CENTRALIA The comment was made somewhat in jest, but there was a hint of truth to what Larry Glatczak had to say about Rossville quarterback Tucker Horak.
"We could have put 22 (players) out there tonight and not been able to stop him," the Centralia coach said.
Indeed, Horak and Rossville's offense just had that kind of night — one the host Panthers hadn't experienced against them in quite some time. After falling behind 6-0 midway through the first quarter, the Bulldog offense put on a clinic, scoring on five straight possessions on its way to a statement-making 42-6 victory in a battle of ranked Class 3A teams.
Coach talked all week about the tradition that they had," Horak said of the Panthers, who were last year's Class 2-1A state champions, their third title in five years. "We just knew we had to show up and play and prove that we were the better team and it showed in the end."
Rossville, ranked No. 2 in 3A, stayed unbeaten at 6-0, while Centralia, No. 5 in 3A, fell to 5-1 and saw a 28-game regular-season winning streak snapped.
The last team to beat the Panthers in the regular season? Rossville, in 2011.
The Bulldogs didn't exactly blow out of the gate in this one, going three and out on their first two possessions. But once Horak hit Christian Roduner over the top of two Panther defenders for a 45-yard touchdown strike, Rossville found its flow.
Horak scored on runs of 5 and 68 yards on Rossville's next two possessions before Thatcher Horak got into the act with a 5-yard touchdown run and 42-yard touchdown pass from Tucker Horak. Run or pass, Rossville moved almost at will as Tucker Horak racked up 172 yards on the ground and 166 through the air in the opening half in leading the Bulldogs to a commanding 35-7 lead.
The best quarterbacks we've played against was the Smiths from Colgan (Nick and Mark), and he was better than them," Glatczak said. "He's so hard to tackle he runs well and is quicker than heck. And then he can throw it a little bit. He's a player, and they've got a lot of good ones around him."
To put Rossville's first-half performance in perspective, Centralia had allowed just 34 points through its first five games this season before giving up 35 to the Bulldogs in the half. In its last 18 games, Centralia had allowed just 14 first-half points.
We were going to try to find some holes in the defense and then attack them," Horak said. "Once we found something that worked, we stuck to it and were off to the races."
While the offense stole the show, Rossville's defense also was up to the task. After giving up a 59-yard touchdown run to Wyatt VanDorn to start the game's scoring, the Bulldogs clamped down. Centralia finished with 242 yards rushing with VanDorn getting 106 of those, and the Bulldogs held standout back Darrian Turner to just 87 yards, 38 of those coming on the final drive of the game.
Tucker Horak added an 11-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for the only scoring in the second half and finished the game with 219 yards rushing and 206 passing. Corbin Horak had six catches for 97 yards and Thatcher Horak had a combined 85 yards rushing and receiving.
Rossville (6-0) 14 21 7 0 = 42
Centralia (5-1) 6 0 0 0 = 6
Cent VanDorn 59 run (pass failed)
Ross Roduner 45 pass from Tu. Horak (Steinke kick)
Ross Tu. Horak 5 run (Steinke kick)
Ross Tu. Horak 68 run (Steinke kick)
Ross Th. Hatcher 5 run (Steinke kick)
Ross Th. Horak 42 pass from Tu. Horak (Steinke kick)
Ross Tu. Horak 11 run (Steinke kick)
GAME IN FIGURES
Ross Cent
First downs 20 10
Rushes-yards 42-300 51-242
Passing 206 0
Comp-Att-Int 14-20- 0 0-4-1
Punts 4-39.0 7-27.2
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 8-106 3-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING Rossville: Tu. Horak 20-219, Reesor 5-16, Th. Horak 9-43, Hammes 5-13, Balch 3-9. Centralia: Turner 20-87, VanDorn 17-106, Mars 8-22, J. Johnson 4-26, B. Johnson, 2-1.
PASSING Rossville: Tu. Horak 14-20-0, 206. Centralia: VanDorn 0-4-1, 0.
RECEIVING Rossville: C. Horak 6-97, Roduner 4-56, Th. Horak 3-42, Reesor 1-11. Centralia: none.
