Titans smothered as Saints get 1st win

• Dylan Fridrich

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson Trinity tight end Dylan Fridrich, left, tries to fight off Bismarck St. Mary's defender Robert Richter on Friday night during a Class 2A, West Region football game at the Badlands Activities Center.

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The Bismarck St. Mary’s football team didn’t play like a team coming in without a win Friday night.

The Saints scored early and often, defeating Dickinson Trinity 39-13 in a Class 2A, West Region football game at the Badlands Activities Center.

“St. Mary’ was a pretty good 0-5 team,” Trinity head coach Randy Gordon said. “They came and wanted to play and win. They wanted it worse than we did.”

Trinity (2-4, 1-4 West) scored the opening touchdown of the game, but St. Mary’s scored 39 unanswered points.

“The thing that I’m the most proud about is that the kids came and weren’t discouraged,” St. Mary’s head coach Dan Smrekar said. “We came in here with intensity. I thought we played very aggressive and physical.”

The Titans scored the opening and final touchdown of the game. Both touchdowns were scored by Brendin Steiner, who had 128 yards on 18 carries. Steiner was filling in for injured senior Mason Schiff.

“Brendin had tough shoes to fill,” Gordon said. “It hurt us a lot by not having Mason.”

Turnovers haunted Trinity throughout the game.

The Titans lost three fumbles and Trinity quarterback Ben Gordon threw three interceptions. St. Mary’s (1-5, 1-4 West) capitalized on almost all the turnovers.

“We got quite a few turnovers, but we missed quite a few picks,” Smrekar said. “We created turnovers and then we took advantage of them.”

The Titans opened up the game with a 6-yard run by Steiner. It didn’t take long for St. Mary’s to answer with a 37-yard run by Robert Richter.

The Saints quarterback Preston Tescher proceeded to score two touchdowns in the second quarter. Tescher was 3 of 8 for 57 yards and rushed for 27 yards.

“I thought Tescher played very under control,” Smrekar said. “He didn’t make very many mistakes. He was very patient. That’s what we need out of him.”

Ritcher struck again in the third quarter with a 1-yard TD run. The junior running back had 94 yards on 19 carries.

Tobias Maher added a score in the third with 5-yard strike. Joe Kassian rushed once and made the most of it for a 49-yard touchdown.

Steiner ended the scoring with a 62-yard breakaway run down the sideline.

St. Mary’s 7 12 13 7 — 39

Trinity 7 0 0 6 — 13

First quarter

T–Brendin Steiner 6 run (Steiner kick), 5:52.

SM–Robert Richter 37 run (Nathan Vetter kick), 2:33.

Second quarter

SM–Preston Tescher 4 run (kick failed), 11:03.

SM–Tescher 4 run (run failed), :04.

Third quarter

SM–Richter 1 run (Vetter kick), 5:13.

SM–Tobias Maher 5 run (kick failed), 2:39.

Fourth quarter

SM–Joe Kassian 49 run (Cole Schmitz kick), 5:42.

T–Steiner 62 run (pass failed), 2:15.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: SM, Robert Richter 19-94, Tobias Maher 15-78, Joe Kassian 1-49, Preston Tescher 8-27. T, Brendin Steiner 18-128, Dylan Fridrich 5-18, Ben Gordon 2-7, Mason Heth 2-6.

PASSING: SM, Tescher 3-8-0, 57. T, Gordon 10-24-3, 67.

RECEIVING: SM, Trenton Bohan 1-41, Brian Obritsch 1-10, Brad Obritsch 1-6. T, Fridrich 4-39, Isiah Binstock 2-16, Christian Olson 2-14, Brandon Sickler 1-0.

Tags: high school football, bismarck st. marys saints, sports, titans, preps, football