DELL RAPIDS – The Warner Monarchs season came to a close Friday night at the hands of the Dell Rapids St. Mary Cardinals in a battle of unbeaten Class 9B football teams. DRSM pulled away from a two-point halftime lead to claim the semifinal playoff victory 36-20.

“In this environment, you just never know what’s going to happen,” said Warner coach Derek Hoellein. “I thought we did a nice job, we battled. These guys are resilient and they showed it again tonight.”

The Cardinals got the ball first to open the game and after a penalty on the kickoff, started at their own 8-yard line.

On the second play of the game, St. Mary flipped the field position when quarterback Brady Jewett kept the ball and ran it for 74 yards deep into Monarch territory.

It didn’t take long after that as Jewett found Jake Heinitz for a Cardinal touchdown and after the two-point conversion, St. Mary had an eight-point lead.

Warner answered back with a drive that was helped out by a roughing-the-passer penalty on the DRSM defense. After nearly five minutes of possession, Warner senior quarterback Braydon Kroll punched in a one-yard touchdown run. Following the extra point kick, the Monarchs trailed 8-7.

“They punch us, we punch back,” Kroll said. “It felt like we battled all game.”

The Cardinals got the ball back and drove deep into Monarch territory and found themselves facing a fourth-and-seven to start the second quarter. A pass into the end zone fell incomplete and Warner took over.

Even though they got the stop, the Monarchs couldn’t find any offense on their second drive and punted.

The Cardinals got the ball back and played some power football, running it nine straight times, with the final carry coming from sophomore Jacob Geraets from one yard out for a touchdown.

St. Mary once again converted the two-point conversion and took a 16-7 lead with under seven minutes left in the half.

On the kickoff, Warner junior Parker Wood had a solid return and set the Monarchs up from midfield.

On the first play of the drive, Kroll dropped back and found Alec Mikkelsen for 12 yards. Later in the drive, the Monarchs faced a third-and-eight, and Kroll delivered, finding Brennan Wolf-Donat for another chain-moving catch.

Eventually, Warner moved the ball inside the one-yard line and much like the first Warner touchdown, it was Kroll powering in for the touchdown. After another extra-point kick, Warner trailed 16-14.

That ended up being the last score of the half, as a would-be 69-yard touchdown for St. Mary was taken off the board due to a penalty.

Warner got the ball to open the second half and started a promising drive, only to have it end with an interception by DRSM senior Jaxon Baumberger.

The Cardinals then started a promising drive of their own but also threw an interception. This time it was Warner senior Noah Bakeberg picking off the pass and running back to the Cardinals’ 35-yard line.

Warner once again couldn’t take advantage, as on the first play the Monarchs fumbled and gave the ball right back.

This time St. Mary did take advantage and on fourth-and-three, threw it up to its big receiver, Baumberger, for a three-yard touchdown. The pass gave the hosts a 22-14 edge with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter.

The trend continued for Warner in the second half as its next possession again ended with a turnover, this time a fumble.

The Cardinals got the ball back and Jewett took a shot for receiver Logan Bauer, who hauled in a 52-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 30-14 after the two-point conversion to start the fourth quarter.

The next Warner drive, like the others in the second half, ended with a turnover and the Cardinals extended their lead to 36-14 after a Jewett rushing touchdown.

The Monarchs had the last score of the contest with a Kroll 19-yard pass to Wolf-Donat for a touchdown, providing the final margin of difference.

Despite the loss, Hoellein was still pleased with effort of his players.

“I’m super proud of them. You look across the field and those are some college linemen and we battled all night,” Hoellein said. “We kind of beat ourselves in the second half and that hurts, but I was really proud of the way we battled.”

The game left a lasting impression on Kroll in his final game.

“I’m not going to forget this one,” Kroll said. “Last one with the guys, I just love it.”

Kroll also talked about what he is going to remember about this year’s team.

“We all love each other,” Kroll said. “I feel like sometimes in year’s past there’s been some guys maybe not bought in, but this year we didn’t have that. We all had the same goal, and we were going to get after it together.”

Warner (10-1) 7 7 0 6 – 20

Dell Rapids St. Mary (11-0) 8 8 6 14 – 36

DRSM – Jake Heinitz 13 pass from Brady Jewett (Jewett run).

W – Braydon Kroll 1 run (Alec Mikkelsen kick).

DRSM – Jacob Geraets 1 run (Thomas Lavoy run).

W – Kroll 1 run (Mikkelsen kick).

DRSM – Jaxon Baumberger 3 pass from Jewett.

DRSM – Logan Bauer 52 pass from Jewett (Geraets run).

DRSM – Jewett 2 run.

W – Brennan Wolf-Donat 19 pass from Kroll.

OFFENSE: Warner rushing (Kroll 8-32), passing (Kroll 15-23 for 166), receiving (Parker Wood 5-50, Wolf-Donat 3-42), first downs 11; Dell Rapids St. Mary rushing (Lavoy 22-159, Jewett 11-98), passing (Jewett 7-14 for 137), receiving (Bauer 1-52), first downs 19.

DEFENSE: Warner, Beckham Cantalope 14 tackles, Wood 14 tackles, Noah Bakeberg 12 tackles and 1 INT, Gage Knuppe 11 tackles.