The match-up between the top two teams in 11A football was just as expected, maybe even more.  The #1 ranked Dell Rapids Quarriers hosted the #2 ranked Tea Area Titans to close out the regular season for both teams.  The hype around this game was built for a week, and the two teams did not disappoint.

The first half was a defensive battle between the two squads.  Dell Rapids broke through first late in the opening quarter.  Colin Rentz found Logan Stone with a cross-body pass after a rollout.  Stone then took off down the sideline with nothing but open field in front of him for an 80-yard score.  The extra point was blocked, but the Quarriers led 6-0 with 1:25 to play in the first quarter.  Both defenses continued to make big plays and get big stops in the second quarter.  The Titans were able to force and recover a fumble with 2:46 to play in the second quarter.  Tea Area turned the fumble recovery into points.   Joey Headrick on a 10-yard run with :06 to play in the half.  The extra point was good to give Tea Area a 7-6 lead heading into halftime.

The Titans received the ball to begin the second half and ran nearly six minutes off the clock on their opening drive.  Headrick scored on an eight-yard run with 6:32 to play in the third quarter.  The extra point was good to push the Titan lead to 14-6.  The Tea Area defense held Dell Rapids to a three-and-out on the Quarriers first drive of the half.  Two and a half minutes later, they were in the end zone again.  Headrick scored his third touchdown of the game on a 22-yard run with 3:04 to go in the quarter.  The extra point gave the Titans a 22-6 lead late in the third quarter.

With momentum heavily favoring the Titans, the Quarrier offense came up with a big play to get themselves back into the game.  Austin Henry hit Logan Ellingson in stride down the sideline for a 76-yard touchdown with 2:06 to go in the quarter.  Dell Rapids was given two opportunities to score the two-point conversion due to a Tea Area penalty, and Landon Ruesink found the end zone on the second try to cut the Titan lead to 21-14.

Dell Rapids looked to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter.  With 7:53 to play, the Quarrier defense forced and recovered a fumble on the Titan 34-yard line.  Dell Rapids drove the ball to the 11-yard line and was stopped on fourth down with 5:33 to play.  The Titans took over, but the Quarrier defense held strong to force a Tea Area punt.  Dell Rapids got the ball back with 3:40 to play in the game around midfield.  On fourth and 10 from the Titan 37 yard line, the Quarriers were again stopped with 3:18 to play.  Tea Area once again had the ball, but two plays later, the Dell Rapids defense made a game-saving stop.  Tyler Wood and Henry stripped the ball from Austin Lake, and the Quarrier defense pounced on the ball. 

With 2:22 to go in the game, the Quarrier offense went to work starting on the Tea Area 47-yard line.  Henry connected with Ellingson on a 31-yard pass to the Titan 16-yard line.  Henry then found Ellingson again at the Titan six-yard line.  On the very next play, Stone pushed his way into the end zone with 1:30 left in the game to pull the Quarriers within a point.  There was no hesitation from the sideline…Dell Rapids was going for the two points and the win.  Henry launched a fade pass to the corner of the endzone to Ellingson.  Ellingson made a great catch reaching around the defender and keeping himself inbounds to score the two points giving Dell Rapids a 22-21 lead.  The Quarrier defense forced a turnover on downs with 1:10 to play.  Dell Rapids tried to run out the clock, but Tea Area had enough timeouts left to force the Quarriers to punt.  The Titans got the ball back with :10 to go, but the Quarrier defense held strong for the win.

Dell Rapids finished with 301 yards of total offense, 292 passing yards and just nine rushing yards.  Tea Area had 274 yards of total offense, 104 passing yards and 170 rushing yards.  Dell Rapids was 2-9 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down, while the Titans were 5-13 on third down and 1-2 on fourth down.  The Quarriers committed four turnovers, and Tea Area had five turnovers in the game.

Henry finished the game 5-12 passing for 151 yards with a touchdown and interception.  Colin Rentz was 5-8 passing for 141 yards also with a touchdown and interception.  Ellingson had four catches for 155 yards and a touchdown.  Stone had two catches for 80 yards and a touchdown.  Wood finished with two catches for 31 yards, and Ruesink had two catches for 26 yards.  Stone led the rushing attack with 11 carries for 14 yards and a touchdown.  Coby Maeschen had nine carries for 13 yards.

Maeschen finished the game with 13 tackles on defense.  Ruesink had nine tackles.  Henry finished with eight tackles.  Drew VanRegenmorter had seven tackles, Brayden Gee had six tackles, and Ian Hackett had five tackles.  Henry, VanRegenmorter, and Thane Hilmoe all had fumble recoveries.  Maeschen and Ellingson each had an interception.

The Quarriers finished the regular season with a perfect 9-0 record for the first time in program history.  Dell Rapids will host the #8 seeded West Central Trojans in the quarterfinals of the 11A playoffs on Thursday, October 31st.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids Quarrier football team kept their undefeated season going with a 14-0 win over the West Central Trojans on Friday, October 18th.  The shutout was the second straight shutout for the Quarrier defense and third overall this season.

Both defenses came to play in this game.  It was a hard-fought, old-fashioned smash-mouth football game.  Neither offense could really get into any sort of rhythm all night long.

The Quarriers finally broke through late in the second quarter.  Logan Ellingson scored on a five-yard run on fourth down with 1:04 to go in the half.  The extra point was made by Victory Knuppe to give Dell Rapids a 7-0 lead heading into halftime.

The third quarter and most of the fourth quarter was scoreless as well.  The Quarriers got the game-sealing touchdown with 2:59 to play on a 23-yard pass from Colin Rentz to Tyler Wood.  Knuppe again made the extra point for the 14-0 win.

Dell Rapids finished with only 218 yards of total offense, 149 passing yards and 69 rushing yard.  West Central, though, was held to just 111 total yards, 83 rushing yards and 28 passing yards.  Dell Rapids was 2-9 on third down and 2-5 on fourth down, while the Trojans were 0-6 on third down and 1-1 on fourth down.

Colin Rentz finished 10-14 passing for 143 yards with a touchdown and interception.  Austin Henry was 1-4 passing for six yards.  Ellingson had six catches for 80 yards.  Wood had four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown, and Carter Nelson had a catch for six yards.  Wood also finished with three carries for 36 yards.  Logan Stone had six carries for 24 yards.  Coby Maeschen had nine carries for 15 yards, and Carter Rentz had five carries for 12 yards.

Drew VanRegenmorter led the team with six tackles.  Maeschen and Brayden Gee had four tackles each.  Wood and Ian Hackett both had three tackles.  Carter Rentz had an interception.

Dell Rapids (8-0) will host the Tea Area Titans on Thursday, October 24th.  The game will be the final regular season game for the Quarriers, and will also be Senior Night.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids Quarrier defense has been one of the biggest reasons for the success of the 2019 Quarrier football team.  The defense is allowing just 5.4 points and just under 200 yards of offense per game.

The defensive dominance continued on Friday, October 11th.  The #1 Quarriers shut out the Milbank Area Bulldogs 30-0 to remain undefeated on the season.  Dell Rapids allowed just 166 yards of total offense in the game, and almost half of those yards came in the final minute before halftime and in the final minute of the game.  The Quarriers held the Bulldogs to just 2-10 on third down conversions and wouldn’t let Milbank get into any offensive rhythm all night long.

With the weather being cold and windy, Dell Rapids was content to keep the ball on the ground offensively and chew up the clock.  The Quarriers gained 216 of their 257 yards of offense running the football.  Four players had 30 rushing yards or more in the game.

Coby Maeschen put Dell Rapids on the board first with 7:04 to go in the opening quarter with a six-yard run.  The two-point conversion was no good, and Dell Rapids led 6-0.  About a minute and a half later, the defense got a score.  Logan Ellingson intercepted a pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown.  Maeschen scored the two-point conversion to give Dell Rapids a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.

Maeschen scored two more times for Dell Rapids.  His second rushing touchdown came on a fourth and goal with just over 5:00 to play in the second quarter from a yard away.  Mason Goeken made a great stretched-out grab of a Colin Rentz pass for the two-point conversion to give the Quarriers a 22-0 halftime lead.  The final touchdown came with 7:34 to play in the third quarter.  Maeschen scored on a 14-yard run, and Tyler Wood dove into the end zone for the two-point conversion for the 30-0 lead.

Colin Rentz finished the game 2-5 passing for 41 yards.  Ellingson had both catches.  Ellingson also had three carries for 69 yards.  Maeschen finished with 10 carries for 57 yards and three touchdowns.  Logan Stone had 13 carries for 40 yards, and Wood finished with seven carries for 35 yards.

Four players, Thane Hilmoe, Maeschen, Trevon Cross, and Drew VanRegenmorter, finished with six tackles for the Quarrier defense.  Cody Schultz had five tackles.  Connor Rentz and Brayden Gee both had four tackles each.  Ellingson and Maeschen each had an interception as well.

Dell Rapids (7-0) will travel to Hartford to play the West Central Trojans on Friday, October 18th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.