Dell Rapids scored 21 points in the final quarter for an exciting come-from-behind win over the Tri-Valley Mustangs on Friday, September 22nd, at Tri-Valley High School. Tri-Valley led 21-7 heading into the final quarter, but the Quarriers rallied to win their fourth win a row.
Both teams were held scoreless in the opening quarter of the game. Tri-Valley struck first early in the second quarter. Noah Jewett scored on a one-yard run to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead. After a Nick Boever interception, Dell Rapids scored on an eight-yard pass from Carson Rentz to Jeffrey Schuch with 4:04 to go in the half to tie the game 7-7. The Mustangs answered with a 58-yard touchdown run with a little over 2:00 to go in the half to regain the lead at 14-7. Tri-Valley then intercepted a Rentz pass with 1:03 to go in the half. The Mustangs turned that into another touchdown with seconds left in the half to take a 21-7 halftime lead.
Both teams punted in their opening drive of the third quarter. Tri-Valley was forced to punt again on their second drive of the third quarter. The Quarriers drove the ball to the Tri-Valley three yard line on their next drive, but the third quarter ended with neither team scoring. Tri-Valley still held a 21-7 lead. Dell Rapids scored on the very first play of the fourth quarter on a three-yard run by Josh Heinemann to cut the Mustang lead to 21-14 with 11:55 to play. On the next Mustang drive, the Quarriers recovered a backwards pass as a fumble on the Tri-Valley 40 yard line. Rentz connected with Adam Nagelhout for a 24-yard touchdown with 7:36 to go in the game to tie things at 21-21. Tri-Valley took their next drive all the way to the Dell Rapids 18 yard line late in the game, but the Quarrier defense held tough to force a turnover on downs with 4:12 remaining in the game. The Dell Rapids offense drove the field picking up big first downs. With :23 to go from the Tri-Valley three yard line, Rentz found his way into the endzone to score the go-ahead touchdown with :20 to go in the game. The Dell Rapids defense held strong in the final seconds to secure the come-from-behind win.
Dell Rapids finished the game with 328 total yards of offense which included 207 yards rushing and 121 yards passing. Rentz finished 9-15 passing for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Schuch had four catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. Nagelhout had a 24-yard touchdown catch. Seth Spielmann had nine carries for 81 yards, and Matt Gillogly had 15 carries for 70 yards to lead the ground attack for Dell Rapids. Eddie Price had a team-high eight tackles, while Boever added six tackles and an interception.
Dell Rapids (4-1) will travel to Tea to take on the Tea Area Titans on Friday, September 29th.