars come into this matchup boasting the fourth highest scoring offense in 9B and the seventh best scoring defense in 9B. St Mary’s is #1 in both categories. The two teams have zero mutual opponents. That game will be live on https://www.youtube.com/@BigSiouxMedia/streams
