De Smet rallies to beat Rock Bridge in Missouri Class 6 quarterfinals

Spartans snag three turnovers in fourth quarter to advance

CREVE COEUR, MISSOURI – The De Smet football team’s offense did enough in its Missouri Class 6 quarterfinal game against visiting Rock Bridge on Saturday. 

The Spartans’ dominant defense made sure of it.

De Smet rallied from an early 10-point deficit to defeat Rock Bridge 23-16 and earn a spot in the semifinals for the second straight year and fourth time in five seasons.

“We made mistakes early,” De Smet coach John Merritt said. “They capitalized on them and got a lead. Our defense hung in there and was resilient and fended them off. We squandered a couple opportunities close to the goal line in the first half. We just kept fighting and battling and battling and battling and believing in each other and try to find a way to win. … Our defense, we always say we’ll hang our hat on those guys and they’ll bail us out of every situation and they do. They are incredible.”

The No. 6 team in the SBLive Missouri Power 25 rankings, De Smet (10-1) advances to face Metro Catholic Conference rival CBC (10-2) in the semifinals on Saturday. The Cadets have won back-to-back Missouri Class 6 championships, but De Smet handed them a 49-14 loss on Sept. 22. 

Rock Bridge, ranked 20th in the Missouri Power 25 rankings, finished its season at 9-3 after the Bruins won their district championship since 2013.

“I think our defense played well enough to win the ballgame,” Rock Bridge coach Matt Perkins said. “I think our special teams played well enough to win the ballgame. I don’t think our offense played bad; I think their defense also played well enough to win the ballgame.

“They’ve got a really good box. They controlled the line of scrimmage differently than anybody we’ve played. Credit to them and their coaches. They had a good plan for some of the little wrinkles that we like to do. But then at the point of attack they won some battles that we didn’t win and it was a problem for us. I’m really proud of our kids, I thought they fought, and it’s a tough one to walk away from.”

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Rock Bridge was rolling early. The Bruins took a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a touchdown pass from junior quarterback Brady Davidson to junior wide receiver Drevyn Seamon and a Joey Scardina 32-yard field goal.

De Smet’s defense got on the scoreboard with a safety late in the first quarter and then trimmed the deficit to 10-9 with 46 seconds left in the second quarter on a touchdown pass from junior quarterback Dillon Duff to junior wideout Nathan Hatcher.

Scardina, who has committed to kick at Army, drilled a 49-yard field goal in the third quarter to extend Rock Bridge’s lead to 13-9.

De Smet took its first lead with 47 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Junior quarterback Dillon Duff connected with Colin Griffin downfield, Griffin stiff-armed a defender and raced into the end zone for a 53-yard touchdown and a 16-13 lead.

The Spartans opened the fourth quarter with a strip-sack by Kentucky-bound defensive end Caleb Redd that was recovered by junior defensive end Quincy Byas and returned for his third touchdown of the season.

“Third down, we know we have one job – to get to the quarterback,” said Byas, who was selected as the Metro Catholic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. “We all get there. Redd hits him first from the blind side. He fumbles. I see it, pick it up, instincts, just go to the end zone.”

The De Smet defense added interceptions by linebacker Ashton Phillips and sophomore Trevon Collard in the fourth quarter, with Collard’s first interception with 49 seconds left thwarting Rock Bridge’s last-minute comeback bid.

“Quincy Byas, every time you turn around he’s in the end zone with the ball in his hands,” Merritt said. “Caleb Redd with a great sack. The guys on the coverage end, Tre Collard, they all did a great job this afternoon. It was a real team effort. We did enough offensively to win and our defense was dominant as always.”

Rock Bridge at De Smet football

Photos by Nate Latsch

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveMiz