Silver Lake downs Rossville in War on 24 OT thriller

SILVER LAKE — Dysen Schooler had to wait his turn to make an impact at quarterback for Silver Lake. The senior made his first varsity start and made massive plays in one of the best high school football games in the state on Friday.

Silver Lake (1-0) edged Rossville (0-1) 33-26 in an OT classic adding another storied chapter in the War on 24 rivalry series. Silver Lake has now defeated Rossville 8 of their last 9 meetings.

“It feels really good, I’ve been sitting behind Tanner, who is a really good quarterback for three years,” Schooler said. “It feels good. I think it’s something that we kind of expect. We expect to win every year.”

The deep throws from Schooler were the difference in the game. The Bulldawgs struggled to find and deflect long passes. Big plays kept Silver Lake around and when it was their time, they pounced.

With less than a minute in the third quarter, Rossville had Silver Lake in a precarious position as the Bulldawgs led on the road.

The Eagles had 4th down and 11 to go around midfield. The Eagles elected to go for it and Schooler made a long throw to Brody Deiter for a 37-yard completion. The drive stayed alive and the Eagles were able to capitalize. Schooler tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Dayne Johnson and Rossville’s lead was cut to 13-10.

“Brody Deiter, the 4th and 11 play was the catch of the night,” Silver Lake head coach Logan Pegram said. “It was a great play by him.”

Rossville would go three-and-out on the following possession as Silver Lake earned their first bit of momentum.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Schooler found Johnson for a 56-yard touchdown on the near sideline. Johnson rose above the Rossville secondary and came away with the ball as walked into the end zone. He shushed the opposing fans as he cruised into the end zone .

Five minutes later, Conner Bush added a 7-yard rushing touchdown to give the Bulldawgs a 19-16 lead, but a missed extra point would prove to be costly.

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On the following drive, Silver Lake used the big play once again. Schooler threw a 57-yard bomb to JP Whitehead for the touchdown. Silver Lake regained the 23-19 lead with 2:29 left.

The Bulldawgs worked the clock brilliantly as they marched down Silver Lake’s side of the field. QB Tayson Horak used his legs to scurry around the Eagles defense all evening. In the waning moments, Horak rushed straight into the end zone from 1-yard out for the touchdown. Rossville had the 26-23 advantage with 35 seconds remaining in the game.

Silver Lake started the final possession of regulation inside their own 40. Two big passes from Schooler to Deiter and Johnson had the Eagles perfectly positioned. Silver Lake took a timeout with just over a second remaining and the Eagles elected to tie the game and send it to overtime.

The kicker for the Eagles, none other than Schooler himself, stepped up and drilled a 22-yard field goal to keep the game alive at 26 a piece.

“I felt good, I had a couple of those last year,” Schooler said. “I wasn’t too nervous.”

Momentum was firmly in Silver Lake’s hands at the start of the extra period. The Eagles had the ball first and worked it well into the goal line. Alan Lees’ rushed in for the 2-yard touchdown to give Silver Lake a 33-26 advantage.

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The Bulldawgs tried to answer as they moved the ball into Silver Lake’s own 5-yard line. Horak made a great play rolling to his left and firing a ball into the end zone, but Johnson stepped in front to deflect the incomplete pass and make it fourth down.

Rossville’s hopes of winning the War on 24 were dashed as Horak’s shotgun rush was thwarted at the line of scrimmage. He dove towards the goal line, but was stopped one yard short giving Silver Lake the wild victory.

“The defense played well all night, but there was just a one-yard too short or a couple missed, broken tackles. Big, long No. 12 (Horak) getting out on us,” Pegram said. “The defense played really well and they just turned the page. We talked about, there’s going to be issues, there’s going to be mistakes. But, do you turn the page and respond and we did.”

The game started positively for Rossville as they were on the front foot right away. Horak was tough to bring down all evening in the rush game. He made a statement on the opening kick-off which brought the ball into Silver Lake’s territory. Stout defense from the Eagles allowed just a field goal.

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“The defense bailed us out of the game,” Pegram said. “The score might not have showed a defensive effort, but I think anyone here tonight noticed what happened.”

Next week, the Eagles will meet two-time defending state champion Nemaha Central (0-1) at home. Nemaha Central fell to Marysville 16-8 on Friday night.

Rossville’s next game pits them against St. Marys (1-0), who defeated Perry-Lecompton 30-6, for their home opener.

Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@ g annett.co m

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Silver Lake downs Rossville in War on 24 OT thriller