RHS Overcomes Ice

From  cjonline.com

The weather conditions for Saturday’s Class 3A state championship game in Hutchinson were downright awful.

The field conditions were arguably even worse with Gowan Stadium’s turf covered in more than an inch of ice that quickly evolved into a slick and slushy mess.

Hardly the optimal conditions for two of the state’s top offenses to show their true colors.

Yet in that rainy, icy, chilly mess, Rossville managed to put its true self forward. All season long, Bulldawg coach Derick Hammes has preached about the completeness of his team and against Wichita Collegiate the point was driven home.

“It was a great effort by everybody,” Hammes said after Rossville rallied with 13 fourth-quarter points to nip Collegiate 20-19 and secure a second straight undefeated 3A state championship. “It was one of those days where the field conditions didn’t allow either one of us to play the game the way we wanted to play. More than anything, because of the field conditions, it was a battle, a game of will. Not that they didn’t want it, but our kids wanted it bad and came up with the plays down the end to get it done.”

Even with its high-powered offense slowed by not only treacherous field conditions but a Collegiate defense bent on containing Bulldawg record-setting quarterback Tucker Horak, both still had their moments. Rossville opened the game with a 65-yard scoring drive, capped by a 5-yard run from Horak, and down 19-7 late in the third quarter, mounted an 11-play, 62-yard drive which Horak finished with an 8-yard scoring run on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The state’s all-time leader in total offense, Horak rushed for 150 yards on 24 carries but only had five runs of 10 yards or more after coming into the game averaging 15.4 yards per carry. His longest run of the game was 41 yards, which moved Rossville into field goal range late in the first half, but the Dawgs were unable to convert.

“They were doing some really good things on defense, making it tough on our line,” said Horak, who also only threw for 29 yards, finishing with 179 total yards and coming up 73 yards shy of reaching 5,000 yards of total offense this season. “They were really squeezing their D-ends and that made it tough on us today. We practiced that all week and adjusted to it, so other people had to make plays and they stepped up when they needed to.”

After Horak’s second touchdown run made it 19-14, it was Rossville’s defense that truly stepped up. Despite yielding touchdowns to Collegiate on both of its third-quarter possessions and giving up an 18-yard run on the Spartans’ first play of the fourth quarter to Spartan quarterback Austin Waddell, who had a great day with 278 yards of total offense, the Bulldawgs buckled down when they had to.

Two plays after Waddell’s run, Rossville stacked up standout Spartan back Nathan Burgoyne in the backfield and Horak stripped the ball and took it 65 yards for the game-winning score.

The Bulldawgs then forced a three-and-out, but still had to come up with one last stop when the Rossville offense couldn’t deliver a final dagger.

In the final 7:42, Collegiate methodically moved the ball down the field, converting a third-and-9 on a Rossville pass interference and a fourth-and-1 near midfield. A pair of throwback screens that had simply killed Rossville in the third quarter — a 60-yarder from Waddell to Burgoyne produced their go-ahead score and a 36-yarder from Waddell to John Egan set up their final touchdown — moved it deep into Rossville territory, a 25-yarder to Burgoyne set Collegiate up at the Bulldawg 16 with 29 seconds left.

After two straight incompletions, including a drop by Collegiate inside the 10, and a false start, the Bulldawgs had to dodge one last bullet. Horak and Jacob Bradshaw ensured they did, both in position for a game-clinching interception with Bradshaw hauling it in.

“Both of us definitely had explosive offenses this year,” Bradshaw said. “For it to come down to defense, it’s just will for us. We had to fight back the entire game and it was just huge plays by us that got it done.”

It marked the second straight year Rossville rallied in the fourth quarter for the state title, last year coming from 14-7 down with 7:15 left to edge Scott City 21-14.

Offense, defense, even special teams — Augusto Nascimento’s PAT kick that just squeaked over the crossbar after Rossville’s second touchdown proved to be the difference — Rossville delivered whatever was necessary to pull off back-to-back titles.

“Before the game, that was one of the things that we laid out, that it would be a game of sudden changes,” Hammes said. “We just had a belief we were going to do it. ... Things were looking a little bit bleak for us, but it was poise and determination of the kids that got us through it.”