CREVE COEUR – Cardinal Ritter junior DaRyan Stringer had a sense trickery was afoot, and it had nothing to do with the full moon in late October.
After the Lions’ defense stopped De Smet for a seventh consecutive drive, including five three-and-outs, Stringer looked suspiciously at the Spartans’ punt formation.
“I had a feeling they might try something, and once I saw it, I just came downhill and did my job,” Stringer said.
Stringer snuffed out a De Smet fake punt, delivered a jarring hit, and on the very next play, senior Jamarion Parker broke open the game with an electric touchdown run as Cardinal Ritter defeated De Smet 28-3 Friday at De Smet High.
Cardinal Ritter (7-0), the two-time defending state champion, won its 35th consecutive game. The Lions’ last loss came to St. Pius X (KC) in a Class 3 state semifinal on Nov. 27, 2021.
The momentum-altering sequence began during a fourth-and-8 situation midway through the third quarter with Cardinal Ritter clinging to a 12-3 lead. De Smet punter Mark Gaertner received the snap near midfield, faked releasing the ball at his right foot, and instead, began racing towards the first down marker on the left sideline.
Stringer made a beeline towards him and blasted him out-of-bounds prior to reaching the line to gain.
“I felt the energy after the hit, and it most definitely turned the sideline up. It was good for the team,” Stringer said.
On the next play, Parker took a handoff, found a hole between left guard and left tackle and sprinted away from the De Smet defense for a dynamic 59-yard touchdown run that set the tone for the remainder of the game.
The explosive play was the reward for Parker, who found little running room in the first half.
“My mentality was to be the one to break the game open,” Parker said. “The coaches told me to be patient, it’s going to come.”
Parker gained 173 yards rushing, 112 in the second half, which included a pair of third quarter touchdowns. His second score required a full extension dive to reach the ball over the goal line from two yards away while being restrained by a swarm of De Smet defenders.
“I had to fight for it,” Parker said.
Cardinal Ritter maintained its fight and enthusiasm despite a lack of explosive plays in the passing game. Senior quarterback Carson Boyd, who entered the contest averaging 310.5 passing yards per game, threw for only 84 yards on Friday against a defense designed to keep everything in front of it.
“They were playing three safeties all game. It wasn’t frustrating, but it was a reality check that they were taking one thing away and we had to lean on our strength in another,” Boyd said.
The Lions’ first three drives of the game resulted in an interception, punt and turnover on downs before the first of several momentum-shifting, special teams plays kickstarted the offense.
Junior DeShaun Stevenson accepted a bouncing punt near his sideline, sidestepped two defenders and raced 56 yards to the De Smet 8-yard line. A play-action pass from Boyd to senior Dejerrian Miller gave Cardinal Ritter its first lead, 6-3, with 10:09 remaining in the second quarter.
Later in the half, Boyd ducked under the pass rush, escaped into the secondary, plowed over the deep safety and scampered 49 yards before diving headlong into the end zone to increase the lead to 12-3 at halftime.
“It was originally a pass play, but they played it well. There was an opening, I took it between the hashes, lowered my shoulders a little, bounced off and just trusted my speed,” said Boyd, who rushed for 116 yards on six carries.
And the speed of the Cardinal Ritter defense made life difficult for the De Smet offense throughout the game.
Senior Vinaz Cobb stuffed De Smet quarterback Dillon Duff on a fourth-and-1, Tyron Steed intercepted a pass, senior Jayden McGee accumulated three sacks and senior Charles Brooks III pounced on a fumble as the Lions’ relentless pressure forced the normally prolific Spartans offense into negative plays and worse.
“We studied them on film a lot, watching how they move, and then it was just about being fast, being quick and getting around them,” Brooks said. “Our defense can hold our own against anybody.”
Duff threw for 199 yards, with 116 going to senior Wyatt Stoltz, but the inability of De Smet to sustain drives or hit the big play prevented the Spartans from finding the end zone.
“Our defense played pretty well tonight and made things hard on them, but offensively we just didn’t get the job done. We had our opportunities and we left a lot of meat on the bone,” De Smet coach John Merritt said. “I think we had five trips to the red zone and ended up with one field goal. You’re not going to win against anybody like that, let alone a state-championship team like Cardinal Ritter.”
And there appears to be a lot of meat left on the bone for Cardinal Ritter as the Lions continue to make plays in all three phases in a relentless pursuit of a three-peat.
“In practice, it gets real competitive, real argumentative,” Boyd said. “We know that we’re a team and when we come out, no one can stop us, we can only stop ourselves.”
Cardinal Ritter hosts Lutheran North (7-1) to conclude its regular season next Friday while De Smet (6-2) travels to Edwardsville (6-2).
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