By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
ROSSVILLE -- Silver Lake's football team was already far from full strength when it took the field for Friday night's annual War on 24 at Rossville and the Eagles lost junior Dysen Schooler to a scary injury less than five minutes into the game.
Silver Lake quarterback Tanner Marter threw for 134 yards and ran for 157 in the Eagles' 42-28 win over Rossville Friday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Silver Lake's Blake Redmond rushed for 155 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Eagles' 42-28 win over Rossville. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Even senior stars Tanner Martin and Blake Redmond, who turned in huge nights against the Bulldawgs, have been battling through injury issues, but Silver Lake coach Logan Pegrams had players step up when it mattered the most as the Eagles took a 42-28 win in their Class 2A District 3 opener.
"The program that we've built and we've inherited and that I played in, we harp on next man up and to see those guys stepping up in this rivalry, that brings special nights like this,'' said Pegram, a Silver Lake graduate who has never lost to Rossville as a player or coach.
"It's sweet. It's one of those rivalries that it takes a lot out of you as coaches, it takes a lot out of your players and they left it all on the field tonight. It was real nice to see the way the kids responded and the way that they did it together.That's what we've always talked about at Silver Lake is the No. 1 word is family, so to see them play as family was awesome.''
Redmond, who rushed for 155 yards on 12 attempts and scored a pair of touchdowns, admitted that it's tough dealing with the injury bug but said the Eagles know it's part of the game.
"It's terrible,'' Redmond said. "It's sad watching your friends go down in their last year, but we know if we come out here and play hard, they'll be happy, too.''
Redmond had to leave the field a couple of times during Friday's game, but said he knew that he had to battle through.
"I've been dealing with a little bit of a muscle in my back but we're getting through it, that's for sure,'' he said. "There's definitely no option in a game like this, you gut it out, especially for this feeling after the game.''
Martin rushed for 157 yards on 20 carries and passed for 134 yards while having a hand in fivetouchdowns (three rushing, two passing) and three successful 2-point conversions.
"With No. 26 (Redmond) and 16 (Martin), it's pretty easy for me to call a play and they're going to take advantage of it,'' Pegram said.
Martin said it wasn't a surprise that the Eagles, 4-1 overall, had players step up when they were called upon.
"We have guys at practice every week that know it's next man up,'' Martin said. "It's not just on the seniors, It's not just on the juniors, it's on everyone on the team.
"Me and Blake are good players, but it's not just us that win games. It's all 11 of us on offense, it's all 11 of us on defense. I'm glad we came out with this 'W' and hopefully we can get better going forward the next week.''
Rossville drew first blood on a 3-yard run from senior quarterback Camden Horak (Paxton Willett kick) at the 7:09 mark of the opening quarter, but Silver Lake got two straight touchdown runs from Martin to take a 14-7 lead at 7:25 mark of the second quarter.
The Bulldawgs tied the game at 14 on a second 3-yard TD run from Horak, but Martin and Redmond hooked up for a 28-yard TD strike with just seven seconds left in the half to give the Eagles a 20-14 lead and momentum entering the second half.
Silver Lake added to its lead on its first possession of the second half, with Martin hitting junior Trent Rollenhagen for a 70-yard score, but Rossville answered right back with a 61-yard TD pass from Horak to sophomore Cameron Miller to get back within seven points.
A 58-yard touchdown gallop from Redmond put Silver Lake back up by 13 but Rossville used a 99-yard scoring drive to cut its deficit to six points at 34-28 with 5:27 left.
However, it took the Eagles just five plays to score their final TD of the night, a 16-yard Martin TD after a 30-yard Martin run.
The Eagle quarterback connected with Rollenhager for the 2-point conversion with 3:25 left to give Silver Lake its final margin.
"Bryce Badsky up front, Braden Strausbaugh up front, Jack Seele up front, Chase Root up front, Wyatt Herkenrath up front, all my big guys were making huge holes for me and Blake to run in tonight and it was just making it easy for us to score,'' Martin said.
Rossville quarterback Camden Horak had 313 total yards in the Bulldawgs' 42-28 loss to Silver Lake. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Rossville's Horak had a hand in all four Bulldawg touchdowns, finishing with 213 passing yards and 100 rushing yards on 26 carries.
SILVER LAKE 42, ROSSVILLE 28
Silver Lake (4-1, 1-0) 0 20 14 8 -- 42
Rossville (2-3, 1-1) 7 7 7 7 -- 28
Rossville -- C. Horak 1 run (Willett kick)
Silver Lake -- Martin 28 run (run failed)
Silver Lake -- Martin 2 run (Cathcart pass from Martin)
Rossville -- C. Horak 3 run (Willett kick)
Silver Lake -- Redmond 28 pass from Martin (run failed)
Silver Lake -- Rollenhagen 70 pass from Martin (Deiter pass from Marting)
Rossville -- Miller 61 pass from C. Horak (Willett kick)
Silver Lake -- Redmond 53 run (run failed)
Rossville -- C. Horak 1 run (Willett kick)
Silver Lake -- Martin 13 run (Rollenhagen pass from Martin)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Silver Lake: Martin 20-157, Redmond 12-155, Burgos 4-15, Holmes 1-0. Rossville: C. Horak 26-100, Johnson 2-15, C. Bush 3-13, Catron 2-5, T. Horak 5-4.
Passing -- Silver Lake: Martin 6-18-1, 134 yards. Rossville: C. Horak 13-27-1, 213; T. Horak 0-1-0, 0.
Receiving -- Silver Lake: Johnson 3-25, Redmond 2-39, Rollenhagen 1-70. Rossville: Miller 3-80, Catron 3-32, Badura 3-29, Donovan 2-40, T. Horak 1-30, Johnson 1-2. .
Punting -- Silver Lake: Martin 3-40.7. Rossville: Bush 4-23.5.
