Rossville High School‘s football team is preparing for the 2025 season with renewed determination after a narrow defeat in last year’s Class 1A semifinals. The team ended their previous campaign with an 8-4 record, having been eliminated by Centralia with a score of 22-9.
Senior Andre Johnson reflected on the impact of that loss as the new season approaches. “I’ve reminded myself every day of the loss to Centralia with Week 1 coming up,” Johnson said. “We’ve been motivated all summer and we’ve just worked hard every day.”
Last year, Rossville recovered from three straight early-season defeats to Silver Lake, St. Mary’s, and Nemaha Central, winning eight consecutive games to reach the state semifinals. One highlight was a comeback against Jackson Heights in which Rossville overcame a 17-point deficit with less than six minutes left in the game.
Bush, another key player for Rossville, spoke about that turnaround: “It was a little bit of luck and that we just never quit,” Bush said. “We just never gave up.”
As the team looks ahead to this fall’s campaign, they face several changes on offense. All-state quarterback Tayson Horak graduated, leaving running backs Johnson and Bush as leading offensive threats; both also finished last year as top defensive tacklers for the squad.
Bush recorded 690 rushing yards and scored twelve touchdowns in 2024. Johnson ran for 275 yards and four touchdowns while adding three more scores through receptions.
The new quarterback will be Canann Mitchell, who previously played baseball at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home before earning his first opportunity under center this season. Last year he rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns.
Head coach Derick Hammes commented on Mitchell’s development over the offseason: “He established himself early in the summer (…) He was in a quarterback battle for the past two years. I think that has really helped him,” Hammes said.
Returning senior Jack Donovan leads receiving efforts after totaling more than five hundred receiving yards and scoring five touchdowns during his junior year.
Rossville must also replace its entire starting offensive line entering this season; Hammes addressed progress on integrating new starters: “We are still a work in progress. Some things have solidified in certain places faster than what I thought it would this summer (…) I think we have identified four or five kids that we think can be dependable heading into the season,” Hammes said.
The upcoming schedule includes several challenging opponents such as Silver Lake—whom Rossville has not defeated in three years—and Nemaha Central at home, plus an away fixture against Cair Paravel at Washburn’s Yager Stadium.
As preparations continue throughout August, leaders like Johnson and Bush aim to guide both sides of the ball in pursuit of another deep playoff run.
