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Rossville coach Derick Hammes hadn’t been to Raider Field since his senior night wearing the purple and silver uniform. This time, Coach Hammes rocked the black and red while his Bulldog squad ended Nemaha Valley’s final season as the Raiders with a 25-15 victory on Saturday.
Rossville didn’t waste much time to strike as the Bulldogs get a 24-yard touchdown run by junior halfback Nick Reesor. The PAT was no good and Rossville led 6-0 with 8:26 left in the first quarter. On the kickoff, Nemaha Valley’s junior wideout Zach Bradley fumbled and the Bulldogs recovered to set up first and 10 from the Raider 20-yard line. Nemaha Valley’s defense held for a few plays, but eventually, sophomore quarterback Tucker Horak sprinted past the goal line from nine yards out to give Rossville a 12-0 lead with 5:34 left in the first.
In the second quarter, Rossville had three opportunities to increase the lead in the redzone, but the Raiders kept the Bulldogs on their leash and didn’t allow any points. With 2:51 left in the half, the Raiders needed a big play to jumpstart the offense. Insert senior wide receiver Justice McKernan. Senior quarterback Caleb Meyer lobbed a pass down the sideline and McKernan grabbed it and ran 58 yards for the touchdown, cutting the lead to five at the half.
Quickly into the third quarter, Horak found the endzone once more, this time from 23 yards out to give Rossville an 18-7 advantage. Again, McKernan shook loose and caught a 43-yard pass from Meyer bringing the Raiders all the way down to the Rossville one. Two plays later, Meyer punched it into the endzone, two-point conversion was good by McKernan and the Raiders were only down by three points with 1:43 to play in the third.
Any momentum that the Raiders had, came to a scratching halt 23 seconds later as junior wideout Thatcher Horak took a handoff on a sweep play call and ran 62 yards into the endzone. The Bulldogs led 25-15 heading to the fourth.
Nemaha Valley was able to attack and drive down the field and got into the redzone before the break between quarters. First play out of the timeout, Meyer received heavy pressure and his pass bounced off two to three different Rossville linemen, but eventually was caught by Rossville for the Raiders second turnover of the game. Rossville controlled the tempo from then on and keep the dream season alive, winning 25-15.
Tucker Horak finished with 154 yards and two touchdowns on the ground while completing 12 passes for 133 yards. Nick Reesor recorded 14 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown, Thatcher Horak ran twice for 60 yards and recorded a touchdown and junior tailback Jack Steckel carried the ball six times for 38 yards.
The Community National Bank player to bank on went to Nemaha Valley’s Justice McKernan, catching four passes for 155 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Caleb Meyer finished with 270 yards and a touchdown through the air while scoring a one-yard touchdown on the ground.
Rossville moves on with an 11-0 record and faces Cherryvale on Friday. For Nemaha Valley, the Raiders finish the season at 9-2, an improvement from last year’s 7-3 record. The football team capped off the long run as the Raiders extremely well. This year’s squad won the first district title since 2001 and won a playoff game since 1997.
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