By TYLER HENRY
Little Apple Post contributor
After falling to Southeast of Saline in week one, Rock Creek ripped off a run of eight consecutive wins in which the Mustangs looked borderline invincible, rising through the ranks of Class 3A with the best offense in the state.
This week, for the first time since early September, Rock Creek was challenged as the Mustangs fell behind Hesston 11-0 late in the second quarter of a win-or-go-home round of 16 matchup.
Despite being on the back foot, Rock Creek never faltered, battling back to get on the board just before the break.
“We threw a pick and then went three and out on our first two possessions, everything went about as wrong as it could have for us,” Mustang head coach Shane Sieben said. “At halftime, we told the guys ‘you just took some haymakers and everything went their way but you’re only down five.’ We knew all we had to do was go win a half by six and we knew that next possession would be important.”
The Swathers showed no signs of slowing down in the second half, taking their opening drive deep into Mustang territory and electing to go for it on fourth and goal from the two.
With their backs to the wall and the season potentially on the line, the Rock Creek defense stood tall, stuffing the Swathers and taking possession back near their own end zone.
As the momentum swung in their favor, Rock Creek put the state’s most potent offense back on the field, and on the very next play, busted out a 99-yard touchdown run to take their first lead of the game.
“Explosiveness is big and for us, and with that potential we’re never in panic mode,” Sieben said. “A lot of times your fighting for yards and field position but this year whether we start at the 20 or at the 50 we feel like we can score from anywhere with our weapons and speed.”
Hesston desperately needed to respond to recapture some of that energy but a fire had been lit under a Mustang defense that would refuse to concede a single point for the rest of the night.
“It was great to see our kids respond to adversity,” he said. “We did not play a good first half, we missed a lot of throws and we blew a few coverages but we played a really good second and I thought our run defense was pretty darn good. They have a strong physical front and I thought we handled that pretty well.”
A late interception and a 49-yard Jaydon Winans touchdown run would seal the deal for Rock Creek, who scored 21 unanswered points to eliminate the Swathers 21-11 and advance to the 3A quarterfinal.
With a punched ticket to the round of eight in hand, the Mustangs will now turn their attention to an Andale Juggernaut that has not lost a single game, the regular season or otherwise since 2018.
“Any time you’re playing this late in the season you’re excited and these guys have earned everything they’ve got but everyone knows what we have in front of us and Andale is a different monster,” Sieben said.
Rock Creek will host Andale for their quarterfinal matchup next Friday at 7 pm. For continuing coverage of the Mustang’s playoff run stay tuned to the Little Apple Post.