CatchItKansas Article On 3A FB Game

Following is an article from CatchItKansas  

After defeating Halstead 21-0 for a Sub-State championship, Collegiate (13-0) is now one game away from winning their first state title since 2009.

Standing in their way, the defending 3A champs Rossville (13-0).

After upsetting Scott City 21-14 in last year's title game, Rossville has been nothing short of dominant in 2015, outscoring opponents by an average of 42 points per game.

The Bulldogs are led by one of the best quarterbacks Class 3A has seen in recent history. This year Tucker Horak, the state's leading rusher, became the first player in Kansas history to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 2,000 yards in the same season. The definition of a dual threat quarterback, Horak has 30 passing touchdowns and 45 rushing touchdowns on the year. 

"Based on film we have on him, he's (Horak) obviously hard to tackle," said Collegiate quarterback Austin Waddell. "I think that most teams try to go for the big hits on him instead of just wrapping up and making the play and he just bounces off the hits and hits a big play."

Horak has enjoyed one of the best careers any 3A quarterback has ever had. Heading into Saturday's game, Horak has 5,483 career passing yards (68% completions) for 67 touchdowns, and has rushed for 6,790 yards for an incredible 109 touchdowns. According to the NFHS, Horak's 12,653 career total yards are the 6th most all-time in United States history. With Horak leading the offense, Rossville has averaged 539 total yards per game. 

For Waddell, he feels no added pressure to match his counterpart's stats.

"I don't need to do anything I haven't done in big games already. I just need to trust the offense, take care of the football, and be patient. A lot of people get flustered in these games and try to do stuff that is out of their abilities and it usually ends up in turnovers. I just need to do the things I've been doing all season," said Waddell.

If there is a team that can stop Horak, Collegiate may be up to the task. During their Sub-State victory, Collegiate held Halstead to just 38 yards rushing. Halstead had previously averaged more than 350 yards rushing per game.

Forcing turnovers will be key for Collegiate, who have forced 32 turnovers (14 INT, 18 FUM) this season. In Rossville's closest game (42-32 over St. Mary's-Colgan), Horak threw one interception and also lost a fumble.

If Collegiate wins the turnover battle, the Spartans could look to Waddell and running back Nathan Burgoyne to continue their success rushing the ball, as the combination are averaging more than 150 yards rushing per game. 

For Waddelll, it would be a dream come true if the Spartans could bring home the 3A title.

"Every kid dreams of growing up and winning a state championship. It's the best thing a high school athlete can achieve. People don't forget when you win a state championship, I still hear people talk about them from twenty years ago. It would definitely be an amazing feeling to hear the buzzer sound with us on top," said Waddell.

If Collegiate is able to knock of the defending champs, it will be the Spartans fourth state title in program history and third since 2000. If Horak and the Bulldogs find open lanes to run through, Rossville will remain kings of Class 3A, improving their record to 40-1 over the last 3 

Isaac Luellen Signs LOI

ROSSVILLE (KSNT) – Issac Luellen, a multi-sport standout for the Rossville Bulldawgs, signed his National Letter of Intent on Tuesday afternoon to wrestle at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

Luellen is finishing up his senior year at Rossville. As a junior, he won the state championship at 182 pounds and has plans to defend his title this season.

He is also a member of the Rossville football team and leads the state in sacks. The Bulldawgs will play against Wichita-Collegiate on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Hutchinson for the Class 3A state championship.

Congratulations Isaac, and best of luck wrestling at UNK!

For video of Isaac signing his LOI,  go to:  http://ksnt.com/2015/11/24/rossvilles-isaac-luellen-signs-with-nebraska-kearney/

FBLA National Conference

    The Rossville  Future Business Leaders Of America attended the FLBA National Fall Leadership Conference in Omaha, NE.    Those attending and pictured below were:   Mitchell Porter, Ryan Ehrlich, Sam Thederahn, Riley Falk, Matthew Stillion, Paul Borcherding, Fred Schuler Kathleen Schuler, Dawn Ledeboer, Morgan Foster, Morgan Read, Emily Woodcock, Hannah Miller.

Isaac Luellen To Sign LOI

Isaac Luellen will sign a Letter Of Intent to wrestle at the University Of Nebraska at Kearney on Nov. 24.

Russell and Scates Place Third

Mariah Russell and Mikayla Scates placed 3rd with their sculpture entry “Self Control” at the Washburn University HS Art Day on November 13th.

Football Team To State Rally

STATE FB CHAMPIONSHIP 

Rossville vs Wichita Collegiate

Hutchinson Community College 1:00pm    

SATURDAY, November 28th. 

Ticket Information: Students K-12 $6.00 Adults $8.00

There will be a Community Wide PEP RALLY at RHS Friday, November 27th at 6:30pm. Doors will open at 6pm and a Video Highlight reel by Mr. Woodcock will play until the Rally begins. All Students, Faculty, Alumni, and Community Members welcome!

Knitting Class At Library

Collegiate Defeats Halstead

     Rossville faces unbeaten Wichita Collegiate on Nov. 28 in Hutchinson.  To learn more about the Spartans,  you can read about their victory over Halstead at:

http://www.kansas.com/sports/high-school/article45719949.html

Ottawa Herald FB Article

From the Ottawa Herald:  
    ROSSVILLE — Wellsville High School football team ran into a buzzsaw Friday night in Rossville.  The defending 3A state champion Rossville Dawgs topped Wellsville, 49-0, in the state semifinals.
    “It was confidence and momentum,” Wellsville coach Brad Burkdoll said. “We rode this wave of momeuntum six or seven games. Now we are on the other end of it.”
   Dawg senior quarterback Tucker Horak was as good as advertised. He accounted for all seven scores and 414 yards. He passed for three scores and rushed for four more.

Video For Wellsville Game

    Here is video from WIBW.
http://www.wibw.com/sports/ksprepzone/headlines/KPZ-Sub-State-Wellsville-at-Rossville-352323331.html

    KSNT Football Frenzy started out with the Rossville game instead of the Topeka schools.  Some nice video here:  http://ksnt.com/2015/11/20/football-frenzy-112015/

Rossville Takes Sub-State Title

From  the Capital Journal:

      Tucker Horak put on another show Friday night and made state history in the process.
      Rossville rolled into the Class 3A championship game behind Horak’s seven touchdowns and 410 yards of total offense in the Bulldawgs’ 49-0 semifinal victory against Wellsville.
Horak ran for 263 yards and threw for 147 yards to become the first player in state history to rush for 2,000 yards and throw for 2,000 yards in the same season.
      “It’s a pretty good feeling to be the only one to do that,” said Horak, who now has 2,704 yards rushing and 2,047 yards passing this season. “There’s not another group of guys I’d want to share this win. Honestly, there’s probably not another group of guys who could help me get that.”
Rossville (13-0), the defending 3A champion with a 27-game winning streak, will play Wichita Collegiate (13-0) for the 3A title next Saturday at Hutchinson. Collegiate defeated Halstead 21-0 Friday night.
      Horak rushed for four touchdowns and passed for three more. He had TD runs of 70, 18, 10 and 18 yards and had passing touchdowns of 10, 34 and 43 yards.
      The Dawgs finished with 475 yards of total offense behind the offensive line of Zach Jensen, Chayne Hulbert, Tyler Sage, Gabe Marney, Kole Davoren and Jackson Reeves.
      “That was a Rossville show,” Rossville coach Derick Hammes said. “It’s a team deal, it really is. Our kids blocked really well. Tucker is a special kid, but he’d be the first to tell you it’s a team deal here at Rossville.”
      Horak scored on a 70-yard run on the game’s second play and it was all Rossville after that. Rossville scored on all five of its possessions in the first half and both possessions in the third quarter before the Bulldawgs’ backups finished with a running clock in the fourth quarter.
      “Our front five showed up,” Horak said. “They came to play. When they show up to play, it makes it easier for all of us.”
      Horak was 10-for-10 passing. He had two touchdown passes to Cole Schumacher of 10 and 43 yards and had a 34-yard TD pass to Jacob Bradshaw. Schumacher had five catches for 73 yards.
Wellsville finished 10-3, outscoring its previous eight opponents 383-34, but never could get it going Friday night. Wellsville turned the ball over on downs five times and fumbled a kickoff return that led to Rossville’s fourth touchdown. The Eagles never got closer than the 30-yard line until they got to the 25 on their final drive as time expired.
      “We played a great football game, and that was a good team,” Hammes said. “What our kids were able to do through their preparation and effort tonight, and beat a good team like that, says a lot about our kids.”
      Rossville, which beat Scott City 21-14 in the 3A title game last season, is one win away from back-to-back state championships.
      “That was the goal from the beginning of the year,” Horak said. “To get this win takes a big weight off our shoulders. It’s what we’ve been going for all year. It’s a great feeling to get back.”
Zachery Strawn led Wellsville with 69 yards rushing on 15 carries.
Wellsville (10-3)  0   0   0  0 — 0
Rossville  (13-0) 14 21 14  0 — 49
Ross — Horak 70 run (Nascimento kick)
Ross — Schumacher 10 pass from Horak (Nascimento kick) Ross – Bradshaw 34 pass from Horak (Nascimento kick)
Ross — Schumacher 43 pass from Horak (Nascimento kick)
Ross — Horak 18 run (Nascimento kick)
Ross — Horak 10 run (Nascimento kick)
Ross — Horak 18 run (Nascimento kick)
GAME IN FIGURES
                         Well      Ross
First downs        15        20
Rushes-yards 45-186 36-328
Passing yards     43        147
Total offense     229       475
Passing            7-18-0  10-10-0
Fumbles-lost     3-1         0-0
Punts-avg.      2-31.5       0-0
Penalties-yards 8-70       6-60
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Wellsville: Strawn 15-69, Winton 9-56, Dougan 16-30, Smith 3-26, Williams 1-3, See 1-2. Rossville: Horak 18-263, Hammes 8-40, Cavanaugh 4-20, Balch 3-5, Roduner 1-5, Gfeller 2-(minus 5).
PASSING — Wellsville: Dougan 7-18-0, 43 yards; Smith 0-1-0, 0. Rossville: Horak 10-10-0, 147.
RECEIVING — Wellsville: Strawn 3-19, Williams 2-16, Winton 1-4, Breithaupt 1-4. Rossville: Schumacher 5-73, Roduner 3-35, Bradshaw 1-34, Hammes 1-5.

Dawgs Take Early 35-0 Half-time Lead (updated)

    On the second play of the game from scrimmage,  Tucker Horak went up the center and cut to the left sideline for  70 yards for his first TD of the night.
    After 14 minutes and 10 seconds,  The Dawgs were up 28-0 and finished the half 35-0.
    The Dawgs had 236 yards rushing of which Rucker had 211 yards.
    Announcer Tim Woodcock announced that Tucker Horak is the first Kansas high school football player to run for 2,000 yards and also pass for 2,000 yards.
    Be sure to check after the game for video from KSNT and WIBW.


    The game is now over.  Dawgs won 49-0
Dawgs had 324 yards rushing of which 264 was by Horak. Hammes had 39 yards and Cavanah had 19.  Horak had 143 yards passing.

    Wichita Collegiate beat Halstead 21-0 tonight to also advance to the 3A title game.

 

Computer Football Predictions

    The Capital-Journal has published the following 3A football predictions for Nov. 20 games,  which includes a predicted victory of Rossville over Wellsville by 21 points.    Considering that Wellsville has won their last 8 games, including playoff victories of 63-0 over Erie, 56-7 over Neodesha, and 31-14 over Sabetha,  the computer calculations might be questioned.
     The home team is in caps and the favored team on the left.

105.5 ROSSVILLE 20.7 Wellsville 84.8
107.7 Wichita Collegiate 12.6 HALSTEAD 95.1

Rossville & Wellsville Ready

From the Capital-Journal
By Brent Maycock

brent.maycock@cjonline.com

ROSSVILLE — Finally.

In a word, it sums up the emotions Wellsville felt after ousting Sabetha 31-14 last Friday in the Class 3A playoffs. It wasn’t so much the foe the Eagles had conquered, but rather the timing of the victory.

After playing in four state championship games from 1982-96, Wellsville had hit a playoff wall. From 2002-2014, the Eagles qualified for the playoffs 11 times yet couldn’t find its way back to the semifinals let alone the championship game.

Four trips ended in the first round. Another four stalled in the second round. And three ended in the quarterfinals — all at the hands of Silver Lake, including last year’s heartbreaking 20-14 overtime loss to the Eagles.

“We did not feel good after that Silver Lake game last year,” Wellsville coach Brad Burkdoll said. “We felt we controlled a lot of the game, but Silver Lake made some big plays to win it. It’s always tough this time of the year and for our guys to finally get over that hump and beat a very good Sabetha team was big. Our guys are on a mission this year and want to get to that state game bad.”

The roadblock standing between Wellsville (10-2) and its first title-game appearance since losing to Beloit in the 1996 3A title game is a big one, No. 1 and defending champion Rossville (12-0). The Bulldawgs enjoyed their own playoff breakthrough a year ago, finally getting past Silver Lake in the semifinals and rode the momentum to a 21-14 win over Scott City in the championship game.

Rossville hasn’t slowed down this year in its quest for back-to-back crowns. On pace to set a state record for yards per game, averaging 346.3 per contest, the Bulldawgs have worn the bull’s-eye well this season, handling even their stiffest tests with relative ease.

Rossville dominated the second halves of showdowns with Silver Lake and Nemaha Central to break free from tight games at halftime. In last week’s 42-32 win over Colgan, the Bulldawgs overcame two second-half turnovers and near flawless play from the Panthers to keep their undefeated season alive.

“We knew these tests were coming and the fact that we’re still alive, speaks volumes about the kids meeting those challenges,” Rossville coach Derick Hammes said. “We’re a veteran group who has been down this road before and that’s beneficial for us.

“We’ve had three turnovers the last two weeks and we’ve been very good through the course of the year of taking care of the football. We’ve got to clean that up because your opponent this time of the year will take advantage of those mistakes.”

Wellsville got the season off to a somewhat slow start, going 2-2 with losses to Prairie View (7-6) and Eudora (20-6). That might have been expected with the Eagles have to replace leading rusher Brett Osbern, quarterback Cole Silsby, their top-four receivers and their top lineman.

But starting with a hard-fought 14-7 win over 4A Division II quarterfinalist Santa Fe Trail in week five, the Eagles have hit their stride. Wellsville has allowed just 34 points in its past eight games, while putting up 383.

Zach Strawn has replaced Osbern as the feature back and run for 1,140 yards and 18 touchdowns, while quarterback Tony Dougan and tailback Daryon Winton have each added more than 450 yards on the ground and combined 17 touchdowns. Dougan has also thrown for 1,041 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“What I’m getting from coaches I’ve talked with who have played them, they really talk about their team speed,” Hammes said. “They said, ‘Be ready for it,’ and sometimes that’s easier said than done. We’re expecting a very athletic team that has many ways to move the football.”

Rossville showed its offensive balance in the Colgan victory as receiver Christian Roduner and running back Dawson Hammes combined for 179 yards rushing and two touchdowns with Roduner also catching a 35-yard touchdown pass. Hammes has now topped 1,000 yards on the ground (1,101) and Roduner is one of four Rossville receivers with at least 270 yards (574).

Tucker Horak led the way with 188 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, pushing his season total to 2,441 yards rushing and 41 touchdowns. With 1,900 yards passing, Horak is just 100 yards from becoming the first player in state history to rush and pass for 2,000 yards in the same season.

Despite all of Rossville’s offensive weapons, Burkdoll thinks his team matches up well with the defending champs.

“They remind me of our team,” Burkdoll said. “I think we can throw the ball a little bit, have a physical running game too just like they do. The thing that jumps out at me is their speed on defense, and we’re the exact same way. They’ve got athletes all over and that’s going to be a challenge, but our schedule gave us confidence knowing how well we played against the good teams we saw. We couldn’t ask to be playing any differently than we are right now.”