DELL RAPIDS — Dell Rapids St. Mary came out on top in a nine-man heavyweight bout.

Class 9B No. 3 Cardinals (7-0) stay undefeated with a signature win over Class 9A No. 3 Alcester-Hudson, 34-20, Friday night in Dell Rapids.

“It was a huge win,” said St. Mary head coach Ross Flemmer. “Alcester is a really good team and we knew that coming in. Like I told the kids after the game, it wasn’t pretty but they rose to the challenge and that was fun to watch.”

Senior quarterback Trimmier Hanson highlighted St. Mary’s offense scoring four total touchdowns, adding an interception on defense as well.

“We knew we had to come out physically,” Hanson said. “It was whoever was the more physical team, that team was a good team. It was whoever came out of the gate physically and us as seniors, we knew that this was a game that could define our season.”

The Cardinals jumped out early on its second drive of the game with a 90-yard bomb from quarterback Jaxon Baumberger to Hanson. After an opening drive ending in a botched snap on the punt, DRSM came back quickly with a long touchdown strike.

“Coming into the game, we hyped the boys up, we knew we had to start off good and that’s how we did it,” Hanson said.

Facing an early deficit, the Cubs came back with an equalizer just a few minutes later when quarterback Tommy Walth connected with Ethan Brown for an 8-yard touchdown pass on fourth down.

After a 16-yard touchdown run from Hanson, the Cardinals defense was in trouble closing out the first half. Dykstra set up 1st and goal from the one-yard line as the Cubs were looking to tie or take the lead before halftime. Four plays later, the Cardinals bent, but didn’t break.

“The kids just toughened up,” Flemmer said. “We didn’t make a lot of big adjustments, they just did their job and got it done.”

St. Mary took advantage of another costly error as Dykstra fumbled the first snap out of the halftime break via the third score of the game from Hanson, this time a 28-yard touchdown run.

A minute later, the Cubs found paydirt with a 50-yard scamper from Dykstra to cut the lead back to six.

Between Dykstra and Walth, the two backs combined for 174 rushing yards on 28 carries doing most of their damage out of a spread formation.

“The Dykstra kid is really fast and he’s an explosive runner and the Walth kid, when he turns his shoulders he’s coming down hill. He’s a load to bring down,” Flemmer said of the two backs.

Later in the third quarter, Hanson threw his fourth and final touchdown of the game in a big spot, connecting with a Lincoln LeBrun from 20 yards away on 4th and 5.

Holding on to a 14-point lead entering the fourth quarter, the Cardinals defense needed to make one more stop to hold off the third-ranked Cubs. On fourth and goal from the one, Walth, a 5-foot-11, 220-pound quarterback, was stuffed by multiple Cardinal defenders to keep AH out of the endzone once again.

“That was awesome,” Hanson said of the goal line stops. “Our big boys upfront, they made that happen. They got off the ball, they were low, they fired off quick. It was awesome.”

Hanson snagged a Walth interception later in the game before a 10-yard touchdown from Baumberger sealed the win for DRSM.

“Speed option, that’s pretty tough to stop,” Hanson said of the AH offense. “We had to switch defense against it, those two are some pretty big boys, especially that quarterback. We adjusted and that’s how we stopped them.”

Hanson finished with 113 yards and two rushing touchdowns on 16 carries, adding two catches for 105 yards and a touchdown through the air. Thomas LaVoy had six carries for 47 yards while Lincoln LeBrun tallied 15 for 46 yards. Baumberger completed four-of-five pass attempts for 129 yards and a touchdown.

Dykstra ended the night with 95 yards and a touchdown on nine carries with two receptions for 47 yards. Walth tallied 19 carries for 79 yards and a touchdown on the ground, adding eight completions for 89 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

The undefeated Cardinals host Sioux Falls Lutheran next week and will hold the No. 1 seed in the 9B playoffs with a win.

“Sioux Falls Lutheran is a much improved team,” Flemmer said. “They’ve got some athletes and we’re going to have to show up ready to play against them too.”