Rossville 34, Sabetha 28

The battle of 9-1 teams playing their third game in ten days lived up to the hype as both Sabetha and Rossville were able to move the ball and score, but in the end, Rossville make some keys plays and conversions to advance to Sectionals with a 34-28 victory at Sabetha. The two-time Class 3A State Champions racked up 547 total yards of offense with senior quarterback, Jacob Bradshaw accouting for 476 himself.  Bradshaw broke many tackles on the night, but escaped free on a third and six play late as Rossville (10-1) held the football for the final 5:08 of the game to secure the road win. 

Bradshaw ran for a season high 35 times and 271 yards while completing 12 of 19 passes for 205 yards and led Rossville on three straight scoring drives in the second half.  Cole Schumacher had 157 yards receiving on 10 receptions, including a 72 yard TD to give the Bulldogs a 34-21 lead with 6:36 remaining in the game.  Sabetha answered with a quick five play 69 yard drive as Christian Meyer found Trae Snyder on a 27-yard TD pass, but the Bluejays never got the football back after pulling within 34-28. 

Sabetha stopped Rossville in the red zone on their first drive, then took a 7-0 lead when Blake Plattner broke a 60-yard run late in the first quarter.  Rossville answered on one-yard run by Dawson Hammes to tie the score at seven.  After forcing their only three and out of the game, Rossville took a 13-7 lead on their next possession as Bradshaw scored on a one-yard TD.  Yet, the Blujays went 13 plays before halftime to take a 14-13 lead as Snyder scored on a two-yard run.  Sabetha then forced a three-and-out to start the second half, but could not could not add to their lead with a pair of punts in the third quarter.  Rossville would score on their next three drives as Hammes scored from 14 yards to make it 20-14 then Bradshaw found Wyatt Dyche on a 15 yard pass to take a 28-14 advantage into the fourth quarter.  Sabetha scored on their final two possessions of the game, but it took a grinding 16-play drive and over 7 minutes before Snyder reached the endzone on a one-yard run with 7:17 remaining to make it 28-21. 

Snyder led the Jays with 28 carries for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus a 27 yard receiving score while Plattner ended with 91 yards on 13 carries and Meyer had his best passing day of the year going 5 of 7 for 106 yards in the loss and hitting five different players.  Sabetha (9-2) finished with 318 total yards and their first nine-win football season since 2008.  Five starting senior lineman were honored as Denison State Bank "Lineman of the Game," as Eric Renyer, Cameron Renyer, Greg Remmers, Brendan Rokey and Payton Strahm helped pave the way for senior backs Snyder and Plattner who both ran for more than 1,350 yards on the season, and Zach Edelman who added 370.