Raiders Run Past South Sioux City

Sidney’s Red Raider Football team overcame a slow start to score 26 unanswered points to defeat the South Sioux City Cardinals 26-to-7 in Valentine Friday afternoon. As both teams had COVID-19 cancellations, the Cardinals and the Red Raiders found a way to fill a hole in both of their schedules by each driving midway through the state and meeting at Valentine for a non-conference contest. Both teams came into the game with 1-and-3 records looking for a win to stop two game losing streaks. With perfect early fall weather, the afternoon contest started with the Cardinals’ offense operating out of the Wildcat formation, which they haven’t used this season. South Sioux City was able to move the ball on their second possession, with a big run by senior running back Caleb Kriens setting up a 17 yard touchdown run later in the drive by Kriens to give the Cardinals an early 7-to-0 lead. A holding penalty stalled the next Sidney drive, and it looked like the Red Raiders were going to again struggle on offense. 

The Cardinals were forced to punt when sophomore Nolan Hofrock stopped a third down conversion with a good tackle, and Sidney was able to muster some offense when senior Brady Robb was finally able to make some big gains running the ball. Freshman Isak Doty started at quarterback in place of Nolan Hofrock, and Doty was able to connect on passes to junior Nathan Kennedy and sophomore Cam Leeling which started to open up the Sidney running attack. The drive stalled, but on the Cardinals first play from scrimmage, senior quarterback Connor Slaughter was picked off by junior Jackson Russell, giving Sidney the ball on the South Sioux City 45 yard line.

Two pass completions and two big runs put the Red Raiders in scoring position, but Sidney was unable to break through and settled for a field goal by senior Connor Hartzler to trim the lead to 7-to-3. Sidney’s defense started to contain the Cardinal offense, and an injury to Slaughter slowed their attack. Sidney was able to get a stop, then drove down the field in 10 plays and broke through for a touchdown on a Doty quarterback sneak at the two yard line to put Sidney ahead 10-to-7. Sidney’s defense held again, and capitalized on a bad punt snap on fourth down, forcing South Sioux City’s Christian Barajas to kneel to corral the ball, giving the Red Raiders a turnover on downs and the ball on the Cardinals’ 16 yard line. Doty then found sophomore tight end Micah Schnieder crossing the middle for a 12 yard touchdown pass to make the score 17-to-7, and the Raiders never looked back as they put up 26 unanswered points to finish the game with a 26-to-7 victory.

In addition to a 14 yard touchdown run by Robb in the third quarter, Sidney also scored a safety in the second quarter when the Cardinals Barajas mishandled a shotgun snap and had to fall on the ball in the end zone. The defense played well, stopping the Cardinal running game while pressuring sophomore quarterback Barajas and not letting up when Slaughter returned from injury. Isak Doty had a solid game, completing six of 18 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown, while smartly throwing the ball away when necessary to avoid turnovers. Robb again was the workhorse for the offense, carrying 32 time for 150 yards and a touchdown. Sidney starts conference play on Friday when they host the Chadron Cardinals at Weymouth Field at 7 p.m.