Sidney silences Holdrege, 44-13

After their long journey to another time zone, the Sidney gridders found what they knew must have been awaiting them in this far off and hostile place.

The Red Raiders arrived at Keifer Field to find an enthusiastic crowd cheering wildly for the opposing Holdrege Dusters. And if the pro Holdrege crowd was not enough of a challenge, perhaps the oppressive heat would be. If it has ever really been hot enough to fry and egg on the sidewalk, Friday would have been such a day.

With temperatures well over 90 degrees at kickoff, Sidney (2-0) turned around a late first-half deficit to earn a 44-13 rout over Holdrege (1-1) in this non-league contest. A year ago at Weymouth Field, Holdrege got the best of Sidney with a late touchdown. This time around it was Sidney who disappointed the home-town fans.

With the energy of their raucous rooters behind them in their home opener, the Dusters battled the Raiders to a near standstill for more than 21 minutes. But when Sidney's Lucas Rosenbaum picked off a Dakota Fulk pass and returned it 20 yards for his second touchdown of the game, the Duster faithfull were never again given any real excuse for sustained jubilation.

As they did last week, the Raiders pounded the rock and wore down the opposing defense. Again the workhorse was Logan Lewis who carried the ball 35 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Chance Anglin too had a big day, traveling 119 yards on 21 carries.

While the Raiders are clearly defined offensively by an effective running attack, Sidney mixed in an useful passing game to keep the Dusters honest. Quarterback Lane Harvey threw the ball 13 times with 8 completions for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

"We didn't think they would expect it," said Harvey.

From the way the game transpired, Harvey was likely correct. After last week when the Raiders piled up 538 yards on the ground, it would have been easy for Holdrege think Sidney wielded a one-dimmentional offense. Holdrege seemed to key on Anglin and Lewis from the start.

As if to prove they could handle the Sidney ground game, Holdrege offered Sidney the ball after winning the coin toss. Though the Dusters early defense of Lewis and Anglin was admirable, they couldn't overcome their own mistakes--or Harvey's arm.

In that opening drive, Sidney ran the ball 10 times but failed to gain more than three yards on seven of the attempts. Twice Anglin was thrown for a loss.

"They did a nice job defending the run early," said Raiders Head Coach Todd Ekart. "But once Lucas (Rosenbaum) caught that touchdown, it seemed to lossen them up."

Before Rosenbaum scored the game changer late in the first half, he tallied the game's first touchdown, too--recording it during that opening drive that proved such a challenge for the Raiders rushing attack. The Dusters had actually forced Sidney into a three-and-out. But a Holdrege offsides penalty gave the Raiders new life.

Anglin and Lewis combined for 14 yards the in two plays after the penalty. Though the running game bogged down for the rest of the drive, Harvey dropped back to pass on a second and eight. He found Peyton Hill for 11 yards to the Dusters 41.

Back to the ground, Lewis ground out 3 yards and Anglin was thrown back for a loss of a couple. Another offsides penalty by Holdrege, however, helped the Raiders. Eventually Lewis was in position to gain a hard-fought first down on fourth-and-one at the enemy 29. On the ensuing first-and-10 Harvey, under pressure, found Rosenbaum up the middle at the five.

"The pass was right there. I just caught it, avoided the defender and went in," Rosenbaum said.

Said Harvey of the play, "I had to rush it, they were really on me. I barley got it off but Lucas grabbed it. After the catch he made a move and the rest was all him."

But it took Holdrege just 49 seconds to bring the Keifer faithful back to its feet. Fulk threw a strike to Dillon Hixson down the home sideline. The play covered 71 yards on a third-and-nine play and tied the game at 6-6.

Sidney followed the tying TD with a three-and-out and a nine-yard punt. Holdrege took advantage five plays later when Fulk when rambled in from the 18. He then kicked the extra point for a 13-6 lead with 2:19 left in the first quarter.

"We learned from this game that while we can give up a big play and we can fall behind, we can refocus ourselves and get back to business," Ekart said. "I'll be honest, I was annoyed after that second touchdown. It looked like we were falling back into old habbits and taking some plays off.

"But then the defense really got after it. They were very strong the rest of the way," concluded Ekart.

Though the Raiders defense suddenly became stingy, the sense that Sidney could even win the game, let alone blow it open, didn't become clear until the latter stages of the first half.

After Holdrege took the lead, Sidney had a promising drive stopped by Andrew Maaske's interception early in the second quarter. But later in the half, Sidney caught a break when Anglin jarred the ball loose from the Dusters' Boe Barnett. Rosenbaum scooped up the fumble and brought it to the Holdrege 49.

It took just four plays for Sidney to hit pay dirt. On the first play, Harvey hooked up with Rosenbaum for a 36-yard gainer. On third-and-seven Harvey found Michael Deaver out of the backfield for a 10-yard touchdown. The failed converstion left Sidney in a one-point hole at 13-12.

Late in the half, with the Raiders driving deep into Duster territory, Sidney again coughed up the ball. But when Rosenbaum returned the favor two plays later with his interception return, the fumble suddenly seemed like a distant memory. Anglin ran in the conversion for a 20-13 Sidney advantage.

"It looked like (Fulk) just over led his receiver," Rosenbaum said. "From there I had a pretty clear path in."

The Dusters attempt to get one back before the half was foiled when Cody Frerichs and Michael Deaver converged on Fulk for a sack on a third-down play.

Five plays into the second half the Sidney defense showed Holdrege what the rest of their night would be like. When Fulk fumbled the rock, Kevin Jurgensen was there to smother it at the Holdrege 48.

"Maybe it was the heat or the long drive I don't know," said Raiders middle linebacker Brian Rolls of the difference between the first quarter and the rest of the game for the Raider defense. "But we pulled it together. We played very tough the last three quarters."

Five plays after the Jurgensen recovery, Lewis finished off a Sidney drive with a three-yard plunge. Two plays earlier he had scampered 19 yards. When Anglin slashed in for the two-point conversion, the Raiders had a commanding 28-13 advantage.

The visitors iced the contest when they proceeded to march 92 yards in 21 plays to chew up the final six minutes and change of the third quarter. Three seconds into the fourth, Lewis banged it home from the two.

The 92-yard march included four third-down conversions. It also included a fourth-and-one play that Harvey handled on his own with a nine-yard run. The clock-eating drive had but one pass - a Harvey to Nick Conger 13 yarder.

The final Raider touchdown was set up by a Harvey interception at the Sidney 34-yard line. Harvey then guided a six-play touchdown drive which inlcuded an Anglin 28-yard dash. The final 24 yards was a mixture of Conger's alertness and some Raider good fourtune.

With Lewis toting the rock down the Sidney sideline, a Holdrege player punched the ball loose. As it went forward, Conger picked the ball out of mid air and completed the touchdown run.

Holdrege had two more shots at a ceremonial touchdown. Sidney's Jake Heeren slowed down the Dusters first attempt with a sack before Holdrege gave up the ball on downs. The clock stopped the Dusters final attempt.

The Chase County Longhorns, who visit Weymouth Field on Friday night, trounced Gordon-Rushville 51-0 in their season opener.

"They're a team that comes right at you. They're kind of like us," Ekart said of Sidney's next opponent. "I expect it to be a very physical game."