Morning Sun Article On Golgan-RHS Game

From the Pittsburgh Morning Sun:

One name: Horak. Two different players. The two brothers scored all eight of Rossville’s touchdowns in a 56-19 win over St. Mary's Colgan on Friday night.

Running back Thatcher Horak found the end zone on the game’s opening kickoff from 95 yards out.

His brother, quarterback Tucker Horak, scored on Rossville’s next drive on a 28-yard fake handoff run and then added three more touchdowns in the first half to give the Bulldogs a 35-13 lead at intermission. Tucker finished the night with five touchdowns while Thatcher had two.

“They’re both great players,” St. Mary’s head coach Chuck Smith said. “The bad thing is Tucker’s coming back next year. I thought both of them had a great game. I’m proud of our kids. We never quit and the scoreboard might look ugly but the kids hung in there.”

Playing at Carnie Smith Stadium at Pittsburg State, the undefeated and No. 1-ranked Bulldogs proved to be too much for the Panthers (9-3) in the sectional round of the Class 3A playoffs.

“An awful good team beat us,” Smith said. “Opening kickoff, we kicked the ball like we wanted to and Thatcher takes the ball and breaks several tackles and they’re up 14-0 before we know it. They’re a real fine football team. Their quarterback was good. They’ve just got a lot of good players.”

Tucker finished with 16 carries for 198 yards and went 5-6 for 95 yards and one interception.

“Our offensive line has been playing well all year,” Tucker said. “Our line has been opening up holes all year and that’s what sparks us. We got to give it all to them.”

Thatcher had four carries for 58 yards.

Tucker picked off quarterback Ryan Cedeno and returned it all the way back for a 45-yard touchdown in the first quarter to give the Bulldogs a 28-7 lead.

“For us, in the early going, when the game was back and forth, it was our non-offense scores that were very important for us,” Rossville coach Derrick Hammes said.

Tailback Austin Commons had 29 carries for 191 yards for the Panthers. Cedeno had two touchdown runs.

The Panthers punted for the only time in the first half on their opening drive. On their second drive, they found the end zone on a seven-play, 61-yard drive in which Cedeno connected with wide receiver Sawyer Esch for an 18-touchdown pass with 3:43 left in the first quarter.

But the Bulldogs had an answer for everything, and Tucker scored on a 1-yard run to cap a nine-play, 70-yard drive to make it 21-7, Rossville. Two plays later, Tucker scored on his interception return

RHS-Colgan Video

   A short video of the Rossville-Colgan game can be seen at:
http://www.wibw.com/sports/ksprepzone/headlines/Week-11-Rossville-at-St-Marys-Colgan-282747711.html

Old Football Team Photo

A photograph of the Rossville High School football team, supposedly of the 1917 team.  I wonder about that date since I knew some of those men.   Anyone know about that?

 Pictured in the back row, left to right, are Bill James, Howard Bixby, Homer Reid, Fred Stewart, (teacher) Leslie Young, Ed Doud, Dave Stiles, Homer Lasswell, and Edwin Stamp. 
In the middle row are Evan Seely, Marvin Hopkins, Glenn Page, Guy Strimple, and Riley Mitchell. 
Sitting on the ground are Carl Lynde, Ralph Bolin, Burton Lynde, Ralph Page, and Johnnie Lillard. 
This photograph is provided through a pilot project to host unique cultural heritage materials from local libraries on Kansas Memory and was accomplished by mutual agreement between the Northeast Kansas Library System, the Rossville Community Library, and the Kansas Historical Society.

Dawgs Meet Eagles On Nov. 21

    The Kansas 3A semi-final football game pitting Rossville against Silver Lake will be at Silver Lake on Friday,  Nov. 21.

Mid-East Football Standings

Final Mid-East League Football Standings are:

Rossville Bulldogs	12	0	0
Silver Lake Eagles	11	1	0
Riley County Falcons	5	5	0
Rock Creek Mustangs	2	7	0
St. Marys Bears	2	7	0
Wabaunsee Chargers	0	9	0

This includes all games to date,  not just Mid-East games.

Rossville Dominates Colgan 56-19

From the Capital Journal Online:
PITTSBURG — It was only one play and the very first play of the game, but there were none bigger for Rossville on Friday night at Carney Smith Stadium.
    Rossville senior Thatcher Horak took Colgan’s opening kickoff and weaved through the Panther defense for a 95-yard touchdown and the Bulldawgs never looked back en route to a 56-19 Class 3A quarterfinal victory.
    “They got down to the ball quick and about the 10-yard line I thought they were going to light me up and all of a sudden I hit a hole and I don’t know what happened, I just went to the house,” Horak said.
    “We knew how big of a game this was, and who gets the opportunity to play on Pitt State’s field? What an opportunity and we knew they were a really good team and we knew we had to come out and play our best.”
    Horak’s kick return was the catalyst of a huge first quarter that saw Rossville, now 12-0, open up a commanding 28-7 lead. By halftime it was 35-13 and Colgan was unable to challenge the rest of the way as the Bulldawgs punched their ticket for the state semifinals.
    “Getting a big spark like that, it’s huge in a big game like this,” said Rossville junior quarterback Tucker Horak, who followed his older brother’s lead and turned in a monster night. “With these guys’ offense and how competitive they are and their tradition, you give them any life at all there’s always a chance they can come back on you, so we just knew we wanted to get ahead of them early and try to stay on top of them.”
    The Horak brothers scored all eight Rossville touchdowns, including six TDs from Tucker, who scored on five runs and an interception return. Paul Steinke went eight of eight on extra-point kicks.
Rossville forced Colgan (9-3) to punt on its first possession and the Bulldogs put together a seven-play, 87-yard scoring drive to go up 14-0 with 7:31 left in the first, with junior Tucker Horak capping things with a 27-yard run.
    Colgan answered with an 18-yard scoring pass from junior Ryan Cedeno to junior Sawyer Esch with 3:43 left in the opening quarter, but Rossville scored 14 more points before end of the quarter.
Rossville went 70 yards in nine plays for a Tucker Horak 1-yard TD plunge, then Tucker Horak picked off Cedeno on Colgan’s next play from scrimmage and returned the pick 44 yards for a touchdown with 22 ticks left in the first.
    Colgan got back within striking distance on a 4-yard Cedeno run, but the Bulldawgs blocked the extra point try and then Tucker Horak scored his fourth touchdown on a 68-yard run with 6:59 left in the half.
    Thatcher Horak scored his second TD of the game on a 35-yard pass from Tucker in the third quarter, then Tucker Horak scored from 4 and 17 yards out to end the Bulldawgs’ explosive offensive night.
    Tucker Horak finished with 198 rushing yards on 16 carries and was 5-for-6 passing for 95 yards and a TD.
    Colgan senior Austin Commons had a big night in a losing cause, rushing for 191 yards on 29 carries. The Panthers hurt themselves with four turnovers.

Rossville (12-0)     28   7   14    7    =     56
Colgan (9-3)            7   6     6    0    =    19

Rossville — Thatcher Horak 95 kickoff return (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 27 run (Steinke kick)
Colgan — Esch 18 pass from Cedeno (Cason kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 1 run (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 44 interception return (Steinke kick)
Colgan — Ryan Cedeno 4 run (kick blocked)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 68 run (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Thatcher Horak 35 pass from Tucker Horak (Steinke kick)
Colgan — Cedeno 3 run (pass failed)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 4 run (Steinke kick)
Rossville — Tucker Horak 17 run (Steinke kick)

GAME IN FIGURES
                                  Ross       Col
First downs                 15          19
Rushes-yards           31-316   57-233
Passing yards              95          70
Passes                       5-7-1     5-11-1
Fumbles-lost              0-0          6-3
Punts-avg.               1-33.0      1-37.0
Penalties-yards         8-80 3-      25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Rossville: Tucker Horak 16-198, Thatcher Horak 4-58, Steckel 7-51, Reesor 2-6, Hammes 1-2, Woodcock 1-1. Colgan: Commons 29-191, Cedeno 10-19, Stewart 11-16, Dellasega 2-7, Hayes 2-4, Wilson 1-(minus)-2, Dickey 2-(minus)-2.
PASSING — Rossville: Tucker Horak 5-6-1, 95 yards; Woodcock 0-1-0, 0. Colgan: Cedeno 4-10-1, 64; Dickey 1-1-0, 6.
RECEIVING — Rossville: Corbin Horak 3-47, Thatcher Horak 1-35, Roduner 1-13. Colgan: Duncan 1-44, Esch 1-18, Normand 1-7, Brown 1-6, Commons 1-(minus)-5.
PUNTING — Rossville: Woodcock 1-33.0. Colgan: Cason 1-37.0.

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Centrailia Game Photos

    Photos of the RHS game against Centrailia on Nov. 8 can be seen at:

http://rossvilleksphotos.blogspot.com/2014/11/centrailia-game-photos-110814.html

Colgan and Dawgs Matchup Fri.

From The Morning Sun, Pittsburgh, KS. 

    Since 2000, the St. Mary's Colgan Panthers are 46-10 in the state playoffs, entering their Class 3A sectional game Friday night against undefeated Rossville.

    "We've got a really tough game," Colgan head coach Chuck Smith said. "We're playing the No. 1 3A team in the state and we know we have a tough game, but we're glad to be in it."

    Yes, that's 46-10, good for a .821 winning percentage, four state titles (2000-03) and four state runner-ups (2004, 2005, 2007, 2010) this century and 56 playoff games (57 coming up Friday) translate into more than six regular seasons. Colgan also made the state title game in 1999 and last missed the playoffs in 1998, in the days of taking just one playoff team from each district.

    The Panthers (9-2) make a visit for the first time in several years to Carnie Smith Stadium, home of the nationally-ranked Pittsburg State Gorillas, on Friday (5 p.m. kickoff). Pittsburg (9-1) hosts Shawnee Heights (6-4) in a 5A sectional at 7 p.m. Friday at Hutchinson Field.

    Colgan looks for its first 3A semifinal appearance, after being stalled out the last two seasons at sectionals by Mid-East League powers Silver Lake (last season) and Rossville (2012).

The Panthers won at Galena's Abbey Field for the second time this season, 35-18 on Saturday behind 21 unanswered points in the second half to build a 28-6 lead after the Crawford-Neosho-Cherokee League rivals played to a 7-6 halftime score. Ryan Cedeno passed for more than 150 yards, Ian Duncan caught six passes for 120 yards and the ground attack produced four TDs.

Opponents have not scored more than 22 points in a game against Colgan: The Rams of Riverton reached 22 in Week 3, Humboldt hit 20 in Week 8, and Southeast and Galena each managed 18. All those games were Colgan victories and their only two losses this season came against Frontenac (14-7) and Columbus (14-12), teams a combined 19-1 headed into sectionals. Frontenac (10-0) travels to Carbondale to play Santa Fe Trail (8-2) and Columbus (9-1) hosts defending 4A champion Holton (9-1).

    The Panthers' D allows 11.9 points per game and that number will be challenged Friday night by an explosive Rossville squad.

SCOUTING THE 'DOGS

    The numbers Rossville accumulated over the first 11 games define ridiculous: 614 points, 55.8 per game, 470.9 yards per game, 331 rushing, 139 passing, 81 total touchdowns, 56 TDs rushing and 10.7 yards per carry. The Bulldogs dialed up 168 points in back-to-back wins over Oskaloosa (77-8) and Osage City (91-22); keep in mind that Colgan's surrendered 131 points over 11 games.

    "They're real good," Smith said. "I watched the Silver Lake game last night and I thought they really put it on Silver Lake. Silver Lake's one of the top teams in the state of Kansas and Rossville really took it to 'em. That's a big rival game for 'em but they still did it."

    Junior dual-threat quarterback Tucker Horak leads the offense: 20 TDs both on the ground and through the air. He's both rushed and passed for over 1,000 yards — 1,587 rushing, 1,409 passing. Horak averages right around 15 yards per carry or a first-down-and-a-half per carry and he's completed 75 percent (93-124) of his passes.

Read more: http://www.morningsun.net/article/20141112/Sports/141119939#ixzz3IzcRoNoz

Paul Steinke Sets PAT Record

From WIBW.com

ROSSVILLE, Kan. -- The NFL experimented with removing extra points, or point after touchdowns (PATs), during the preseason. They've become nearly automatic for professional kickers.

Not including the 2014 season, according to the NFL, there is a 99.1 percent success rate on PATs since 2004.

One local kicker has been even better; he set a state record for extra points, kicking 100 percent so far this season.

"That's awesome. I feel awesome. Before the game started, I didn't know I was about to break the record," Rossville kicker Paul Steinke said. "But then I made the PAT and the guy who commentates the game said Paul broke the state record and I said 'Oh, Cool!' It's awesome."

Steinke, a junior foreign exchange student from Hamburg, Germany, has made 87 consecutive PATs. In Rossville's last game, Steinke broke the previous record of 82.

"I wasn't aware of it until it was announced at the game after he kicked it," placeholder Tucker Horak said. "I was kind of surprised but I figured he had to be close to breaking some records."

Steinke's background in other sports helped him excel in football.

""I thought, I play soccer in Germany so I want to try football because it's the American thing," Steinke said. "I can come back and say 'yeah, I played American football in America.'"

His coach, Derek Hammes, said Steinke's golf background improves his accuracy.

"He's got a routine about every kick that he has and I just think that the pre-shot, or in this case the pre-kick, routine that he has has been very helpful," Hammes said.

Steinke has only attempted two field goals all season. He made both.

He'll look to extend his PAT success streak on Friday against St. Marys Colgan.

Video of Paul can be viewed  at:  http://www.wibw.com/sports/headlines/Rossville-Football-Player-Kicking-Down-Records-282334631.html

Coaches Take On SLHS & RHS Games

From CJOnline
By Brent Maycock
SILVER LAKE — As soon as the final horn sounded on Rossville’s 24-14 win over Silver Lake in the War on 24 showdown in late October, fans from both teams couldn’t help but hold one thought.
“See ya again in a few weeks.”
    Both teams are poised to earn that rematch, but first must get by big challenges in Friday’s Class 3A quarterfinals. No. 1 Rossville (11-0) hits the road to Pittsburg for a 5 p.m. clash with perennial contender Colgan (9-2), while Silver Lake (10-1) is home for the second straight week, entertaining Wellsville (9-2) at 7 p.m.
    And while fans might be dreaming of a semifinal rematch — which would be the ninth in 13 years between the Mid-East League archrivals — the coaches and players from each school haven’t even entertained such thoughts.
    “You have to take it one game at a time, survive and do the things we need to do to get prepared for our next opponent,” Silver Lake coach C.J. Hamilton said. “I don’t think coach (Derick) Hammes or any of their players are thinking anything but Colgan and we’re not thinking anything else but Wellsville.”
Hammes agreed.
“Colgan’s got our full attention, I can tell you that,” Hammes said. “They’re so well coached and play extremely hard and do everything right. For us to look ahead, we’d be in trouble. We’re not doing that. The circumstances of this game, playing in (Pittsburg State’s) Carnie-Smith Stadium against a football team with a lot of tradition, our kids are really looking forward to that.”
    Both teams survived tough battles just to get to the quarterfinals.
After dominating a regular-season matchup with Centralia 42-6, Rossville had its hands full with the Panthers in the rematch. The game was tied 14-14 at halftime before an acrobatic touchdown catch by Thatcher Horak sparked the Bulldawgs to a 21-0 advantage in the second half and a 35-14 win.
Horak caught a pair of touchdown passes from younger brother Tucker, who finished with 106 yards rushing and 134 passing. The Bulldawgs made some huge defensive stands to secure the win, twice stopping Centralia inside the Rossville 15.
    “Those guys were good and they came to play,” Hammes said of Centralia, which won the 2-1A state title last year. “They gave us a great challenge and the difference between this year’s team and last year’s is we didn’t have those challenges. We’ve had some injury situations or two to deal with and we’ve been in a couple tight ball games in the latter half of the season where we’ve pulled through. The make-up of the season has been different and the kids have responded.”
Colgan has won five straight since suffering consecutive losses to 4A Division II quarterfinalists Frontenac and Columbus. The Panthers downed Jayhawk-Linn (46-7) and Galena (35-18) to reach the quarterfinals.
    Though Colgan has yet to reach a championship game in two seasons of 3A, the Panthers do own seven state titles overall, inlcuding four straight 2-1A crowns from 2000-03. Colgan has made the 3A quarterfinals each of the last two seasons, falling to Rossville 17-7 in 2012.
    “In my career, every time you go to southeast Kansas, it’s the biggest thing in town,” Hammes said. “The atmosphere whoever you play down there is cool because everyone turns out from it locally. It’s an area of the state that really supports football and on top of that we’re playing a really good team.”
    Like Rossville, Silver Lake found itself in a tight battle with Sabetha last Friday, using a 41-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Matzke to Jace Freeman on the final play of the first half to break a 7-7 tie. The Eagles held Sabetha scoreless the rest of the way to pull out a 28-7 victory.
“They were physical, had pretty good speed and tackled really well,” Hamilton said of the Bluejays. “I was impressed with them.”
    Wellsville is nearly a carbon copy of Sabetha, relying heavily on a ground game led by speedy back Brett Osbern. The senior has rushed for 1,397 yards and 21 touchdowns this year and had logged five straight games of 130 yards or more before being held to 70 by Caney Valley.
Cole Silsby has added 923 yards and 12 touchdowns through the air, while the Eagle defense has allowed just 61 points all season with Saturday’s 11-10 win over Caney Valley  snapping a streak of five straight shutouts.
    “They’ve got good size and good speed and that’s always a tough combination,” Hamilton said.
Silver Lake has allowed just 64 points and had a string of four straight shutouts during the season. Offensively, Matzke has thrown for 1,860 yards and 22 touchdowns and also run for 635 yards and 12 scores.

RHS Kansas Scholars Named

    On Tuesday, Nov. 4, the University of Kansas Alumni Association and KU Endowment honored   210 seniors from high schools in Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties  their academic achievements and named them Kansas Honor Scholars at a 7 p.m. program and reception at the Topeka Ramada Inn
    The seniors from RHS that were honored were:  Makayla Crow, Breanna Hill,  Nicholas Reesor, Andrea Rietcheck,  Lake Schultz-Pruner,  Ethan Woodcock.
    The complete article can be read at:  http://news.ku.edu/ku-honor-210-seniors-shawnee-wabaunsee-county-high-schools

Mary (Belt) Cathcart Passes Away

    Mary Josephine Cathcart, 80, of Council Grove, Kansas, passed away Monday, November 10, 2014, at Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka.
    She was born September 13, 1934 in Council Grove, Kansas to Elmer and Opal (Williams) Belt. She was one of the youngest of thirteen children.
    Jo married John Cathcart on November 25, 1968 in Rossville, Kansas. After several moves, they have lived in this area for the last several years.
    She worked as a waitress at the Hays House and Saddlerock Caf . She was a homemaker and supported her husband in his business. She was a member of Council Grove Christian Church. She enjoyed flowers, cooking, decorating her home and spending time with her grandchildren.
    Jo was preceded in death by her parents and siblings: Lorenzo Belt, Irma Belt, Ila Mae Smith, Ethel Davis, Stella Ward, Freda Nester, Jack Belt, and Walter Belt. She is survived by her husband John, of the home; sons, Rick Nosker and wife Robin, of Juliette, IL, Dan Nosker and wife Becky, of Council Grove, Jason Cathcart and wife Angela, of Emporia; daughter, Lori Jo Houck and husband Jeff, of rural Americus; stepdaughters, Pam Hood and husband Robin, of Topeka and Judy Funk and husband Greg, of Overland Park; 20 grandchildren; and 9 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters, Lola Phillips, Nadine Nester; and brothers, John Belt and George Belt.
    A visitation will be held on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home in Council Grove. The funeral service will be at 2:00pm, Thursday, November 13th at Council Grove Christian Church. Interment will follow at Comisky Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Morris County Hospital Foundation and may be sent in care of Penwell-Gabel, Po Box 273, Council Grove, KS 66846. To leave a special message for the family online, please visit www.PenwellGabelCouncilGrove.com 

Robert Jacobson Passes Away

    Robert Eugene Jacobson, 84 Rossville, passed away Monday, November 10, 2014 at the Midland Hospice House in Topeka.   
    He was born January 23, 1930 at Topeka, the son of John and Catherine O'Connor Jacobson. He grew up in the Delia and Rossville communities and graduated from Topeka High School.   
    Mr. Jacobson was a lineman and had worked for PAR Electrical. Robert was a member of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Rossville. He was also a member of IBEW Local Union 304. Bob was an avid sports fan and enjoyed watching KU Basketball.   
    He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Billy and John Jacobson; a sister Rosemary Pauly.    Survivors include three sons, Steve (Kate) Jacobson, St. Marys, Mike (Debbie) Jacobson, Excelsior Springs, MO, and Jesse Jacobson, Jarrell, TX; a brother, Donald (Genevieve) Jacobson, Rossville; three sisters, Betty Lambotte, Rossville, Kay (Bill) Wild, St. Marys and Dorothy (Jim) Lloyd Rossville; grandchildren; great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews.   
    Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 A.M. Thursday, November 13, 2014 at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Rossville.    The family will receive friends from 6:00 until 7:00 P.M. Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at Piper Funeral Home in St. Marys, where a rosary will be recited at 7:00 P.M.    Inurnment will be in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, St. Marys. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Midland Care and sent in care of Piper Funeral Home, 714 Maple St., St. Marys, Kansas 66536

Dawgfeed 9 You Tube Video

    For RHS news,  a few laughs,  and some video of the "War on 24"  go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V65S8Gy9fY