Rossville Defeats Maur Hill 21-14

From the Capital-Journal:

ATCHISON — Rossville football coach Derick Hammes knew full well there would come a point in Friday’s Class 2A playoff clash with Maur Hill that his pass defense was going to have to come up with a big stop.

Sure enough, that situation presented itself with the season on the line for both teams.

With Rossville clinging to a 21-14 lead with 1:16 left in the game, Maur Hill lined up for a fourth-and-goal at the Bulldawg 7. A Raven score likely would have forced overtime. A Rossville stop would seal the victory.

“Our backs were against the wall,” Hammes said. “The field shrinks down there, so that was to our advantage. (Jack) Caudle does such a good job of buying time and that’s one of the most impressive things about him. We had to pressure him because if we gave him too much time, you can see what he did with the football.”

Having already thrown for 301 yards in the game, Caudle couldn’t quite find his mark on the fourth-down play. His pass to a heavily guarded Parker Mispagel fell incomplete and Rossville held on for the 21-14 victory.

With the win Rossville (8-2) advances to the 2A quarterfinals where the Bulldawgs will take on undefeated and No. 4 Humboldt (10-0), which beat Osage City 30-6. The game will be at Rossville.

Maur Hill finished the season 8-2.

“I knew my guys were going to come out and fight to the very end,” Maur Hill coach Jermaine Monroe said. “It’s tough and this game is a matter of inches. Being that far away from tying this thing up ... We practice scenarios like this, game’s on the line, this is the play we’re going to call. We just fell a little short.”

Maur Hill’s defense gave the Ravens a chance to get back in the game after Rossville threatened to run away with things at the end of the first half. The Bulldawgs scored twice in the second quarter on Garrett Carver touchdown runs of 1 and 58 yards to take a 21-7 halftime lead.

But the Bulldawgs squandered a chance to put the Ravens away as Maur Hill picked off Carver twice inside the Raven 30.

Maur Hill finally capitalized with a score when Tate Vowels made a spectacular 40-yard catch to set up a 7-yard scoring run by Caudle. After the Ravens forced a three-and-out, Vowels broke a tackle and scampered 41 yards to the Rossville 5.

Three plays resulted in a loss of two yards, setting up Maur Hill’s final chance. Rossville smothered Vowels, forcing Caudle to go elsewhere, and Kaleb Badura blanketed Mispagel to force the incompletion.

The teams traded touchdowns on their first two drives with Rossville needing just three plays to get on the board on a Trevor Johnson 28-yard run. Maur Hill answered with Mispagel making a diving catch in the end zone for a 19-yard score on a fourth-down play.

After Carver put Rossville back up 14-7 on a 1-yard run set up by a 51-yard burst, Maur Hill had a shot at tying it. But Vowels dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone and Rossville came up with a fourth-down sack.

Carver went 58 yards for a TD on the next play and it looked like the Bulldawgs were in firm control. But after rushing for 150 first-half yards, Carver managed just 45 in the second half and Maur Hill rallied.

“I felt like there were several times from being a play away from being comfortable,” Hammes said. “But there’s never a comfort level when you have a difference-maker at quarterback, which is what they’ve got.”

Caudle finished 19 of 36 for 301 yards with Vowels catching 10 passes for 170 yards. The eight wins were the most by Maur Hill in several decades and the most during Monroe’s tenure.

“We thought this might be a rebuilding year for us,” Monroe said. “It’s very satisfying, but also a little bittersweet because we thought we could keep going.”

ROSSVILLE 21, MAUR HILL 14

Rossville    7    14    0    0  -  21

Maur Hill  7      0    0    7  -  14

Rossville — Johnson 28 run (Lovisi kick)

Maur Hill — Mispagel 19 pass from J. Caudle (Folsom kick)

Rossville — Carver 1 run (Lovisi kick)

Rossville — Carver 58 run (Lovisi kick)

Maur Hill — J. Caudle 7 run (Folsom kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — 
Rossville: Carver 22-195, Sowers 4-27, Johnson 5-58, Reeves 2-6, Brown 2-7. 
Maur Hill: Smith 7-7, J. Caudle 14-38, Taft 3-2, Schwinn 6-40, Vowels 1-minus 1, Mispagel 1-minus 3.

PASSING — 
Rossville: Carver 1-8-3, 21 yards
Maur Hill: J. Caudle 19-36-0, 301 yards.

RECEIVING — 
Rossville: Horak 1-21. 
Maur Hill: Vowels 10-170, Schwinn 1-7, Mispagel 4-80, Regan 2-40, Ligget 1-8, Taft 1-minus 4.