Tied 14-14 with Centralia late in the third quarter of Saturday night’s Class 3A playoff rematch, Bulldog quarterback Tucker Horak lofted a ball in the direction of older brother Thatcher Horak, hoping he could make a play on the jump ball. Problem was, Centralia’s Darrian Turner was right there waiting with perfect coverage.
The two athletes went up together and as they battled for the ball, it popped up and came down right into Thatcher Horak’s hands. The Bulldog senior raced untouched the rest of the way for a 65-yard touchdown that sent Rossville on its way to a 35-14 victory.
“He played that pretty well and he’s a heck of an athlete,” Thatcher said of Turner. “It was a lot of luck. When it popped in the air, I had no clue where it was. But I held my hand out and it fell right into it.”
No. 1 Rossville (11-0) will hit the road for the quarterfinals, traveling to Pittsburg for a showdown with Colgan (9-2). The Panthers rolled past Galena 35-18 earlier Saturday.
No question “The Catch” played a big role in Rossville fighting off a major challenge by Centralia, which was dominated 42-6 by the Bulldogs in their early October meeting. But so too was “The Stop,” and Horak had a hand in that as well.
After having an answer for everything Rossville threw at it in the first half, Centralia was poised to respond once again on its possession immediately following Horak’s acrobatic touchdown grab. Nice runs by Trevor Mars and Turner moved the ball to the Panther 46 and set up a third-and-1.
Centralia never got the yard it needed. Mars was stuffed for no gain on third down, and on fourth down Thatcher Horak tracked down Turner on the edge for another no gain, giving the ball back to Rossville. The Bulldogs needed just seven plays to make it a two-score game with Nick Reesor rumbling in from 10 yards out.
Rossville’s defense, gashed by Centralia for 147 yards and nine first downs in the first half, gave up just 49 yards and three first downs in the second half, including no first downs and three yards in the fourth quarter.
“When we went in at halftime, we just realized what was on the line and what we were playing for,” said senior lineman Terrance Sowers, who helped set the tone for the defensive stand by teaming with Dawson Hammes for a huge 12-yard sack of Centralia’s Wyatt VanDorn on fourth-and-4 at the Bulldog 15 on the Panthers’ first possession of the second half. “We didn’t want it to go down the drain. We just started clicking and had a bunch of fire.
“That just added juice to the tank.”
Thatcher Horak added a late 17-yard touchdown run for the final margin of victory, finishing the night with 49 yards rushing and 105 receiving with a pair of touchdown grabs. His first was a 36-yarder where he slipped all alone behind the Centralia defense for an easy score that gave Rossville a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter.
Centralia came right back, however, and tied it when Turner hauled in a 10-yard slant pass from VanDorn and then ran in the two-point conversion. Tied at halftime after being completely out of it at the break in the first meeting, Centralia was in position.
But the Panthers couldn’t convert on fourth downs in the second half after also seeing a drive deep in Rossville territory end with a Christian Roduner interception on fourth down in the end zone.
“We’re right there,” Centralia coach Larry Glatczak said. “A tipped ball for a touchdown, a couple fourth-down conversions. It’s a game of plays, a game of inches and that’s what this game was.”
Tucker Horak finished with 106 yards rushing and 134 passing, throwing for two touchdowns. Reesor added 69 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, getting the Bulldogs on the board first with a 31-yard scoring burst up the middle in the first quarter.
Rossville kicker Paul Steinke also set a state record in the game, converting all five extra-point kicks to give him 87 consecutive makes. The old mark was 82, set by Salina Central’s Alex Parker in 2005-06.
Centralia finished the season 9-2, both losses to Rossville and was led by Turner’s 78 rushing yards. Trevor Mars had the Panthers’ other touchdown on a 1-yard run late in the first quarter.
Centralia (9-2) 6 8 0 0 = 14
Rossville (11-0) 7 7 7 14 = 35
Ross — Reesor 31 run (Steinke kick)
Cent — Mars 1 run (pass failed)Ross — Th. Horak 36 pass from Tu. Horak (Steinke kick)Cent — Turner 10 pass from VanDorn (Turner run)Ross — Th. Horak 65 pass from Tu. Horak (Steinke kick)
Ross — Reesor 10 run (Steinke kick)
Ross — Th. Horak 17 run (Steinke kick)
GAME IN FIGURES
Cent Ross
First downs 12 16
Rushes-yards 51-186 36-199
Passing 10 134
Comp-Att-Int 1-5-1 7-12-1
Punts 2-39.0 3-37.5
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yds 2-15 2-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Centralia: Mars 6-25, VanDorn 15-39, Turner 20-78, J. Johnson 9-36, Deters 1-8. Rossville: Tu. Horak 18-106, Reesor 9-69, Th. Horak 8-49, Team 1-minus 17.
PASSING — Centralia: VanDorn 1-4-1, 10, Deters 0-1-0, 0. Rossville: Tu. Horak 7-12-1, 134.
RECEIVING — Centralia: Turner 1-10. Rossville: C. Horak 1-minus 3, Th. Horak 4-105, Roduner 3-32.
