Game Recap: Rapid City Christian vs. St. Thomas More

Last game of the marathon I was able to catch this weekend was the battle of the two private schools of the west river, the Rapid City Comets hosting the St. Thomas More Cavaliers. Despite the score and the number of penalties in this game, these two teams played a great game. STM wanted to run the ball more and RCC wanted to air it out, both defenses rolled into a rhythm and held each other in check for the most part. In the end, experience played the biggest factor and the Cavaliers pulled away over the young Comets. Check out the analysis below!   Scoring Summary:   1st Quarter:   STM- Matthew Larson 3 yard rush, PAT No Good (6-0)   STM- JP Sullivan 41 yard pass to Tyson Durham, PAT Good (13-0)   2nd Quarter:   STM- JP Sullivan 7 yard pass to [player_tooltip player_id='273687' first='Easton' last='Ogle'], PAT Good (20-0)   3rd Quarter:   STM- Matthew Larson 10 yard rush, PAT Good (27-0)   4th Quarter:   RCC- Simon Keiffer 22 yard pass to Wesley Schlabach, PAT Good (27-7 STM)   RCC- Simon Keiffer 33 yard pass to Elijah Hoyt, PAT Good (27-14 STM)   Final 27-14 STM.   Players Highlighted from STM:   '23 RB/LB- Matthew Larson was everywhere on the field in the first half on both sides of the ball. He helped establish the run game early getting out to the perimeter and finding his seam to run through for a big gain. He has the speed and the power to run through tackles and keep going until he got brought down. He was also a good target out of the backfield if they wanted him to get the ball a different way. Defensively, he filled hard on run support and made tackles around the LOS. He could also drop back in pass coverage and take receivers away.   '24 WR/DB- [player_tooltip player_id='294162' first='Peyton' last='Young'] seemed to be a favorite target, receiving a lot of passes early in the game. He was a kid to catch the ball then make the play after the catch. Short routes seemed to be he favorite routes where he would extend plays. He had speed and agility to make the first guy miss and gain yards after. A good possession receiver to find the sticks and get the first down. He ran with the opposing receivers and kept them from making big plays most the game and made some good open field tackles as well.   '23 OL/LB- [player_tooltip player_id='423296' first='Kaden' last='Peterson'] made his presence felt on defense. Any time the QB was sacked or forced out of the pocket, he seemed to be the guy closest to the ball. He moved well laterally and kept good position to make his form tackles. He read his keys and filled the gaps, took on blocks, usually powered through them all night. Offensively, He helped spark the run game, helping lead block on pulls, climbing to second level and really opening the running room for backs all game long.   '23 WR/DB- [player_tooltip player_id='273687' first='Easton' last='Ogle'] became the favorite target late in the game and made a few plays to put the game away. He ran good routes all game long, which is what got him his separation to make catches. His speed made him difficult to tackle once he had the ball, either over the middle or in open field. Defensively, those same attributes help him defend the receivers like him. He was step-for-step with the vertical threats all game and kept the big plays away. He is big on special teams too, breaking off bug returns.   '26 QB- JP Sullivan did a tremendous job running the offense all night long. He stayed very calm facing a lot of pressure from the defense most the game. He scrambled well and kept his eyes downfield and made the best decision for that play. He threw a good ball all night long, didn't rush or force throws and took care of the football.   Players Highlighted from RCC:   '25 OL/LB- Braylon Marshall was in literally almost every play on defense. Every run play, he seemed to be getting up with the ballcarrier he just brought down. He has very good instincts and slow plays each play. He never over-ran a play and filled his gap to make a play. He doesn't shy away from contact and delivers the hit before the offense can. Offensively, he does a good job exploding off the snap and driving his guy across from him off the LOS and get the run game going. He keeps a good pad level and keeps his guy from making the play, run or pass.   '23 WR/DB- [player_tooltip player_id='161220' first='Wyatt' last='Batie'] was one of those quiet playmakers. He never did anything flashy, or made your eyebrows raise. He just did his job on every play and made a bunch of plays off of that, made all of the little plays that turned his game into a good game. He was a good target for a young QB, got himself open and made himself the go-to guy for the game. Defensively, same thing, he made the plays that came his way and never got beat at his position. Shut his receiver down. He was another special teams asset too, really helping both sides of the ball with the field position battle, either returning or making tackles.   '23 RB/LB- [player_tooltip player_id='423285' first='Sam' last='Fischer'] did a good job in the run game. He battled to get positive yardage for the offense all night. He wanted to run through every tackler, he did a great job fighting off those defenders that got into the backfield and not losing yardage. Defensively, he was another guy that always found himself around the football. He was the cleanup guy in the pile on the run game, and could drop back and take away the short passes as well. A very good tackler as well.   '23 WR/DB- Elijah Hoyt has been the favorite target. He could get vertical quickly and used his frame to reel in passes. He tracked the ball really well and maintained focus to catch passes in traffic. When defenders were draped all over him, he boxed them out and went up and pulled the passes in. He had good field awareness of where the sideline was on those tough sideline catches. He used that to his advantage on defense as well, keeping the ball out of the receivers' hands and played clean coverage.   '25 QB- Simon Keiffer made some great throws throughout the whole game. He also remained calm in the face of pressure and sat in the pocket and took some hits, but delivered some nice passes while getting hit. He has good mobility to escape pressure and has awareness of down and distance on each down, deciding whether to pass or run. He has good arm strength to throw a deep ball with some zip on it, he has some touch on those passes. He shows a lot of potential for a good season this early.

Last game of the marathon I was able to catch this weekend was the battle of the two private schools of the west river, the Rapid City Comets hosting the St. Thomas More Cavaliers. Despite the score and the number of penalties in this game, these two teams played a great game. STM wanted to run the ball more and RCC wanted to air it out, both defenses rolled into a rhythm and held each other in check for the most part. In the end, experience played the biggest factor and the Cavaliers pulled away over the young Comets. Check out the analysis below!