ROSSVILLE — There have been times this season when the Rossville defense has had issues.
Nothing major, mind you. The Bulldogs didn’t get to 8-0 entering Thursday’s War on 24 showdown with Silver Lake having serious deficiencies on that side of the ball.
Whatever minor troubles the Bulldogs have had, when the stakes have been highest the Rossville defense has more than answered the bell. They did it against Centralia midway through the season and were arguably even better in the Class 3A No. 1 vs. No. 2 clash with arch rival Silver Lake.
Rossville held the visiting Eagles to zero points and just five first downs through three quarters. By the time Silver Lake found some offensive rhythm, the Bulldogs were in full control on their way to a 24-14 victory.
“I definitely say we stepped it up this week,” Rossville senior linebacker Nick Reesor said. “Throughout the year, we’ve had our lapses where everything wasn’t clicking right. It all came together tonight. Coach (Derick) Hammes put a great defensive scheme in and we got the job done.”
Rossville (9-0) wrapped up its second straight Mid-East League title and the 3A District 4 crown and will play host to Pleasant Ridge (5-4) in Tuesday’s playoff opener. Silver Lake (8-1) fell for the first time and takes on Maur Hill (7-2) in the first round.
Physical dominance has been Silver Lake’s calling card in its domination of the series in recent years, but on Thursday night, Rossville was not only the Eagles’ match, but perhaps even more. After yielding a pair of first downs on Silver Lake’s opening drive of the game, the Bulldogs buckled down and Reesor knocked down a fourth-down pass at the Bulldog 25.
The Eagles didn’t get another first down until their second possession of the second half.
“We certainly played hard and I don’t know how you measure that,” Hammes said. “Our kids did all the intangible things. They tackled pretty well and when we needed to in the second half, we blocked well. Those are the things it takes to win.”
In a defensive slugfest like Thursday’s first half was, it also takes a little bit of offense and Rossville finally found some late in the half. After three punts and an interception halted their first four drives, the Bulldogs got a spark from a 38-yard scamper from quarterback Tucker Horak and drove to the Silver Lake 4.
Rossville had to settle for a 19-yard field goal from Paul Steinke with 20 seconds left in the half for a 3-0 halftime lead, but the momentum was there.
“It usually takes awhile to kind of find our groove and tonight it just took us a little longer than normal,” Horak said. “Once we found it, we started hitting it hard.”
Rossville scored on three of four possessions in the second half to take control of the game. Horak found Reesor for a 28-yard touchdown strike to cap the opening drive of the half and, after Silver Lake missed a 19-yard field goal, Horak finished off an 80-yard march with a 15-yard touchdown run on the second play of the fourth quarter to build a 17-0 Bulldog lead.
Silver Lake finally found an answer as Zach Boyd scored from 10 yards out to make it 17-7 with 10:24 to go, but Rossville responded with a 77-yard drive that ate up seven-plus minutes with Horak scoring from 26 yards out on fourth and 4.
Horak finished with 192 yards on the ground and Rossville pounded out 299 as a team.
Ryan Matzke threw for 149 yards for the Eagles, and scored on a 2-yard run with 45 seconds left for the final margin.
“We didn’t take advantage of short fields,” Silver Lake coach C.J. Hamilton said. “We missed a field goal and couldn’t get one in the first half and you have to do that against good teams. ... We just have to get better and learn from this. They’re a good team — No. 1 vs. No. 2 — and I thought we played well and both teams put on a show. They deserved what they got.”
Silver Lake (8-1) 0 0 0 14 — 14
Rossville (9-0) 0 3 7 14 — 24
Ross — Steinke 19 field goal
Ross — Reesor 28 pass from Tu. Horak (Steinke kick)
Ross — Tu. Horak 15 run (Steinke kick)
SL — Boyd 10 run (Klein kick)
Ross — Tu. Horak 26 run (Steinke kick)
SL — Matzke 2 run (Klein kick)
GAME IN FIGURES
SL Ross
First downs 12 19
Rushes-yards 22-66 50-299
Passing 149 58
Comp-Att-Int 13-24-1 6-11-1
Punts 4-35.8 3-28.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 5-33 5-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Silver Lake: Matzke 12-49, Boyd 10-17. Rossville: Tu. Horak 22-192, Th. Horak 16-41, Reesor 7-34, Hammes 5-32.
PASSING — Silver Lake: Matzke 13-24-1, 149. Rossville: Tu. Horak 6-11-1, 58.
RECEIVING — Silver Lake: C. Baird 4-57, Wolfley 3-43, K. Baird 1-2, Byers 2-25, Freeman 2-19, Boyd 1-3. Rossville: Th. Horak 3-16, Roduner 1-5, Reesor 2-37.
