Sidney escapes Grand Island with a 32-31 win

For the second straight time on the road, Sidney's fate came down to a game-winning field goal attempt.

This time, it went the Red Raiders' way, as Northwest-Grand Island's kicker Preston Sundermeier missed on a 44-yard try that would have given his team the win. Instead, Sidney escaped with a 32-31 win on Friday night in Grand Island.

The Red Raiders played without senior Chance Anglin for the second straight week because of a leg injury, and his presence was missed on both sides of the ball.

The Vikings (3-3) got off to a hot start behind the one-two punch of junior quarterback Christian Ellsworth and senior running back Ty Johnson. With a relentless running attack, they drove 85 yards on 15 plays in 3:45 and went up 7-0. Johnson would carry 41 times for 157 yards in the game.

Sidney got on the board later in the opening quarter when junior Hunter Secrest crossed the goal line from five yards out with 1:03 left. Secrest' scoring run capped a six-play, 48-yard drive. The two-point try failed and the Vikings led 7-6.

Much like their opening possession of the game, Northwest moved the ball quickly and efficiently on its next possession, going 64 yards in under three minutes and took a 14-6 lead on an Ellsworth 10-yard TD run.

Sidney needed a big play, and got it on the Vikings' kickoff just seconds later. Sophomore wideout Alex Linneman busted a 65-yard return to Northwest 34-yard line.

Junior back Jake Heeren then ripped off a 29-yard run down the sideline. Three plays later, Heeren took the ball in for the score. This time the conversion was successful and the game was tied 14-14 with 8:14 left in the first half.

The then Vikings put together another lengthy – and successful – possession. They took the lead 21-14 following an 18-play, 80-yard drive that spanned five minutes when Ellsworth ran for his third TD of the night from 10 yards out.

With Northwest leading 21-14 at the half, the Vikings opened the second half with a successful onside kick that caught Sidney by surprise. The Red Raider defense did well to limit Northwest to just a field goal however, and now trailed 24-14 early in the third.

Sidney answered when Secrest found the end zone again from 12 yards out with 5:51 left in the third. The two-point conversion failed, but that TD cut the Vikings' lead to 24-20.

Both teams then seemed to bog down offensively and the third quarter ended without any more scoring.

As the fourth quarter opened, the Red Raiders had the ball on the Northwest 10. Senior all-purpose back Michael Muggli found the end zone on an end around and Sidney took its first lead of the night, 26-24, after a failed two-point conversion.

The Vikings responded with another extended drive of their own – to the tune of 13 plays and 64 yards. This time Ellsworth did the job through the air, finding junior wideout Brandon Gannon for a 24-yard strike down the sideline. That put the Vikings up 31-26 with 7:59 left to play.

After the teams exchanged punts, Sidney got the ball back with 2:14 left for one final drive – needing a TD to take the lead.

Facing a fourth down and 10 on the Sidney 43, senior quarterback Lane Harvey fired a bullet to Muggli over the middle for 13 yards to keep the drive alive. Muggli made a series of highlight-reel catches-tiptoeing the sideline on most of them-putting the Red Raiders in position to take the lead.

Muggli finished the night with seven carries for 77 yards and a TD, as well as five catches for 61 yards and another score.

For Muggli, making those plays was all about focus. The team gets a sermon about it from head coach Todd Ekart at each practice and after each game.

"We practice mental toughness," Muggli said. "We practice the two-minute drill and we have to think like that when we practice."

With just 36 lefts remaining, Harvey put a beautiful juke on a blitzing Viking linebacker and rolled out to his right. He hit junior wideout Tyler Wintholz for a 10-yard TD pass in the back, right corner of the end zone. After a failed two-point conversion, Sidney had the lead at 32-31.

The Vikings then started on their own 20, but Ellsworth completed several passes to move them to the Sidney 27 with just seconds remaining. Sudnermeier's 44-yard try was wide left and short, starting a celebration among the Sidney players.

On the night, Secrest and Heeren delivered again in Anglin's absence, combining for 154 yards and three TDs on 30 carries.

After the game, Harvey admitted that his team's slow start was because it didn't prepare as well as it should have for a tough Vikings offense.

"The long bus ride down here (to Grand Island) kind of started us off slow," Harvey said, who completed 11 of his 24 passes for 140 yards and a TD.

"But that's no excuse for us. We didn't prepare very well this week and it showed," he said. "On the last drive, I told the guys in the huddle I believed in them and they needed to believe in me. I told them 'let's go win it' and we did."

Sidney will head back home this Friday to face off against district rival Scottsbluff (5-1). Kickoff is 7 p.m.