2014 Football Team Article

From the July 9, 2015 CatchItKansas

      Since 2011, the Rossville football team had a record of 31-6. A solid record right? The only problem, the Bulldogs were 1-5 against Silver Lake, including two straight losses in Sub-State. In fact, the Bulldogs had not lost to another school since 2011.
      2014 represented the start of another strong Bulldog squad as Rossville opened the year 8-0, outscoring opponents by an average of 48 points per game. There was one opponent standing in the way of a perfect regular season record, and it was none other than Silver Lake.
      In front of their home crowd, the Bulldogs were able to finally get the proverbial monkey off their backs with a 24-14 victory. Quarterback Tucker Horak played a part in all three touchdowns, throwing for one and rushing for two more on his way to tallying 251 of the team's 304 total yards on offense.
      Horak blossomed into one of the state's best quarterbacks, and best leaders in 2014. After an up and down sophomore season under center, Horak tallied more than 2,000 yards rushing and 1,600 yards passing while scoring more than 30% of the Bulldogs touchdowns in 2014. Not to be outdone, fellow Horak's Thatcher and Corbin earned All-State honors for their efforts on offense, combining for 28 touchdowns and 1,919 total yards. Thatcher averaged more than 12 yards per carry, while Corbin averaged more than 14 yards per catch.
      After the victory over Silver Lake, Rossville dominated in their first three playoff games, outscoring their opponents 147-33. With a 56-19 victory over St. Marys Colgan, the Bulldogs advanced to Sub-State for the third straight season. As though it were written in a cheesy Hollywood script, the Bulldogs would have to yet again face Silver Lake for the third straight season for their chance to advance to a state title game.
      In an almost identical finish to their first meeting in the season, Rossville would ride another strong performance by Tucker and Thatcher Horak who combined to rush for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns.
      As efficient as the rushing attack had been, the dominant Bulldog defense stepped up in a huge way, forcing two turnovers and applying constant pressure in the backfield. Sophomore Dawson Hammes totaled 20 tackles on the game, including 4 of them for a loss, while Thatcher and Corbin Horak each tallied an interception.
      While the Horaks garnered plenty of attention for their offensive efforts, the Bulldog defense may have been the stronger side of the ball in 2014. Allowing just over 11 points per game, the defense only allowed two teams to score more than 20 points, and one of those games came in a 91-22 victory over Osage City. All-State linebacker Nick Reesor led the team with 109 total tackles, while teammates Lake Schultz-Pruner (101) and Hammes (81) each tallied more than 80 tackles on the season. Terrence Sowers was a constant disruption in opponents backfield, tallying 8 tackles for loss and 4 sacks in 2014.
      When the defense wasn't ending the play at the line of scrimmage, the secondary was forcing turnovers. With 16 interceptions and 7 fumble recoveries, the Bulldogs defense helped win the season long turnover margin 23-9.
      After winning arguably the biggest game in program history, some were wondering if the Bulldogs had enough left in the tank to defeat 4 time state champion Scott City.
      After trailing 14-7 with less than 9 minutes remaining in the game, it was Tucker Horak who decided to put the team on his shoulders and lead by example. After a third down, 16 yard highlight reel run where Horak seemed to be swallowed up by several defenders on several occasions, the Bulldogs would tie the game on a Reesor touchdown run.
      Sure enough, with less than four minutes remaining, Tucker broke through the Scott City defense for another rushing touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 21-14 lead with less than a minute remaining.
      With their fate in their own hands, the Bulldogs defense knew they had to make just one more stop. With the Scott City offense nearing mid-field, Schultz-Pruner would come up with a huge interception, essentially ending the game and winning the Bulldogs their first football state title.
      “Becoming state champions is something that has never happened at our school, and that was something that really drove us to work hard all year,” said Tucker Horak.
      Tucker would finish with 212 yards rushing on 27 carries, and contributed 267 of Rossville’s 342 total yards of offense.
      The Rossville signal caller and youngest of three Horak’s on the team, was able to celebrate the school’s biggest win with his teammates and the rest of the Rossville community.