Senior quarterback honored with Faces in the Crowd appearance.
By brent.maycock@cjonline.com
For as long as
he could read, Tucker Horak has thumbed through the pages of Sports
Illustrated, marvelling at the athletic accomplishments documented in the
magazine.
Not once, however, did he ever imagine that one day he would be
staring at his own face in the magazine.
Yet when last week’s issue hit the newsstands, there Horak was, on
page 30, in the Faces in the Crowd feature, accompanied by documentation of his
record-setting senior football season, when he led Rossville to its second
straight undefeated Class 3A state title.
“It never really crossed my mind I’d be in it,” Horak said. “It’s
pretty cool, just to have my name in there with all of the big-timers. I couldn’t
be more thankful.”
Horak becomes the second Shawnee County athlete to be featured in
Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd in the past two months. In the Nov. 16
issue, Hayden freshman Brooklyn Hunter was recognized by the magazine after
capturing a state tennis title and helping the Wildcat volleyball team to a
state title in the fall.
Horak’s senior season certainly merited the selection.
In addition to leading Rossville to its second straight state
championship, scoring three touchdowns in the title game — including a 65-yard
fumble return for the game-winning score in the fourth quarter of a 20-19 win
over Wichita Collegiate — Horak blazed a trail into the state record book on
his way to his second All-State selection by The Capital-Journal.
The 5-foot-10 senior became the first player in state history to
rush and throw for 2,000 yards in the same season, finishing with 2,859 yards
and 47 touchdowns rushing and 2,070 yards and 30 touchdowns passing. He
averaged 15.4 yards per carry and completed 79.2 percent of his passes as a
senior. In his career, he ran for 6,944 yards and threw for 5,510 yards, and
his 12,454 yards of total offense ranks No. 6 all-time in the nation.
“Receiving an honor from Sports
Illustrated brings perspective to how great of a career Tucker had,” Rossville
coach Derick Hammes said. “Not only was he one of the best to play in Kansas,
but his career was noteworthy on a national level as well. Tucker is very
deserving of all the recognition
he has received.”
Former St. Marys coach
Bill Teeter, who serves as a substitute teacher for the Kaw Valley school
district, approached Hammes about submitting Horak’s name for consideration.
Last week, Horak and the school learned he would be in the Dec. 14 issue, which
has Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson on the cover and is on newsstands now.
“It’s just really nice
to get our name out there and for people to get to hear about our hometown a
little bit,” Horak said.
