“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
-MARK TWAIN
As clichés go, Twain’s quote has long been the mantra for the underdog. The little guy trying to prove he’s more than meets the eye.
At 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, Rossville’s Tucker Horak certainly would seem to fit that mold.
The Bulldawg senior hardly boasts the dimensions of your prototypical quarterback, even at the high school level. He doesn’t have blazing speed or freakish strength, his numbers in the weight room and on the stopwatch good but not attention-grabbing.
Instead, the X-factor for Horak is a trait belied in Twain’s quote, which tweaked with a “Dawg” flavor holds a prominent place on the exterior wall of the concessions building at Rossville’s home field.
It’s heart. It’s determination. It’s want-to.
“With my size, there have just been so many people who have doubted what I can do,” Horak said. “And that’s just extra drive I have, extra motivation. I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
After two prolific high school seasons, the only doubters left are at the next level — the college recruiters trying to decide just where, or even if, Horak might fit in at the Division I level. Even though the questions are legitimate, they’d be wise to listen to Rossville coach Derick Hammes.
“He’s motivated to (play Division I football) and if the kid’s motivated to do that, that’s going to work well for them,” Hammes said. “You can’t measure that heart and he loves to play. We had some schools come through in the spring and when they’re trying to fit him into their recruiting profile, they ask about his competitiveness. I simply say I’ve run across very few that have the competitive will he has.”
* * * * *
If there’s one instance that sums up Horak’s fierce competitiveness, it came at arguably the biggest moment of his prep career.
Early in the fourth quarter of last year’s Class 3A state championship game against Scott City, Horak fumbled at the Beaver 17-yard line in a tie ball game. Scott City took advantage and converted the turnover into a go-ahead touchdown.
For the first time all season, Rossville was behind in the fourth quarter. An offense that had been as prolific as any in the state was sputtering and had just wasted a golden opportunity.
At a time of seeming desperation, Horak delivered a huge dose of confidence and determination in an impromptu speech to his teammates in the huddle.
“We kind of started freaking out a little bit, not having been on the big stage before,” Horak said. “We’d been in that situation, being down, and we just had to keep it together. I just said, ‘If you boys trust in me, I’ll trust in you and let’s go out and get this done.’”
Then Horak put the Bulldawgs on his back and delivered on his promise. Rossville scored twice in the game’s final 7:15 with Horak’s 5-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds left delivering a 21-14 victory and Rossville its first state football title.
“At the end of the game, I don’t think there was any doubt we were going to score on that last possession,” Horak said. “We got to show what we were all about; that we were made of something.”
Horak ran for 61 of the 78 yards Rossville needed on its final drive for the game-winning score, capping a championship game where he ran for 212 yards and accounted for all but 71 yards of the Bulldawgs’ 337 total yards.
* * * * *
If ever there was a player on whom Hammes could put the entire burden of his team’s offense, Horak would be that guy.
“He’s got the ability to do that,” Hammes said of his senior quarterback. “He can put the team on his back and make plays and help us win.”
The numbers back it up. His two seasons as the Bulldawgs’ starting quarterback have produced almost mind-boggling numbers — 3,357 yards passing. 3,896 yards rushing. 97 combined touchdowns.
Only here’s the catch. That’s the last thing Hammes wants to see happen this year as Rossville begins defense of the Class 3A state title it captured a year ago.
In each of the past two seasons, Horak thrived being a focal point off the offense, yet playing off the plethora of weapons he had at his disposal. Guys like older brother Thatcher Horak, cousin Corbin Horak, Nick Reesor, Christian Roduner and Jack Steckel, a quintet of skill players who combined for 1,700 rushing yards, 1,650 receiving yards and 51 touchdowns last year alone.
“We had a whole bunch of weapons the past couple years — my brother and cousin, Jack, Christian and Nick. It was just kind of hard to game-plan against us because we had so many people out there you had to worry about. If you wanted to defend the pass, that was fine because we could run it at any time. If you stacked up the box, we could drop back and throw it to all of our speedsters on the edge. Plus, my front five didn’t get enough credit for what they did either. They put in a lot of work and time and it showed how they physically dominated people day-in, day-out. Having all those weapons definitely helped out quite a bit.”
Entering the 2015 season, only Roduner from that group returns. Graduation claimed the bulk of Horak’s complementary weapons, though Roduner was the Bulldawgs’ leading receiver and junior fullback Dawson Hammes saw his role grow as last year went along.
The natural tendency might be to tweak the offense to put even more on Horak’s shoulders this year, particularly behind a veteran offensive line which Horak has praised as critical to his success. But that’s the last thing Hammes wants to happen.
“My challenge to him is not to do that,” Hammes said. “What I’m asking for him is to have a little bit of patience in the early going and develop trust in the kids we do have. It’s going to be different, but that’s what it’s going to take for us to have a successful team, for him to find his new go-to guys and have trust in kids that maybe weren’t on the field as much for us last year. We know what his ability is, but we’ve got to bring some of these other guys along.”
Just as Horak asked his teammates to trust in him during crunch time a year ago, so must he trust in the new faces to step into their new roles.
“It will be different not having those guys I’ve played with since my sophomore year,” Horak said. “I developed a big-time trust with them. It’s something we’ll have to work on and that’s what we had all summer for. We can develop that trust and bond with each other and that will be the toughest part, establishing that brotherhood that we had. I think just being together all summer out on the grind with each other, it will just come naturally instead of having to force it on ourselves.
“I do feel a little more responsibility, not so much because we’re losing so many weapons, but because it’s just the fact that it’s going to be my senior year. All through high school and growing up, this is the year everyone looks forward to. I do feel a little more pressure, but I know we’ve got guys around me that will make big plays when that needs to happen.”
* * * * *
Horak began his high school career playing a utility role for the Bulldawg offense. With Dalton Catron firmly entrenched as Rossville’s starting quarterback, Horak lined up just about everywhere in the backfield and amassed a combined 650 yards passing, rushing and receiving.
Given the reins to the Rossville offense as a sophomore, Horak burst upon the high school scene. He ran for a school-record 1,807 yards, scoring 33 touchdowns, and also threw for 1,706 yards and 14 scores.
As good as that year was, he was even better last year as a junior. He shattered his school rushing record, finishing with 2,089 yards and 28 touchdowns, increasing his yards per carry to 12.8. Though he threw for fewer yards — 1,651 yards and 22 touchdowns — his completion percentage shot up to 70 percent and his interceptions decreased.
“Obviously he’s made all of our jobs a lot easier,” Hammes said. “On his part, what we do with our system has allowed him to show off all of his abilities. It’s been a great match. He’s made coaching easier, our football program a lot better and having an offense where he can run, throw and make plays, it’s been great for him as well.”
Such numbers carry little weight in the eyes of recruiters, however. Instead, it’s the ones that no offensive system can ever enhance.
“My size definitely doesn’t make it too easy for me to get looks, but I try not to let it slow me down too much,” Horak said. “There are times it gets frustrating when a coach calls me and says we like everything about you and they’ve watched my film, but they want me to grow a little bit. I’m not really sure what to say to that because there’s not really much I can do about that. I just try to work on the things I can affect — my strength, speed, everything I do on the field, vision, my reads trying to perfect them — pretty much everything I can do on my own. Hopefully the rest will work itself out in the end.”
Horak has received interest from locals Kansas and Kansas State, but likely would be considered little more than a walk-on candidate. The most serious Division I pursuer has been Wyoming and Horak performed well at the Cowboys’ camp this summer, one of four he attended along with Kansas State, Emporia State and South Dakota.
“I loved everything about (Wyoming), except the altitude,” Horak said. “I love their facilities, their field was nice and their coaches were super-easy to work with. I really liked it there. ... Overall, I think I was pretty happy with how I competed and performed at their camp.”
Wherever he ends up, Horak knows his days at quarterback will end with his final high school game. And that’s fine with him.
“I don’t want to play quarterback too bad. There aren’t too many offenses at the D-I level where I can do what I like to do, which is get out and run a little, get to the edge and make someone miss. I think slot is definitely the best fit for me. I like that spot a lot.”
And wherever Horak ends up, Hammes is confident he’ll succeed.
“He’s got a chance,” Hammes said. “He’s going to make somebody a really good player.”
TUCKER HORAK’S CAREER STATS AT ROSSVILLE
Rushing
Year Att. Yards Y/C TDs
Fr. 26 189 7.3 3
So. 205 1,807 8.8 33
Jr. 163 2,089 12.8 28
Career 394 4,085 10.4 64
Passing
Year Comp-Att. Yards Pct. TDs Ints
Fr. 5-10 83 .500 1 0
So. 120-205 1,706 .585 14 11
Jr. 110-156 1,651 .705 22 8
Career 235-371 3,440 .633 37 19
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