Special teams was the key to victory for the Dell Rapids Quarrier football team in a home game against West Central on Friday, October 3rd. The Quarriers earned a 21-20 win over the Trojans to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Drake Eastman and the Quarriers opened the game with a bang. Eastman had a 61-yard touchdown run with 10:26 in the opening quarter. The two-point conversion failed, and Dell Rapids led 6-0 early. The Trojans found the end zone on an 11-yard touchdown run with 1:33 remaining in the quarter. The extra point was made to give West Central a 7-6 lead. The Trojans added another score with 6:50 to go in the second quarter. They scored on a six-yard run. The extra point made the score 14-6, and that’s where the first half ended.
Kenny Swanson had a 34-yard touchdown run with 7:28 to play in the third quarter to pull the Quarriers within two, 14-12. Eastman connected with Jackson Peppel on the two-point conversion to tie the score 14-14. Eastman delivered another big play late in the third quarter. He scored on an 83-yard run. Kirti Pickard made the extra point giving Dell Rapids a 21-14 lead. They continued to lead 21-14 going into the fourth quarter. West Central put together a drive late the game and got inside the Quarrier 10-yard line. The Dell Rapids defense forced a fourth down attempt with under a minute to play. West Central was able to score on a three-yard pass on fourth down to make the score 21-20. The extra point, however, was missed keeping Dell Rapids in front 21-20. The Quarriers were able to recover the onside kick and run out the clock.
The Quarriers finished with 343 yards of offense, all on the ground. West Central had 272 yards of offense, 128 passing yards and 144 rushing yards. Eastman had six carries for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Stubbe had 19 carries for 100 yards. Swanson had four carries for 55 yards and a touchdown. Jace Brende had six tackles in the game, four for loss, and a sack. Eastman had four tackles. Cooper Cuny, Charlie Becker, Stubbe, and Peppel all had three tackle each.
