After a 5-4 regular season and a #7 seed in the class 11A playoffs, the Dell Rapids Quarrier football team knocked off the #2 seed Madison Bulldogs and #3 Dakota Valley Panthers in the playoffs to make it to the South Dakota Class 11A championship game against the Tea Area Titans at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion on Thursday, November 8th.  The Titans ended the magical run by Dell Rapids as the Quarriers earned runner-up honors after a 39-7 defeat.

The Quarrier defense started the game by forcing the Titans to punt on their opening drive, but Tea Area also forced Dell Rapids to punt on their opening drive.  The Titans struck first on their next drive on an 80-yard touchdown run by Carter Slykhuis to give Tea Area a 7-0 lead with 7:13 to play in the first quarter.  The Titans would score again before the end of the first quarter.  Slykhuis threw a 28-yard halfback pass to Cade Clayberg that set up a one-yard touchdown run by Wyatt Van Tol.  The two-point conversion was no good, and Tea Area led 13-0 after one quarter of play.  The two defenses played tough throughout the second quarter.  Neither offense could get going, but Tea Area was able to put one more score on the board right before halftime on a three-yard touchdown run by Van Tol to give the Titans a 20-0 lead.

Dell Rapids received the kickoff to start the second half, but their opening drive of the third quarter resulted in another punt.  The Titans scored quickly on their next possession  when Hunter West connected with Trevor Cox on a 34-yard touchdown pass just three minutes into the quarter for a 27-0 lead.  The Quarriers finally got on the board with 7:04 to play in the quarter on a 65-yard touchdown run by Alex Kringen.  The extra point was good by Hunter Garry, and Dell Rapids cut the lead to 27-7.  The Quarriers then recovered the onside kick, but the Titan defense held strong and forced a punt.  Late into the third quarter, Tea Area scored again on a 22-yard field goal by Kade Stearns to increase their lead to 30-7.  The Titans forced Dell Rapids into a safety early in the fourth quarter, and then they scored again with 9:42 to play in the game on a 35-yard touchdown pass from West to Slykhuis for the 39-7 lead.

The Quarriers finished with a total of 175 yards of offense, 135 rushing yards and 40 passing yards.  The Titans finished with 393 yards of offense, 200 rushing yards and 193 passing yards.  Dell Rapids was 2-13 on third down and 0-1 on fourth down.  The Titans were 6-11 on third down and also 0-1 on fourth down.

Eddie Price finished the game 3-8 passing for 40 yards.  Tayte Gleason had a 16 yard catch, Logan Stone had a 15 yards catch, and Kringen had a nine-yard catch.  Kringen also finished the game with seven carries for 87 yards and a touchdown.  Gleason had nine carries for 46 yards.  Coby Maeschen led the team with 11 tackles defensively.  Price had six tackles.  Logan Heim and Kenyon Shellum both had five tackles, while Drew Van Regenmorter, Tyler Wood, and Trevon Cross all had four tackles each.

After the game, the Quarriers had their welcome home celebration at the Dell Rapids Middle School commons area.  During the the opening remarks, Athletic Director Jeff Dvorak pointed to the trophy case and said, “Those things are going to say there.  They’re not going to live, they’re not going to breathe, and they’re not going to have stories.  These kids right here are the trophies.”

Head Coach Jordan Huska, during the welcome home, said, “These guys, to get here, worked their tails off all year.  It started last winter.  Most of these guys are in basketball, wrestling, or in the weight room, and that’s where it began.  Thank you players for all your hard work, time, and perseverance.”

For the second week in a row, the Dell Rapids Quarriers avenged an earlier season loss in the playoffs, this time punching their ticket to the South Dakota 11A Football Championship game.  The #7 seeded Quarriers defeated the #3 seeded Dakota Valley Panthers at Dakota Valley High School 25-22 on Friday, November 2nd.

The Quarriers and Panthers found themselves locked in a defensive battle through three quarters of the game.

Dakota Valley got off to a quick start after taking the opening kickoff into Dell Rapids territory.  The Panthers thought they had a early touchdown, but the play was negated by a holding penalty.  A few plays later, Logan Ellingson intercepted a pass in the endzone with 10:56 to go the first quarter.  Dakota Valley would score first later in the quarter.  Sam Chesterman had a nine-yard touchdown run with 6:21 to go in the first, and the made extra point gave the Panters an early 7-0 lead.  That lead was short-lived as Ellingson returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.  Hunter Garry made the extra point, and with 6:04 to play in the first quarter, the game was tied at 7-7.  The Quarriers took the lead late in the first quarter when Eddie Price connected with Ellingson on an 11-yard touchdown pass.  The extra point was blocked, but the Quarriers led 13-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Quarriers dominated the time of possession in the second quarter.  Dell Rapids was able to get a turnover on downs deep in their own territory with 10:52 to play in the half.  The Quarriers offense then chewed up nearly nine minutes of clock on the next drive by converting on multiple and third and fourth downs.  Dell Rapids had a first and goal to go inside the Panther five-yard line with about 3:00 to play in the half.  The Quarriers ran the ball three times, but they were unable to get into the endzone.  On fourth down and two, Price threw an incomplete pass, and Dakota Valley held for the turnover on downs.  The Dell Rapids defensive held their ground and forced a punt with under a minute to play.  The Quarriers had the ball inside the 20-yard line, but Price had a pass intercepted in the endzone with 0:18 left on the clock.  Dakota Valley took a knee to end the half, and the Quarriers still led 13-7.

The defenses held tough through most of the third quarter.  The Quarriers forced another turnover on downs with 6:35 to play in the third quarter, but the offense could not capitalize.  After a Dell Rapids punt, Dakota Valley regained the lead on their next possession.  Chesterman scored on a five-yard run with 0:40 with the extra point good.  Dakota Valley led 14-13 after three quarters of play.

In the fourth quarter, however, the offenses took control.  Dell Rapids got the lead back after a two-yard run by Price with 9:50 to play.  The Quarriers attempted a two-point conversion, but it was no good.  Dell Rapids led 19-14.  In just over a minute, Dakota Valley took the lead back.  Chesterman scored his third touchdown of the game on a 50-yard run, and then he scored the two point conversion to give the Panthers a 22-19 lead with 8:39 to play.  Not to be outdone in the big-play department, Price threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Ellingson on a great catch with 7:42 to go.  The extra point was blocked, but Dell Rapids took a 25-22 lead.

Dell Rapids had their defense step up big on two different occasions in the last half of the fourth quarter.  With 6:26 to go, the Quarriers forced a fumble, and Trevon Cross recovered the ball on the Dell Rapids 40-yard line.  Dell Rapids was forced to punt, however, and Dakota Valley got the ball back on their own 27-yard line with 4:49 to play.  The Panthers marched down the field to the Dell Rapids 28-yard line with 1:45 to play.  Chesterman appeared to score the g0-ahed touchdown on a 28-yard run, but a holding penalty again negated a Panther touchdown.  On a third down and twelve, the Quarrier defense stopped Chesterman after a six-yard gain setting up a fourth and six.  With 1:13 to go, Chesterman took the snap and ran to his left.  The defense shut down the corner, so Chesterman reversed his direction only to find Drew Van Regenmorter waiting.  Van Regenmorter tackled Chesterman for a 13-yard loss and a turnover on downs.  Price took a knee three times to run out the clock and give Dell Rapids the win.

The Quarriers finished with a total of 277 yards of offense, 174 passing yards and 103 rushing yards.  Dakota Valley had 318 yards of offense, 27 passing yards and 291 rushing yards.  Dell Rapids had 14 first downs, was 3-14 on third down attempts, and 2-3 on fourth down attempts.  Dakota Valley had 17 first downs, was 4-10 on third down attempts, and 1-4 on fourth down attempts.

Price was 9-14 passing for 174 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.  Ellingson hauled in five passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns.  Tyler Wood had four catches for 33 yards.  Tayte Gleason led the team with nine carries for 68 yards.  Logan Stone had five carries for 12 yards.  Coby Maeschen led the team with 12 tackles.  Ellingson had 10 tackles and an interception.  Logan Heim added seven tackles, and Van Regenmorter and Price both finished with six tackles.

Dell Rapids (7-4) will play for the 11A title against the Tea Area Titans at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion on Thursday, November 8th at 7:30 p.m.  This will be the seventh trip in the last 12 years to the Dome for Dell Rapids and first trip since 2014.  The Quarriers won titles in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014.  Dell Rapids was runner-up in 2006.

“The guys played great tonight.  They have worked hard all year and have had to overcome a lot of adversity this year.  It all game together tonight,” said head coach Jordan Huska.

It most certainly all came together for the Dell Rapid Quarriers on a cool, damp night in Madison.  Dell Rapids upset the #2 ranked Madison Bulldogs in the opening round of the South Dakota 11A playoffs 14-13 on Thursday, October 25th.

Despite a rough start to the game, the Dell Rapids defense held strong the remainder of the game, and the offense was able to control time of possession to keep the Madison offense off the field.

The Bulldogs opened the game with a bang.  Carter Bergheim took the opening kickoff 55 yards to the Dell Rapids 32 yard line.  On the very first play for Madison, Tyler Tappe threw a 32-yard touchdown pass Jacob Unterbrunner to go ahead 6-0 just 15 seconds into the game.  After Dell Rapids’ first offensive possession ended in a turnover on downs at the Madison 32-yard line, Tappe raced down the field for a 62-yard touchdown run with 6:18 to play in the quarter.  After a made extra point, the Bulldogs led 13-0 after running just two offensive plays.  Dell Rapids was able to drive into Bulldog territory two more times in the first half, and even had the ball at the Madison four-yard line with just seconds remaining in the second quarter, but both times the Bulldogs forced a turnover on downs.  Madison held a 13-0 at halftime.

Dell Rapids again had the ball on Madison’s side of the field in the third quarter, but with 6:50 to play in the quarter, Madison forced Dell Rapids into their fourth turnover on downs.  However, about a minute and a half later, the Dell Rapids defense put a spark into the team when Logan Ellingson intercepted a Tappe pass.  That interception led to a four-yard touchdown run by Tyler Wood with 0:58 to play in the third quarter.  Hunter Garry added the extra point to cut the Bulldog lead to 13-7.

The Quarrier defense got another big stop early in the fourth quarter.  Dell Rapids forced Madison into a turnover on downs with 11:36 to play.  The Quarrier offense continued the momentum converting on a third-and-long play, and then moments later converting on a fourth-and-long to keep the drive alive.  The drive ended with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Eddie Price to Ellingson with 8:05 to play.  Another Garry extra point gave Dell Rapids a 14-13 lead.  The Dell Rapids defense forced Madison into a punt on their next drive.  The offense wasn’t able to score, but ran over two and half minutes off the clock before punting the ball back to the Bulldogs.

With 1:30 to play, Tappe dropped back to pass and fired a pass to his right only to have it intercepted by Drew Van Regenmorter.  The Quarrier offense took over with 1:24 to play leading by a point.  Madison held Dell Rapids and used two of their three timeouts.  On a Dell Rapids fourth down, Madison sacked Price for a turnover on downs at the Quarrier 38-yard line with 1:02 to play.  Madison got the ball to about the Dell Rapids 13-yard line with :40 to play.   An incomplete pass and sack put Madison back to the 17-yard line with :25 to go.  Tappe scrambled on the next play out to his left, but was tackled in bounds to keep the clock running.  Madison tried to get their field goal team on the field on fourth down to get a last-second, game-winning field goal, but the snap was low and the Dell Rapids defense ended the game by tackling the holder Brock Minnaert to secure the win.

The Quarriers ran a total of 85 plays for a total of 260 yards of offense, 109 passing yards and 151 rushing yards.  Madison was held to just 48 plays for a total of 213 yards of offense, 94 of those yards coming on their first two offensive plays of the game.  Dell Rapids was 6-18 on third down and 4-9 on fourth down.  Madison was 3-10 on third down and 2-5 on fourth down.

Price was 7-21 passing for 109 yards and a touchdown.  Ellingson had three catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.  Wood had a catch for 19 yards, and Alex Kringen had a catch for 10 yards.  Logan Stone had 11 carries for 49 rushing yards.  Tatye Gleason finished with 14 carries and 44 yards.  Kringen had 14 carries and 34 yards.  Coby Maeschen had eight tackles and a sack.  Price finished with six tackles.  Van Regenmorter had five tackles, two sacks, and an interception.  Ellingson also recorded an interception.

Dell Rapids (6-4) will advance to the semifinals.  The Quarriers will travel to Dakota Valley to play the Panthers on Friday, November 2nd.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Madison Bulldogs spoiled senior night for the Dell Rapids Quarrier football team with a 28-7 win on Thursday, October 18th at Dell Rapids High School.  It was the final regular season for both teams in the 2018 season.

Both teams had chances to score in the first quarter, but both defenses held tough.  The Bulldogs finally broke through late in the first quarter when Thomas Gors had a four-yard touchdown run.  The extra point was good, and Madison led 7-0 after the first quarter.  Madison again scored midway through the second quarter on a 10-yard pass from Tyler Tappe to Caileb Reilly to make it 14-0.  Dell Rapids had a chance to put a score on the board in the final seconds of the half, but an Eddie Price pass was tipped and intercepted at the goal line.  Madison led 14-0 at halftime.

Neither team was able to get the offense going much in the third quarter.  Both teams were held scoreless, and Madison continued to lead 14-0 heading into the final quarter.  Nic Comes scored early in the fourth quarter on a 53-yard pass from Tappe to go ahead 21-0.   Avery Williams had a two-yard run with around 3:30 to go in the game to put the Bulldogs ahead 28-0.  Price connected with Logan Ellingson on an 84-yard pass with just over 2:00 to go for the lone Dell Rapids touchdown.

Dell Rapids finished with a total 286 yards of offense, 245 passing yards and just 41 rushing yards.  Madison, meanwhile, had 375 yards of total offense, 217 passing yards and 158 rushing yards.

Price finished 15-30 passing for 245 yards, a touchdown, but threw three interceptions.  Ellingson had nine catches for 170 yards and a touchdown.  Logan Stone had a catch for 36 yards.  Tatye Gleason had five carries for 19 yards.  Price finished with nine carries for nine yards. Coby Maeschen led the defense with 16 tackles.  Eddie Price finished with 10 tackles.  Drew VanRegenmorter had eight tackles with a sack.

The 2018 Dell Rapids Quarrier football team seniors are Nick Boever, Tate Kolbeck, Tayte Gleason, Eddie Price, Hunter Garry, Max Lamer, Alex Kringen, Jacob Rechtenbaugh, Kenyon Shellum, and Logan Heim.

Dell Rapids (5-4) still qualified for the 11A playoffs as the #7 seed.  Dell Rapids will travel to Madison to play the Bulldogs again in the quarterfinals on Thursday, October 25th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

Photo courtesy of Rhonda Rentz

The Dell Rapids Quarriers traveled to Flandreau to play the Fliers on Friday, October 12th.  Dell Rapids used a big first half on their way to a 34-18 win.

Dell Rapids scored on their first three drives of the game in the first quarter.  Eddie Price and Logan Ellingson connected on a 65-yard touchdown pass with 8:31 to play to take a 6-0 lead.  Alex Kringen caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Price with 5:12 to play to make it a 12-0 game.  Kringen scored again with :16 to play in the first quarter on a 31-yard run.  Ellingson caught a Price pass for the two-point conversion to give Dell Rapids a 20-0 lead after the first quarter.

The Quarriers were finally stopped for the first time on their fourth drive of the game.  Dell Rapids turned the ball over on downs deep in Flandreau territory, but on the very next offensive play by Flandreau, Kringen returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown with 8:45 to play in the half.  The extra point was good by Garry to extend the Dell Rapids lead to 27-0.  Flandreau finally broke through on the scoreboard after a 57-yard touchdown run by Nate Kneebone with 7:20 to play in the half.  Dell Rapids scored one more time before halftime on a two-yard run by Tayte Gleason with 4:24 to play in the half.  Dell Rapids led 34-6 after the extra point by Garry.  Flandreau scored two touchdowns in the third quarter.

Price ended the game 3-7 passing for 98 yards and two touchdowns.  Ellingson had the one catch for 65 yards and a touchdown.  Kringen had one catch for 29 yards and a touchdown.  Garry also had a catch for four yards.  Nick Boever finished with 12 carries for 74 yards.  Gleason had nine carries for 44 yards and a touchdown.  Kringen had two carries for 32 yards and a touchdown.  Logan Stone added 26 yards on seven carries.  Coby Maeschen had 10 tackles to lead the defense.  Kenyon Shellum and Logan Heim both had four tackles.  Trystan Stahl and Trevon Cross both had three tackles.

Dell Rapids (5-3) will host Madison on Thursday, October 18th in their final regular season game of the year.  It will also be senior night.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

Photo courtesy of Rhonda Rentz

In a big game for both teams, the Dell Rapids Quarriers ran past the Milbank Area Bulldogs 41-12 on a cool, damp night on Friday, October 5th in Milbank.  Both teams entered the game with a 3-3 record hoping to hold onto playoff spots.

The strategy to run the ball was evident by both teams early in the game.  Each team only had one drive for the majority of the first quarter.  After the Quarrier defense stopped Milbank’s drive after just under five minutes, the Dell Rapids offense held the ball for about five minutes and scored on a three-yard run by Nick Boever with 2:05 to play in the quarter to take an early 7-0 lead.

Boever would find the endzone again in the second quarter after a hard, 31-yard run in which he broke many tackles for the touchdown.  The extra point was no good, and the Quarriers led 13-0 with 5:55 to play in the second quarter.   Dell Rapids forced a Bulldog punt, and Logan Ellingson returned the punt 75 yards for a touchdown with 2:50 to go to give Dell Rapids a 21-0 lead.  Milbank was able to break through with under a minute to play on a 32-yard pass play on fourth down to make the score 21-6 going into halftime.

The Dell Rapids ground attack got going again in the third quarter.  Alex Kringen had two rushing touchdowns in the third quarter.  The first one was for three yards with 9:37 to go in the quarter.  The second touchdown game with 4:12 on the clock for 42 yards to extend the Quarrier lead to 34-6.  Milbank scored about halfway through the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 34-12, but Trystan Stahl scored the final touchdown of the game on a five-yard run.

Eddie Price was 2-4 passing for 48 yards.  Tayte Gleason had a catch for 36 yards, and Tyler Wood had a catch for 18 yards.  Boever finished with nine carries for 75 yards and two touchdowns.  Price had six carries for 60 yards.  Kringen had two carries for 45 yards and two touchdowns.  Coby Maeschen led the team with 11 tackles on the night.  Logan Stone and Kringen each had six tackles.  Boever had five tackles, and Hunter Garry had four tackles.

Dell Rapids (4-3) will be on the road again on Friday, October 12th.  The Quarriers travel to Flandreau to play the Fliers.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

Photo courtesy of Kiley Stone

The Dell Rapids Quarries were victorious on homecoming as they defeated the Tri-Valley Mustangs 33-6 on Friday, September 21st at Dell Rapids High School.

Dell Rapids scored first after a Tri-Valley fumble.  With 4:55 to play in the first quarter, Logan Stone scored on a six-yard run.  The extra point was good by Hunter Garry, and Dell Rapids led 7-0.  Tri-Valley got within a point with 2:37 to play in the quarter after a 26-yard touchdown run by Mohamed Ibrahim.  The extra point was no good, and the score remained 7-6 in favor of Dell Rapids.

The Quarriers then scored four more touchdowns throughout the rest of the game.  With 1:42 to play in the first quarter, Eddie Price threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Logan Stone.  The extra point was no good.  Dell Rapids got another score before halftime.  Price had a 20-yard touchdown run with 3:06 to play in the half, and the Quarriers led 19-6 at the break.  Nick Boever added a 12-yard touchdown run with 1:37 to play in the third quarter, and Alex Kringen had a one-yard touchdown run with 4:55 to play in the game for the final two scores.

Dell Rapids finished with 396 yards of offense while holding Tri-Valley to just 101 yards of offense.  The Quarriers had 185 passing yards, 211 rushing yards, and finished the game with 20 first downs.

Price was 9-11 passing for 185 yards and a touchdown.  Ellingson had eight of those catches for a total of 164 yards and a touchdown.  Tayte Gleason had a catch for 21 yards.  Price had 11 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown.  Gleason had seven carries for 38 yards.  Boever finished with eight carries for 33 yards and a touchdown.  Stone added four carries for 29 yards and a touchdown, and Kringen had five carries for 20 yards and a touchdown.  Coby Maeschen led the defense with six tackles.  Boever added five tackles.  Tristan Stahl, Brandon Geraets, and Kenyon Shellum all had four tackles each.

Dell Rapids (3-2) will host Tea Area on Friday, September 28th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.