The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal football team fell to the Herreid/Selby Area Wolverines in the quarter final round of the 9B playoffs on Thursday, October 31st. The Wolverines edged the Cardinals 48-38 to advance to the semifinals.
St Mary got on the board first after a touchdown run by Connor Libis and the two-point conversion by Weston Geraets on the first drive of the game. The Wolverines pulled within two points with 3:41 to play in the opening quarter after a touchdown run by Wade Begeman. The first quarter ended with St Mary leading 8-6.
On the first play of the second quarter, Libis connected with Geraets on a three-yard touchdown pass. Libis and Geraets connected for the two-point conversion to give the Cardinals a 16-6 lead with 11:55 to play in the second quarter. Trey Sayler scored a rushing touchdown for the Wolverines on their next possession, and the two-point conversion was good to pull Herreid/Selby Area within two points at 16-14. The Wolverines took the lead later in the second quarter on a nine-yard run by Sayler. Two two-point conversion was no good, but Herreid/Selby Area took the lead 20-16. That’s where the score remained at halftime.
The Wolverines struck first in the third quarter on a 57-yard pass play giving Herreid/Selby Area a 26-16 lead early in the third quarter. Libis found Geraets in the end zone on a five-yard pass with 7:55 to play in the third quarter. The two-point conversion was good, and St Mary pulled within two points at 26-24. Herreid/Selby Area answered right back on their next drive with a rushing touchdown. Two two-point conversion failed, and the Wolverines led 32-24. The score held at 32-24 heading into the final quarter.
Libis scored on a five-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Libis then scored the two-point conversion to tie the game 32-32 with 11:53 to play. The Wolverines regained the lead with a touchdown run by Clayton Randall with 8:13 to play. The two-point conversion was good to make the score 40-32 in favor of the Wolverines. Libis scored on a 34-yard run on the Cardinals’ next possession. However, the two-point conversion was no good, and the Wolverines held a 40-38 lead. Randall scored final big touchdown for Herreid/Selby Area with 1:47 to play. The two-conversion was good to make it a two-score game at 48-38.
The Cardinals finished the game with 364 yards of total offense, 250 rushing yards and 114 passing yards. Eli Longville had 18 carries for 153 yards. Libis had 14 carries for 80 yards and three touchdowns. Libis was also 11-18 passing for 114 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Longville had six catches for 98 yards. Geraets had three catches for 16 yards and two touchdowns. Geraets led the defense with 14 tackles. Longville had 11 tackles, and Libis finished with nine tackles.
Head coach Ross Flemmer said, “The boys played hard Thursday night. Herreid/Selby Area is a good team. We had to overcome a lot of adversity early in the game and did. We hung until the very end. This was not just a great group of football players, but a great group of young men. I’m proud to say I got the opportunity to coach them.”
St Mary’s 2019 season comes to an end with an overall record of 8-2.