“St Mary’s to the title game” is a sentence that Cardinal fans have been hoping to hear since the very first kickoff. On Friday, November 7th, as the #4 seeded Faulkton Area Trojans would come to town, that would be made a reality. A big day from Trimmier Hanson on the ground and an interception from Jaxon Baumberger gave the Cards a 22-14 win.
First Quarter; Hanson scores, Faulkton’s Melius answers
St Mary’s started the semifinal match with the ball and 64 yards to go after the opening kick. Senior Lincoln Lebrun gained about half of that, Hanson had the other half. Hanson pulled the ball on an option play and ran 35 yards for the first score of the game. A pass to Baumberger from Hanson was good for the two-point, making it 8-0. The two teams would similarly trade three-and-outs before Faulkton answered. A one yard run from Faulkton’s senior quarterback Spencer Melius all of a sudden had the game at one score. Additionally, Melius called his own number on the two-point making it 8-8. Afterwards, on the next drive, Lebrun would carry the ball for 31 yards to put St Mary’s in the redzone at the end of the first quarter.
Second Quarter; Baumberger to Bauer, first play touchdown
On the very first play of the second quarter, Baumberger threw out for Logan Bauer for an 18-yard touchdown. Unfortunately for St Mary’s, the two-point was no good keeping the score at 14-8. Faulkton had to punt again after starting their drive four yards in the wrong direction on a Gavin Pica tackle for loss. On the ensuing drive, Hanson had a near 60-yard touchdown called back on a holding penalty. As a result, St Mary’s would end up turning it over on downs. The next drive, Faulkton’s Tristen Baloun would run for a first down. Lebrun would punch the ball out of Melius’ hands, however, on the very next play. Baumberger recovered the fumble giving the ball back to the Cardinals. Following the turnover, St Mary’s led a long drive, but would run out of time as the halftime whistles blew.
Third Quarter; St Mary’s builds on two score lead
Although Faulkton would start the second half with the ball, their drive would quickly fizzle out. Trojan Henry Bossly would throw incomplete out to Melius on fourth down giving St Mary’s the ball. Thomas Lavoy would pick up a first down before Hanson would take over. Hanson rolled out on fourth and nine, but Faulkton would break down and give up a 30-yard gain. Two plays later it was Hanson diving into the end zone to make it 20-8. Lavoy took a sweep into the end zone for the two-point putting St Mary’s out in front 22-8. It was Melius again driving Faulkton down the field, and the Trojans would close the third quarter with the ball and 15 yards to the end zone.
Fourth Quarter; Baumberger’s two interception seal it
On the third play of the fourth quarter, Faulkton would punch in on a three yard run from Melius who would handoff to Baloun for the two-point making it 22-16. St Mary’s would look to score, or if anything, burn precious time off the clock on the next drive. However, not two minutes into their possession, they would be faced with fourth and five from their own 27, a near no-doubt punting situation. Punting was an option the Cardinals did not want to take however, as Hanson took the snap as a punter and found Lebrun for the first down and more. It was 33 yards on the fake punt from Hanson to Lebrun.
Though there was no more success moving the ball on the drive, St Mary’s had burned four minutes off of the clock. Faulkton struggled to move the ball, being set up third and fourteen right away. Bossly looked downfield for Melius when Baumberger intercepted the ball. Faulkton still had all their timeouts, but time was limited. Nightmare struck for the Cardinals, a bobbled snap and turnover gave Faulkton two minutes to go 60 yards. Melius would immediately gain 20 yards, though Faulkton moved slowly afterwards. With :28 left, Faulkton’s Bossly looked for Melius, but Baumberger jumped in front of the pass, intercepting it and giving the ball back to the Cardinals. Hanson would kneel sealing the game.
St Mary’s to the Title Game
Faulkton came to Dell Rapids looking for the upset, but it’s St Mary’s to the title game after the 22-14 win. Hanson led all rushers and even outgained Faulkton’s whole offense with 191 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Lebrun finished with 122 yards with Lavoy adding 15 yards and a two point conversion run. Hanson also finished with 64 passing yards and a two-point throw, while Baumberger added a 17 yard touchdown pass. Bauer had two catches for 35 yards and a touchdown, while Lebrun had two catches for 46 yards. Baumberger caught a two-point conversion.
Defensively, Gavin Pica led the way with seven and a half tackles. Bauer finished with five and a half tackles and not far behind was Carlo Pica finishing with five tackles. Baumberger and Lavoy both had four and a half tackles, Baumberger adding a fumble recovery and two interceptions. Kade Lutt finished with four tackles with Lebrun adding three and a half tackles with a forced fumble. Alex Lindeman added three tackles.
“The boys fought hard against a really good Faulkton team. I loved our grit and ability to finish the game.”-Coach Ross Flemmer
Avon Pirates
Thursday, November 13th at 11 a.m. the Cardinals will be playing in Vermillion. That game will be the #1 seed, 11-0 Cardinals, taking on the #2 seed, 10-1 Avon Pirates. St Mary’s continues to hold the top scoring offense with the only defense in the state giving up less than 10 points per game at 9.5. Avon has the second-highest scoring offense with the 5th best defense, giving up 13.5 points per game. Both teams have played and beaten Oldham-Ramona-Rutland, Colman-Egan, Sioux Falls Lutheran, and Corsica-Stickney. The game will be live through the SDPB and that link is https://www.youtube.com/@SDPBdotORG/streams.
