Rossville 3A State Champs

From the Hutchinson News:

Tied 7-7 with Wichita Collegiate at halftime, Rossville senior quarterback and safety Tucker Horak channeled his inner Joe Namath to his coach and teammates in the locker room and made a guarantee.

The Bulldawgs’ engine told coach Derick Hammes to relax before he addressed the team and there was nothing to worry about. He reminded the team that they haven’t exactly clicked and played their best in first halves throughout the season. He said he guaranteed a win despite the fact the team that had been blowing everybody out throughout the season was in a battle on an icy field with freezing rain dropping down throughout the game Saturday at Gowans Stadium.

Horak maintained this stance when the Spartans jumped ahead 19-7 in the third quarter.

“I walked over on the sidelines and I told our right tackle that we are going to score twice and we’re going to win this thing,” Horak said.

Horak did exactly that. He scored an offensive and defensive touchdown in a 56-second span during the first 1:01 of the fourth quarter to give the Bulldawgs a lead which they never relinquished in a 20-19 victory.

The Bulldawgs’ 28th consecutive win that clinched the program’s second-straight title wasn’t easy and the miserable conditions took the teams out of their comfort zones. But Hammes said his team showed the heart of true champions.

“This was one of those games that field conditions didn’t probably allow either one of us to maybe play the game we wanted to play,” Hammes said. “I think probably more than anything because of the conditions it was just a battle. It was a game of will. Not that they didn’t want it but our kids wanted it bad. They came up with the plays down at the end of it.”

The Spartans took the lead in the third quarter when quarterback Austin Waddell hit running back Nathan Burgoyne on a screen pass. Burgoyne broke a tackle and busted loose for a 60-yard score to give the Spartans a 13-7 lead with 7:55 left. Around five minutes later, Waddell completed another screen pass to fullback John Egan for 36 yards on third and 18 down to the Bulldawg 2-yard line. Waddell eventually scored on a 1-yard plunge to give the Spartans a 19-7 edge.

The Bulldawgs didn’t fret and Horak orchestrated a 62-yard, 11-play scoring drive and scored on an 8-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter to bring Rossville to within 19-14.

The Spartans quickly advanced to the Rossville 32-yard line, but then Horak came up big on the defensive side of the ball. Horak caused Burgoyne to cough up the ball at the 35-yard line. Horak recovered and took it 65 yards for a touchdown.

“I saw he was trying to do a little too much and hung it out a little bit,” Horak said. “I guess I just did what I could and made a play.”

Collegiate coach Mike Gehrer said it was a huge blow for the Spartans and he was overall pleased with how the Spartans played in the sloppy conditions.

“That’s who he (Horak) is,” Gehrer said. “He’s a been a big player. My hats off to him. He’s their all-everything and he proved it again.”

The Spartans tried one last time to get the win and drove down to the Rossville 16-yard line with under 30 seconds left. But Rossville came up with the stop it needed in the red zone and junior cornerback Jacob Bradshaw clinched the win with an interception in the end zone as time expired.

Horak, who rushed and passed for over 2,000 yards this season and nearly combined for 5,000 yards of total offense, was held relatively in check most of the game by the Spartans’ defense. He said the way Collegiate squeezed their defensive ends gave the Bulldawg offense fits as he finished with 150 yards rushing and 29 yards through the air. But he said the whole Rossville squad stepped up and did just enough to secure another state championship.

“We made some adjustments to it and other people had to make plays,” Horak said. “That’s what they did. They stepped up when they needed to.”

Key stat: Rossville won despite the fact Wichita Collegiate out gained the Bulldawgs 342-256 yards and won the possession battle 28:33 to 19:27.

Turning point: With just under 11 minutes left, Rossville safety Tucker Horak forced and recovered a fumble and returned it 65-yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 20-19 lead they never relinquished.

Players of game: Horak finished with 150 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 24 carries while also scoring the game-winning touchdown on defense. For the Spartans, Waddell passed for 177 yards and two touchdowns while also adding 101 yards and a score on the ground. Nathan Burgoyne caught four passes for 96 yards and a touchdown for the Spartans.

He said it: “We weren’t relaxing,” Collegiate coach Mike Gehrer said when his team took a 19-7 lead late in the third quarter. “We wanted to get the ball back. We wanted to go march down and score one more time. Then we would have been more relaxed at that point. We knew that you don’t play a team like that that scores so many points and have so many weapons.”

Up next: Rossville (14-0) enters the offseason as state champion while Wichita Collegiate finishes its season at 13-1.