Red Raiders fall short vs. GINW

Another slow start Friday night proved to be the demise for the Sidney High School football team.

The Red Raiders came up short against a talented Grand Island Northwest squad, losing 27-20 at Weymouth Field after falling behind by two touchdowns early in the contest.

The loss dropped Sidney to 4-2, while GINW improved to 5-1.

However, the important part of the Red Raiders' schedule begins this Friday.

That's when Class B District 8 play gets underway and Sidney squares off against rival Scottsbluff on the road. The Raiders will then have a pair of home dates with Alliance (Oct. 17 – Homecoming) and Gering (Oct. 23). The district champion earns an automatic berth into the Class B state tournament while the others would have to battle for a wild-card spot.

"We know we have Scottsbluff up next and when you're going up against your rivals, we know the kids will go all out," said Sidney head coach Chris Koozer. "We'll plan to bring everything."

In Friday night's loss to GINW, the Red Raiders surrendered a pair of first-quarter touchdowns and never quite recovered.

GINW quarterback Christian Ellsworth ran the ball in from four yards out with 3 minutes, 54 seconds left in the first quarter. That TD run capped a 14-play, 69-yard drive. Preston Sundermeier's PAT kick made it 7-0.

Ellsworth proved to be tough to contain as he finished with a pair of rushing TDs and two more through the air. He was 23 for 34 passing for 234 yards and ran the ball 17 times for 88 yards.

After the Vikings' defense forced a Sidney punt, Ellsworth led his team on a quick five-play drive that covered 55 yards in just 1:07. He connected with receiver Brandon Gannon on a 20-yard scoring strike, and after the PAT try failed, the Vikings had opened up a 13-0 advantage.

"Slow starts in these games are just biting us," Koozer said. "I've tried to change things up with our warmups, with our walk-throughs, but we still struggle to get it going early.

"Maybe we just need to call a more aggressive game from the beginning," Koozer added. "We did loosen up our playbook in the second half and that seemed to help. It seems like we make it too easy on teams to defend us early in games."

The Red Raiders got on the scoreboard with their first series of the second quarter. Alex Linneman scampered in from six yards for the touchdown with 9:53 left in the opening half. The PAT failed, but Sidney had trimmed the lead to 13-6.

The teams traded possessions before GINW struck again. This time Ellsworth connected with Gannon on a 15-yard TD pass Sundermeier's PAT made it 20-6 with 2:29 left in the half. That score would stand as the teams headed to their locker rooms.

It was the Sidney defense that gave the Red Raiders a spark in the second half.

After Sidney's first drive following the intermission stalled, the Vikings moved the ball to the Raiders' 14. On fourth down, GINW lined up for a field goal attempt. Sidney's Derek Robb sprinted around the end and blocked the kick and teammate Dalton Schilz scooped up the loose football and took it 74 yards into the end zone. Arik Doty kicked the PAT to trim GINW's lead to 20-13 with 4:30 left in the third quarter.

"Derek Robb got around the end and blocked it," said Schilz of his first defense score as a Raider. "That's all on him. I got the lucky part when the ball bounced toward me. I just ran as fast as I could.

"(GINW) is a good team, but if we played the whole night like we did in the second half it would have been a different story," Schilz added. "We came out slow in the first quarter and we just have to stop doing that."

After the teams traded a pair of punts and the scoreboard turned to the fourth quarter, the Vikings strung together an 11-play, 51-yard drive that ended with an Ellsworth 2-yard TD run with 9:52 left to play. Sundermeier's third PAT of the night made it 27-13.

Following a short kickoff, it didn't take the Raiders long to strike again.

Starting from their own 46, Raider quarterback Brady Radcliffe hooked up with Linneman on a 47-yard pass play. Robb took care of the remaining seven yards with a run into the right side of the end zone. Doty's PAT made it 27-20 with 9:16 still left on the clock.

The Vikings' next drive looked like it might put the nail in Sidney's coffin. The Vikings put together an 18-play drive that covered more than six minutes after starting at their own 20.

After moving the ball to Sidney's 3 before getting hit with several penalties that backed GINW up to the 14, they Vikings opted for another field-goal try. Again, Robb streaked around the end and blocked his second kick of the night.

The Red Raiders took over from their own 2 with hopes of driving the field for the tying touchdown.

On the first play of the series, Radcliffe found Tyler Wintholz on a pass play that picked up 40 yards. Four plays later, Sidney had the ball at GINW's 41 with 1:49 and a fresh set of downs. But four consecutive incomplete passes ended the Raiders' hopes of a comeback.

"We played well in the second half," Radcliffe said. "We started passing the ball more and I think that helped open up our offense and keep them off guard.

"Both of our losses have been because we started out slowly," he added. "At first, we might have been a little intimidated. We need to come out more prepared and know that we're just as good as any of these teams we've been playing."