ROSSVILLE - Even as his team got up by three scores early in the fourth quarter against arch rival and No. 1 Rossville, Silver Lake coach C.J. Hamilton was hardly comfortable.
“They do such a great job of coming back, I knew it wasn’t safe,” Hamilton said. “They’ve been behind this year and have done a great job of dealing with adversity.”
Sure enough, Rossville charged back, not ready to see its 32-game winning streak come to an end. Scoring two touchdowns in a 56-second span, the Bulldawgs cut the deficit to a touchdown and then got two more cracks at tying the game when Silver Lake turned it over on three straight possessions.
But the No. 2-ranked Eagles got the defensive stops they needed and held on for a 36-28 victory. The win not only snapped the Bulldawgs’ state-best winning streak, but also Silver Lake’s three-game slide in the series.
“To Silver Lake’s credit, they came out storming,” Rossville coach Derick Hammes said. “They got after us early and just character-wise, it said a lot about us to crawl back into the game. There was a certain point where we didn’t have anything going offensively - they were dynamite on defense - and our kids found a way to get back in it. At the end of the day, when we look at this on film, they made more plays than we did and they earned it by far.”
Still, with the way Silver Lake’s offense had consistently driven for scores and the Eagle defense had shut down Rossville’s offense, the Eagles looked to have things well in hand when Dalton Dultmeier scampered for an 8-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter to five Silver Lake a 36-14 lead.
Rossville’s offense, after managing just 114 yards in the first half, had looked better to start the second half, but still had only produced one touchdown after the break, a 14-yard score by Jacob Bradshaw on the first possession of the half.
But after Dultmeier’s touchdown run, the Bulldawgs’ sprang to life, some of it provided by the Eagles’ turnover woes. Two plays after getting down 22, Bradshaw hit Cole Schumacher for a 66-yard touchdown strike.
Silver Lake then coughed up the first of three straight fumbles, setting Rossville up at the Eagle 29 and three plays later, Dawson Hammes powered it in for a 1-yard score.
Just like that, it was 36-28 with 10:16 still left in the game. And when Dultmeier was stripped on Silver Lake’s next possession and Sheldon Julbert recovered, Rossville was suddenly in business.
“I’m not pleased with the turnovers,” Hamilton said. “They’re a good football team and we got fortunate. That’s two weeks in a row in the second half where we haven’t taken care of the ball.”
Silver Lake’s defense responded, however, as Rossville gained just two yards on its first three plays of the ensuing possession and a fourth-down pass from the Eagle 34 fell incomplete.
Rossville still got one more chance, though. A bad snap off the leg of a crossing receiver was pounced on by the Dawgs’ Hulbert, but Rossville went four and out, coming up two yards short on fourth down, and Silver Lake ran out the clock to seal the win.
“We got off to a great start and got it rolling a little bit,” Hamilton said. “I feel good about some things, but we’ve still got some work to do. A game like that, there’s going to be good times and bad times, ebb and flow.”
Silver Lake did indeed start fast, scoring on two first-quarter possessions as Dultmeier hit Ryan Wagner for a 29-yard touchdown and Josh Boyd scored from 1 yard out. When Dultmeier hit Wyatt Heiman for a 20-yard score early in the second quarter, the Eagles were on the verge of blowing Rossville off its own field, up 22-0.
But the Bulldawgs snapped to life, getting a 9-yard touchdown run from Perry Foster before halftime to cut the lead to 22-7 and then opened the second half with Bradshaw’s 14-yard scoring run.
Dultmeier finished with 224 yards passing and 79 yards rushing, while Bradshaw had 153 passing and 91 rushing for Rossville, which lost for the first time since falling to Silver Lake in the 2013 state semifinals.
Silver Lake (5-0) 14 8 7 7 - 36
Rossville (4-1) 0 7 7 14 - 28
SCORING
SL -Wagner 29 pass from Dultmeier (Dultmeier kick)
SL - J. Boyd 1 run (Dultmeier kick)
SL - Heiman 20 pass from Dultmeier (Byers run)
Ross - Foster 9 run (Andersen kick)
Ross - Bradshaw 14 run (Andersen kick)
SL - Huske 2 run (Dultmeier kick)
SL - Dultmeier 9 run (Dultmeier kick)
Ross - Schumacher 66 pass from Bradshaw (Andersen kick)
Ross - Hammes 1 run (Andersen kick)
GAME IN FIGURES
SL Ross
First downs 19 12
Rushes-yards 49-162 39-161
Passing 224 153
Comp-Att-Int 12-17-0 8-16-2
Punts 3-34.0 4-22.0
Fumbles-Lost 4-4 0-0
Penalties-Yards 3-27 3-33
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Silver Lake: Dultmeier 25-79, Baird 2-3, Wagner 1-26, J. Boyd 3-4, Huske 7-15, Walker 1-0, Jones6-36, Team 3-mnus 1. Rossville: Bradshaw 27-91, Foster 3-16, Hammes 9-54.
PASSING - Silver Lake: Dultmeier 12-17-0, 224. Rossville: Bradshaw 8-16-2, 153.
RECEIVING - Silver Lake: Baird 3-30, Wagner 4-128, Byrne 2-27, Heiman 2-30, Byers 1-9. Rossville: Schumacher 2-118, Gfeller 4-21, T. Balch 1-7, Foster 1-7.
“They do such a great job of coming back, I knew it wasn’t safe,” Hamilton said. “They’ve been behind this year and have done a great job of dealing with adversity.”
Sure enough, Rossville charged back, not ready to see its 32-game winning streak come to an end. Scoring two touchdowns in a 56-second span, the Bulldawgs cut the deficit to a touchdown and then got two more cracks at tying the game when Silver Lake turned it over on three straight possessions.
But the No. 2-ranked Eagles got the defensive stops they needed and held on for a 36-28 victory. The win not only snapped the Bulldawgs’ state-best winning streak, but also Silver Lake’s three-game slide in the series.
“To Silver Lake’s credit, they came out storming,” Rossville coach Derick Hammes said. “They got after us early and just character-wise, it said a lot about us to crawl back into the game. There was a certain point where we didn’t have anything going offensively - they were dynamite on defense - and our kids found a way to get back in it. At the end of the day, when we look at this on film, they made more plays than we did and they earned it by far.”
Still, with the way Silver Lake’s offense had consistently driven for scores and the Eagle defense had shut down Rossville’s offense, the Eagles looked to have things well in hand when Dalton Dultmeier scampered for an 8-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter to five Silver Lake a 36-14 lead.
Rossville’s offense, after managing just 114 yards in the first half, had looked better to start the second half, but still had only produced one touchdown after the break, a 14-yard score by Jacob Bradshaw on the first possession of the half.
But after Dultmeier’s touchdown run, the Bulldawgs’ sprang to life, some of it provided by the Eagles’ turnover woes. Two plays after getting down 22, Bradshaw hit Cole Schumacher for a 66-yard touchdown strike.
Silver Lake then coughed up the first of three straight fumbles, setting Rossville up at the Eagle 29 and three plays later, Dawson Hammes powered it in for a 1-yard score.
Just like that, it was 36-28 with 10:16 still left in the game. And when Dultmeier was stripped on Silver Lake’s next possession and Sheldon Julbert recovered, Rossville was suddenly in business.
“I’m not pleased with the turnovers,” Hamilton said. “They’re a good football team and we got fortunate. That’s two weeks in a row in the second half where we haven’t taken care of the ball.”
Silver Lake’s defense responded, however, as Rossville gained just two yards on its first three plays of the ensuing possession and a fourth-down pass from the Eagle 34 fell incomplete.
Rossville still got one more chance, though. A bad snap off the leg of a crossing receiver was pounced on by the Dawgs’ Hulbert, but Rossville went four and out, coming up two yards short on fourth down, and Silver Lake ran out the clock to seal the win.
“We got off to a great start and got it rolling a little bit,” Hamilton said. “I feel good about some things, but we’ve still got some work to do. A game like that, there’s going to be good times and bad times, ebb and flow.”
Silver Lake did indeed start fast, scoring on two first-quarter possessions as Dultmeier hit Ryan Wagner for a 29-yard touchdown and Josh Boyd scored from 1 yard out. When Dultmeier hit Wyatt Heiman for a 20-yard score early in the second quarter, the Eagles were on the verge of blowing Rossville off its own field, up 22-0.
But the Bulldawgs snapped to life, getting a 9-yard touchdown run from Perry Foster before halftime to cut the lead to 22-7 and then opened the second half with Bradshaw’s 14-yard scoring run.
Dultmeier finished with 224 yards passing and 79 yards rushing, while Bradshaw had 153 passing and 91 rushing for Rossville, which lost for the first time since falling to Silver Lake in the 2013 state semifinals.
Silver Lake (5-0) 14 8 7 7 - 36
Rossville (4-1) 0 7 7 14 - 28
SCORING
SL -Wagner 29 pass from Dultmeier (Dultmeier kick)
SL - J. Boyd 1 run (Dultmeier kick)
SL - Heiman 20 pass from Dultmeier (Byers run)
Ross - Foster 9 run (Andersen kick)
Ross - Bradshaw 14 run (Andersen kick)
SL - Huske 2 run (Dultmeier kick)
SL - Dultmeier 9 run (Dultmeier kick)
Ross - Schumacher 66 pass from Bradshaw (Andersen kick)
Ross - Hammes 1 run (Andersen kick)
GAME IN FIGURES
SL Ross
First downs 19 12
Rushes-yards 49-162 39-161
Passing 224 153
Comp-Att-Int 12-17-0 8-16-2
Punts 3-34.0 4-22.0
Fumbles-Lost 4-4 0-0
Penalties-Yards 3-27 3-33
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Silver Lake: Dultmeier 25-79, Baird 2-3, Wagner 1-26, J. Boyd 3-4, Huske 7-15, Walker 1-0, Jones6-36, Team 3-mnus 1. Rossville: Bradshaw 27-91, Foster 3-16, Hammes 9-54.
PASSING - Silver Lake: Dultmeier 12-17-0, 224. Rossville: Bradshaw 8-16-2, 153.
RECEIVING - Silver Lake: Baird 3-30, Wagner 4-128, Byrne 2-27, Heiman 2-30, Byers 1-9. Rossville: Schumacher 2-118, Gfeller 4-21, T. Balch 1-7, Foster 1-7.
