Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sidney gives up two early TDs after turnovers in 70-20 loss to top-ranked Elkorn South
Sidney High School's Alex Linneman (No. 12) blocks in front of teammate Tyler Wintholz (with the ball) on Friday.
Red Raider fans and students, taking full advantage of a day off from school, turned out in full force to support the football team at Friday's playoff game.
Sidney senior Dominic Beyer (No. 78) blocks against Elkhorn South on Friday.
Sidney High School football coach Chris Koozer had stressed the importance of a fast start for the Red Raiders in Friday's Class B state tournament opener.
Instead, the opposite happened and it proved costly to Sidney.
The Red Raiders surrendered two touchdowns – both off turnovers – in the first 1 minute, 33 seconds of the game and couldn't recover in their 70-20 loss to Elkhorn South.
Sidney finished its season 5-5, while Elkorn South – the state's No. 1-ranked team in Class B according to several polls – improved to 10-0 and advanced into the quarterfinals.
Junior Brayton Haley paced the Storm's offensive attack, rushing for 153 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries. Junior quarterback Braden Wright ran for 109 yards and two scores on 13 attempts.
Wright also connected on 6 of 8 passes for 85 yards and one touchdown before giving way to backups in the second half after his squad had opened up a 56-20 lead by the intermission.
Senior Jack Fortner added a pair of TDs for the Storm – one on the ground and the other via the air.
Sidney's Coby Haas took the opening kickoff of the game, but was hit at about the 20 and fumbled the football. Two plays later, Haley found the end zone.
On the ensuing kickoff, Haas was again hit inside the 20 and fumbled. It took the Storm just two plays to find pay dirt again, opening up a 14-0 lead at the 10:27 mark.
Following a Sidney short punt on its next possession, Elkhorn South took over at the Sidney 33. This time it took its potent offense four plays to score and push its lead to 21-0.
Sidney did bounce back later in the quarter.
As the Storm was driving again, Haas intercepted a Wright pass and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown.
Elkhorn South turned the ball over on its next possession and Sidney capitalized when Derek Robb scored from five yards out to make it 21-13 with 2:29 left in the opening quarter.
Sidney quarterback Brady Radcliffe connected with Alex Linneman on a 27-yard scoring play in the second quarter, but that would be all of the offense the Red Raiders could muster the rest of the way.
CLASS B PLAYOFFS
STATE TOURNAMENT
First-round scores
Friday, Oct. 30
No. 3 Elkhorn South 70, No. 14 Sidney 20
No. 1 Aurora 54, No. 16 Alliance 13
No. 8 Gretna 42, No. 9 Scottsbluff 28
No. 5 McCook 14, No. 12 Beatrice 8
No. 4 Plattsmouth 47, No. 13 Bennington 0
No. 6 York 35, No. 11 Omaha Roncalli 7
No. 10 Linc. Pius X 14, No. 7 Grand Island Northwest 0
No. 2 Omaha Skutt Catholic 50, No. 15 Waverly 3
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