From the Capital Journal Online:
PITTSBURG — It was only one play and the very first play of the game, but there were none bigger for Rossville on Friday night at Carney Smith Stadium.
Rossville senior Thatcher Horak took Colgan’s opening kickoff and weaved through the Panther defense for a 95-yard touchdown and the Bulldawgs never looked back en route to a 56-19 Class 3A quarterfinal victory.
“They got down to the ball quick and about the 10-yard line I thought they were going to light me up and all of a sudden I hit a hole and I don’t know what happened, I just went to the house,” Horak said.
“We knew how big of a game this was, and who gets the opportunity to play on Pitt State’s field? What an opportunity and we knew they were a really good team and we knew we had to come out and play our best.”
Horak’s kick return was the catalyst of a huge first quarter that saw Rossville, now 12-0, open up a commanding 28-7 lead. By halftime it was 35-13 and Colgan was unable to challenge the rest of the way as the Bulldawgs punched their ticket for the state semifinals.
“Getting a big spark like that, it’s huge in a big game like this,” said Rossville junior quarterback Tucker Horak, who followed his older brother’s lead and turned in a monster night. “With these guys’ offense and how competitive they are and their tradition, you give them any life at all there’s always a chance they can come back on you, so we just knew we wanted to get ahead of them early and try to stay on top of them.”
The Horak brothers scored all eight Rossville touchdowns, including six TDs from Tucker, who scored on five runs and an interception return. Paul Steinke went eight of eight on extra-point kicks.
Rossville forced Colgan (9-3) to punt on its first possession and the Bulldogs put together a seven-play, 87-yard scoring drive to go up 14-0 with 7:31 left in the first, with junior Tucker Horak capping things with a 27-yard run.
Colgan answered with an 18-yard scoring pass from junior Ryan Cedeno to junior Sawyer Esch with 3:43 left in the opening quarter, but Rossville scored 14 more points before end of the quarter.
Rossville went 70 yards in nine plays for a Tucker Horak 1-yard TD plunge, then Tucker Horak picked off Cedeno on Colgan’s next play from scrimmage and returned the pick 44 yards for a touchdown with 22 ticks left in the first.
Colgan got back within striking distance on a 4-yard Cedeno run, but the Bulldawgs blocked the extra point try and then Tucker Horak scored his fourth touchdown on a 68-yard run with 6:59 left in the half.
Thatcher Horak scored his second TD of the game on a 35-yard pass from Tucker in the third quarter, then Tucker Horak scored from 4 and 17 yards out to end the Bulldawgs’ explosive offensive night.
Tucker Horak finished with 198 rushing yards on 16 carries and was 5-for-6 passing for 95 yards and a TD.
Colgan senior Austin Commons had a big night in a losing cause, rushing for 191 yards on 29 carries. The Panthers hurt themselves with four turnovers.
Rossville (12-0) 28 7 14 7 = 56
Colgan (9-3) 7 6 6 0 = 19
Rossville — Thatcher Horak 95 kickoff return (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 27 run (Steinke kick)
Colgan — Esch 18 pass from Cedeno (Cason kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 1 run (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 44 interception return (Steinke kick)
Colgan — Ryan Cedeno 4 run (kick blocked)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 68 run (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Thatcher Horak 35 pass from Tucker Horak (Steinke kick)
Colgan — Cedeno 3 run (pass failed)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 4 run (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 17 run (Steinke kick)
GAME IN FIGURES
Ross Col
First downs 15 19
Rushes-yards 31-316 57-233
Passing yards 95 70
Passes 5-7-1 5-11-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 6-3
Punts-avg. 1-33.0 1-37.0
Penalties-yards 8-80 3- 25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Rossville: Tucker Horak 16-198, Thatcher Horak 4-58, Steckel 7-51, Reesor 2-6, Hammes 1-2, Woodcock 1-1. Colgan: Commons 29-191, Cedeno 10-19, Stewart 11-16, Dellasega 2-7, Hayes 2-4, Wilson 1-(minus)-2, Dickey 2-(minus)-2.
PASSING — Rossville: Tucker Horak 5-6-1, 95 yards; Woodcock 0-1-0, 0. Colgan: Cedeno 4-10-1, 64; Dickey 1-1-0, 6.
RECEIVING — Rossville: Corbin Horak 3-47, Thatcher Horak 1-35, Roduner 1-13. Colgan: Duncan 1-44, Esch 1-18, Normand 1-7, Brown 1-6, Commons 1-(minus)-5.
PUNTING — Rossville: Woodcock 1-33.0. Colgan: Cason 1-37.0.
PITTSBURG — It was only one play and the very first play of the game, but there were none bigger for Rossville on Friday night at Carney Smith Stadium.
Rossville senior Thatcher Horak took Colgan’s opening kickoff and weaved through the Panther defense for a 95-yard touchdown and the Bulldawgs never looked back en route to a 56-19 Class 3A quarterfinal victory.
“They got down to the ball quick and about the 10-yard line I thought they were going to light me up and all of a sudden I hit a hole and I don’t know what happened, I just went to the house,” Horak said.
“We knew how big of a game this was, and who gets the opportunity to play on Pitt State’s field? What an opportunity and we knew they were a really good team and we knew we had to come out and play our best.”
Horak’s kick return was the catalyst of a huge first quarter that saw Rossville, now 12-0, open up a commanding 28-7 lead. By halftime it was 35-13 and Colgan was unable to challenge the rest of the way as the Bulldawgs punched their ticket for the state semifinals.
“Getting a big spark like that, it’s huge in a big game like this,” said Rossville junior quarterback Tucker Horak, who followed his older brother’s lead and turned in a monster night. “With these guys’ offense and how competitive they are and their tradition, you give them any life at all there’s always a chance they can come back on you, so we just knew we wanted to get ahead of them early and try to stay on top of them.”
The Horak brothers scored all eight Rossville touchdowns, including six TDs from Tucker, who scored on five runs and an interception return. Paul Steinke went eight of eight on extra-point kicks.
Rossville forced Colgan (9-3) to punt on its first possession and the Bulldogs put together a seven-play, 87-yard scoring drive to go up 14-0 with 7:31 left in the first, with junior Tucker Horak capping things with a 27-yard run.
Colgan answered with an 18-yard scoring pass from junior Ryan Cedeno to junior Sawyer Esch with 3:43 left in the opening quarter, but Rossville scored 14 more points before end of the quarter.
Rossville went 70 yards in nine plays for a Tucker Horak 1-yard TD plunge, then Tucker Horak picked off Cedeno on Colgan’s next play from scrimmage and returned the pick 44 yards for a touchdown with 22 ticks left in the first.
Colgan got back within striking distance on a 4-yard Cedeno run, but the Bulldawgs blocked the extra point try and then Tucker Horak scored his fourth touchdown on a 68-yard run with 6:59 left in the half.
Thatcher Horak scored his second TD of the game on a 35-yard pass from Tucker in the third quarter, then Tucker Horak scored from 4 and 17 yards out to end the Bulldawgs’ explosive offensive night.
Tucker Horak finished with 198 rushing yards on 16 carries and was 5-for-6 passing for 95 yards and a TD.
Colgan senior Austin Commons had a big night in a losing cause, rushing for 191 yards on 29 carries. The Panthers hurt themselves with four turnovers.
Rossville (12-0) 28 7 14 7 = 56
Colgan (9-3) 7 6 6 0 = 19
Rossville — Thatcher Horak 95 kickoff return (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 27 run (Steinke kick)
Colgan — Esch 18 pass from Cedeno (Cason kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 1 run (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 44 interception return (Steinke kick)
Colgan — Ryan Cedeno 4 run (kick blocked)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 68 run (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Thatcher Horak 35 pass from Tucker Horak (Steinke kick)
Colgan — Cedeno 3 run (pass failed)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 4 run (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 17 run (Steinke kick)
GAME IN FIGURES
Ross Col
First downs 15 19
Rushes-yards 31-316 57-233
Passing yards 95 70
Passes 5-7-1 5-11-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 6-3
Punts-avg. 1-33.0 1-37.0
Penalties-yards 8-80 3- 25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Rossville: Tucker Horak 16-198, Thatcher Horak 4-58, Steckel 7-51, Reesor 2-6, Hammes 1-2, Woodcock 1-1. Colgan: Commons 29-191, Cedeno 10-19, Stewart 11-16, Dellasega 2-7, Hayes 2-4, Wilson 1-(minus)-2, Dickey 2-(minus)-2.
PASSING — Rossville: Tucker Horak 5-6-1, 95 yards; Woodcock 0-1-0, 0. Colgan: Cedeno 4-10-1, 64; Dickey 1-1-0, 6.
RECEIVING — Rossville: Corbin Horak 3-47, Thatcher Horak 1-35, Roduner 1-13. Colgan: Duncan 1-44, Esch 1-18, Normand 1-7, Brown 1-6, Commons 1-(minus)-5.
PUNTING — Rossville: Woodcock 1-33.0. Colgan: Cason 1-37.0.
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