Brett Cowdin Funeral Service

    The choir loft and every pew was packed Monday inside Highland Park United Methodist Church.  Current and former athletes who played for Brett Cowdin wore letter jackets representing every Shawnee County high school for which he coached. No doubt, more than one coach in the crowd wondered what kind of team could be assembled, in virtually any sport, with all the star power that filled the church.
    To read more about the funeral service for former RHS baseball coach Brett Cowdin,  go to:
http://cjonline.com/sports/2013-11-18/kevin-haskin-thinking-about-cowdin-always-good-thing

Kevin Haskins Comments

Below are some of Kevin Haskins  (writer for the Topeka Capital Journal) thoughts.  
■ No better small-school rivalry exists in Kansas than the War on 24. For Rossville and Silver Lake to meet again in the Class 3A semifinals is epic.
■ A second win over the Eagles might get first-year Bulldogs coach Derick Hammes a statue outside the football field.
■ C.J. Hamilton deserves one in the south end zone in Silver Lake, where drivers pass by.

Cherryvale Game Photos

    To see photos of the Fans and Players at the big play-off win at Cherryvale,  go to:

http://rossvilleksphotos.blogspot.com/2013/11/cherryvale-game-photos.html

Community Pep Rally On Thur.

The Rossville Booster Club would like to invite All Students, Faculty, Alumni, and Community Members to Join Us for a Community Pep Rally!
Thursday November 21, 2013
Rossville High School 
Meal Served at 7:00 pm (Commons Area) 
Free Will Donation 
We ask that everyone bring a side dish or dessert to share
Fried Chicken With Fixing 
Drinks and Place Setting Provided
Pep Rally at 7:45 pm (Gym)
RHS Pep Band with RHS Cheerleaders & Dance Team 
Video Highlight Reel by Mr. Woodcock 
Guest Speakers: Coach Hammes, Senior Football Players

Come Show Rossville High School Your School SPIRIT!!

-- 

Rossville Booster Club

 

 

Mitch Buhler (11) Missed Last 2 W. U. Games

    The Washburn U. football team won their first 8 games and reached a #10 national ranking but then lost their last three games.  Injuries played a part in those losses,  and,  Rossville's Mitch Buhler was one of those injured and unable to play in the last two games.
http://cjonline.com/sports/2013-11-17/promising-season-has-bitter-end-washburn-football

Rossvile Christmas Festival, Dec. 7, 2013

10 am to 3 pm- Christmas Crafters & Vendors at Rossville Grade School

Lunch at the Craft Festival : German Brats, Bierocks, German Potato Salad and homemade potato soup
german chocolate cake and white chocolate amaretto cake for dessert...

2 pm- 3:30 pm Cookies with Santa and Festival of Trees at RGS Lunchroom. Pictures with Santa will be taken during this time

11 am to 3 pm Open House at America Needs Fatima 426 N Main Good things to eat and beautiful Christmas themed door prizes.

11 am to 1:30 American Legion Post #31 Auxiliary Luncheon Serving Chili, Ham & Beans, Vegetable Beef Soup Carry Outs Available

Be sure to stop by Grounded Coffee House to one of our many Seasonal Lattes! Receive half off any muffin with the purchase of a medium drink or larger.

Rossville Library 10 am to 2pm- Games & Cookies 

BE sure to ask everyone in Rossville if they are the Rossville Frosty!

Rossville Advances To Semi-Finals With 48-0 Romp

From the Capital Journal

CHERRYVALE — The Rossville Bulldogs seem to be about as consistent as a team can be.

Led by Tucker Horak’s 303 total yards and five total touchdowns, the Bulldogs routed Cherryvale 48-0 on the road Friday night in the Class 3A quarterfinals.

“Over the last four or five weeks we’ve been playing pretty good football,” Rossville coach Derick Hammes said. “And tonight was just another step in the right direction for us.”

The Bulldogs (12-0) jumped out to a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Jack Steckel scored first on a 5-yard run, and Horak followed with a 77-yard run. He then hit Corbin Horak for a 12-yard touchdown pass, and the game was essentially over.

Tucker Horak finished with 157 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and was 8 of 11 for 146 yards and three scores through the air.

“Tucker did a nice job, and I think Jack Steckel stepped up and had a good football game,” Hammes said. “He did a nice job, but everything starts with the offensive line up front, and I think they blocked well tonight.”

Hammes said getting an early lead was critical, especially on the road.

“As a coach, you always worry when you take them on the road and you have a longer road trip than normal,” he said. “And I was pleased we were able to get some stops early and score touchdowns, and it really set things up for us the rest of the night.”

The Horak-Steckel connection began the second-quarter scoring with a 10-yard strike, and Steckel scored his third touchdown on a 25-yard pass in the third quarter.

Facing Cherryvale’s (8-4) option, Rossville defensive ends Terrance Sowers and Marcus Karton were a force from the start.

“That offense tries to put a lot of stress on the ends, and they did a good job of changing things up and making plays. They are a good option football team, so that means we had to have some discipline on defense, and we controlled the run and made things difficult on them. They had a lot of three-and-outs, and we sustained drives on them.”

Rossville will play rival Silver Lake next week in the semifinals.

“We’re excited for the opportunity,” Hammes said. “We also know that team will be ready for the challenge and there will be a lot on the line. Both communities will be ready for this, and we have to put a good week of practice together. This game will be extra big.”

Rossville (12-0)     21     20     7     0   =   48
Cherryvale (8-4)     0        0     0     0   =     0

Rossville  scoring:
Steckel (3), 10 pass from Tu. Horak, 5 run, 25 pass from Tu. Horak
Tu. Horak (2), 13 run, 77 run
Th. Horak 12 pass from Tu. Horak
Morris 59 run.
PAT — Reesor 6 Kicks

Rossville Visits Cherryvale on Friday

From CJOnline

ROSSVILLE (11-0) AT CHERRYVALE (8-3) —Rossville also makes the trip to southeast Kansas for its Class 3A playoff quarterfinal, coming off a 25-15 victory at Nemaha Valley last Saturday. Tucker Horak ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 133 yards as the Bulldogs remained one of three unbeatens in 3A along with Beloit and Conway Springs.

Horak has had a monster sophomore season, rushing for 1,595 yards and 31 touchdowns and throwing for 1,434 yards and nine scores. Rossville saw its streak of four straight shutouts end but have outscored their opponents 438-96 this season.

Cherryvale started the season 0-2 with losses to Iola and Commerce, Okla., but has won eight of its last nine — the only loss in that span to Caney Valley. After knocking off Galena 32-18 in the first round of the playoffs, the Chargers routed Humboldt 31-0 last Saturday to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2004.

Tristan Thornton ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns in the Charger win.

Brett Cowdin Highly Thought Of

By Rick Peterson of CJ Online

Former Hayden football coach Tom Stringer always knew Brett Cowdin was one of the area's most popular teachers and coaches.

The hours after Cowdin's death Wednesday bore that out, with Stringer fielding a barrage of phone calls and text messages expressing shock and condolences at the news of the 54-year-old Topekan’s passing of an apparent heart attack.

“Sitting here thinking of Brett, I can't think of anybody that didn't like him, and he loved kids,” Stringer said of Cowdin, who was on his staff at Hayden when the Wildcats won the school's first Class 4A state football title with a perfect season in 1998. “He just loved kids and the kids gave him energy and the kids got energy from him because they knew how much he cared about them.

“He always put a smile on the kids' faces and he was just awful special. There wasn't a kid that didn't like him.”

Hayden was one of several coaching stops for Cowdin, who coached state baseball champions at both Hayden (1997) and Topeka West (2003). Cowdin also coached the Rossville Rattlers to an NBC 19-under national championship last summer.

Cowdin had a coaching stint at Topeka High early in his career and also coached at Highland Park, Topeka West, Rossville and Washburn Rural. Cowdin was the offensive coordinator at Rural this past season.

Stringer said Cowdin's infectious personality made him a hit wherever he went.

“He was just genuinely a good guy,” Stringer said. “He was always upbeat, even in the worst of times. We could be getting our butts handed to us, but he was always the supreme optimist. He touched everybody's life.

“Like my brother John told me one time, he said, ‘I'd pay him just to hang out with me.’ And that was because he was just so pleasant, so enjoyable, funny. There wasn't a mean bone in his body. I loved him like a brother and you know what, he had a lot of people like that. There's just not a lot of people like him.”

Topeka West grad Lori Green, regarded as one of the city's all-time top athletes, never had Cowdin as a coach, but both of her sons, Michael and Joseph, went to West and were involved with Cowdin.

Michael Williams played for Cowdin's 2003 state championship team at West and also played for Cowdin in summer baseball.

“My heart is just really heavy right now,” Green said. “Coach Cowdin has been in my family's life for many, many years, as a coach, friend and a teacher of life. He was very free-spirited, but his main goal was the helping and the teaching for the kids. This is what he lived for.

“You could talk to him openly and ask him anything. He loved to have fun, joke, laugh, and his smile was one in a million. He was a positive role model for both of my sons. Brett was very knowledgeable, not just on the field or court, but in life. There are not enough kind words to describe him.''

Cowdin was born July 17, 1959, the son of Larry and Barbara James Cowdin.

He was a graduate of Topeka West and Washburn, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees.

He is survived by his wife, Marcie Cowdin, children Tychicus Cowdin, Tobias Cowdin, Natalie Whitt, Maisie Cowdin and Jaxson Cowdin, his mother, Barbara Cowdin, and brothers Joe Cowdin, Bruce Cowdin and Aaron Cowdin. Brett was preceded in death by his father.

Friends may call from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at Kevin Brennan Family Funeral Home, 2801 S.W. Urish Road. Cowdin's funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Highland Park United Methodist Church, 2914 S.E. 29th.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Brett Cowdin Memorial Fund at Capitol Federal Savings. Online condolences may be sent to kevinbrennanfamily.com.

Tagen Lambotte U. of I. Signing Update

    We previously reported that Tagen Lambotte,  3 time state wrestling champ, had committed to wrestle for the U. of Iowa.  He has now signed a Letter of Intent to make it official.  The Capital-Journal has a nice article about Tagen :
http://cjonline.com/sports/2013-11-13/rossville-wrestler-lambotte-makes-iowa-dream-reality

Brett Cowdin, Former RHS Coach, Passes Away

From CJ Online:

Brett Cowdin, who coached at five Shawnee County high schools and launched a pair of college-age summer baseball programs, died Wednesday at the age of 54.

Multiple sources told The Capital-Journal Cowdin died Wednesday evening. No other details about Cowdin's death were immediately available.

Cowdin, who was the offensive coordinator for Washburn Rural's football program this past year, had also coached football and baseball at Hayden, Highland Park, Topeka West and Rossville as well as helping start the Topeka Golden Giants and Rossville Rattlers summer baseball programs. The Rattlers won a National Baseball Congress national title this past summer.

Cowdin had coached football with Steve Buhler at Rossville before joining Buhler for his first season at Washburn Rural this fall.

“He meant so much to me, and the staff,” Buhler said. "He was kind of the confidant. We spent three years at Rossville, and when I came to a new situation and a new place (at Washburn Rural), I leaned on him a lot. He was always there for me.

“What always struck me about Brett was that he was constantly about the kids. He really did have it all figured out as far as how things should be done in coaching and what it was for. I always appreciated that with him. It was whatever was the best thing for the kids, everything was about them, and you couldn't ask for a guy with a bigger heart. Anything a kid needed he was more than happy to step in there and try to help. We're going to miss him a lot.”

John Tetuan, current Topeka West football and baseball coach, and the coach of the Topeka Golden Giants, played for Cowdin on a state championship baseball team at Hayden, and Tetuan also coached with Cowdin at West and worked under Cowdin with the Golden Giants.

“I was around him in a lot of different aspects of life and I think the biggest thing about him, and why everybody kind of gravitated to him, was that he genuinely cared for everybody that he was around,” Tetuan said. “You could tell that when I played for him, when he was the owner of the Giants and I coached for him and when I coached with him. He was a funny guy and joked around a lot, but he cared for you as a friend, as a player for him, as an employee for him. He just cared about you in all aspects.”

One Hundred Year Old Map

    Below is a link to a map of Rossville township showing the names of  the property owners in 1913.

http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/209454/page/11

1949 Rossville Crime wave

    In 1949,  Rossville was hit by a minor crime wave.  First, there was a burglary at the Peoples State Bank on Main St. in which the incompetent safe cracker netted no money.   Later,  the high school lost 13 band instruments to a burglary which only netted the burglars a conviction.
    The news articles about the events can be read at:  http://history.nekls.org/rossville/images/show/1166-robberies-and-thefts-1949-rossville-kansas

Pictues of Nemaha Valley-Rossville Game

    Pictures of the Nemaha Valley-Rossville game can be seen at:
http://rossvilleksphotos.blogspot.com/2013/11/pictures-of-nemaha-valley-game.html