By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

QUINTER -- Last year, Quinter High School quarterback/defensive back Colton Corwin suffered a season-ending knee injury in a Week 7 victory against Hoxie that clinched a playoff berth for the Bulldogs. Quinter couldn't find solid replacements for Corwin and finished 0-3, including a first round playoff loss.

Last Friday, Corwin may have suffered another knee injury in a 50-26 Week 7 home loss to Atwood-Rawlins County. He missed the entire second half. However, this time, the Bulldogs may have already found a replacement, especially offensively, in junior Zach Mader.

Corwin's status was unknown immediately following the game, but coach Greg Woolf had planned to talk with the junior Saturday. Corwin, arguably the area's top defensive back, has 13 career interceptions, including three this year.

He had a pass breakup and three rushing yards Friday. Overall, he leads the team with 556 rushing yards.

"I don't know," Woolf said. "We will have to get it checked out. He got his knee twisted up on. Both feet were planted and then he got hit again and twisted back. He just felt his knee was hurting, and so we just decided that we were going to hold him."

Mader stepped in and rushed 22 times for 168 yards and three scores. He also stepped up on defense with 12 tackles. The 5-foot-4, 120-pounder continually bounced off and juked defenders and helped Quinter gain 213 rushing yards.

The Bulldogs finished just two yards off its second-highest total of the year.

"Not wanting to get hit," Mader said with a laugh when asked about his running style. "I did take a couple of shots out there, and a couple of them hurt pretty bad. You just get the hang of it and wanting to run and not get hit. You go out there wanting to play hard, have fun. That's something that happens with time. I have been running for a little while, and just everything comes together eventually."

Quinter (3-4, 1-2 Eight-Man Division I, District 8) plays host to Hoxie (5-2, 2-1) on Friday.

Despite playing without Corwin, the Bulldogs trailed 30-20 with 1:33 left in the third quarter.

"Tailback is pretty fun," Mader said. "Offense is a lot harder than defense, but when you get a good offense rolling, it's a lot of fun."

Mader set career-highs for careers and yards and tied his best for rushing touchdowns. He has 56 carries for 413 yards and six TDs this fall. Mader, a more experienced player on defense, has 60 tackles this year.

"On the defensive side of the ball, I think that Zach kind of stepped up as a team leader and just played with a tremendous amount of heart and I think the kids responded to that, too," Woolf said.

Mader is part of a constantly changing group of offensive skill players for the Bulldogs. Corwin, last season's quarterback, moved to tailback and then fullback two weeks ago.

Sophomore Brett Crist went from starting at quarterback after Corwin was hurt in 2011 to fullback to end.

When Corwin was hurt Friday, Crist returned to fullback. Mader stepped in as the primary ball carrier at tailback - and finished with the big day.

"Moving him to tailback I think is going to be a plus for us just because of his body coordination," Woolf said. "Like the one run down the sideline (of more than 40 yards), he bounced off guys, he run through two tackles, he dropped his head and kept his feet in bounds and kept his feet chucking. I think that's something that I think that Zach is doing better this year is just keeping his feet moving and looking downfield. "