Sidney hits the road for a battle of the unbeatens

If you love Sidney football, Friday just might be the night to take a little road trip to the not so far east.

In a battle of undefeated teams, the 3-0 Red Raiders travel to Aurora to meet the 3-0 Huskies at 7 p.m. CDT. The Associated Press has the Huskies ranked second in Nebraska Class B while Sidney is ranked ninth.

Last season Aurora defeated Sidney at Weymouth Field 41-14. But it has already become abundently clear this is not the 2012 Raiders. All the results against Sidney's first three opponents have been dramatically reversed from last season.

Following the Raiders win over the Chase County Longhorns last Friday, Sidney Head Coach Todd Ekart told his team they would have to take it upon themselves to improve on their own. So far he has liked what he's seen.

"We've had a good week of practice so far," Ekart said Wednesday morning. "There haven't been a lot of blown assignments or mental mistakes. That means we won't have to go back and reteach what we've already gone over."

Much like the Raiders, the Huskies are a team that takes it right to you. They don't spread out as much as they used to according to Ekart. So far this year they've proven themselves to be a run first, pass second offense.

"They're big, fast and athletic and they run right at you," Ekart said.

Their biggest weapons on offense are running backs Brock Reichardt and Eli Bricker. Against Alliance two weeks ago, Reichardt ran for 104 yards on 14 caries in the Huskies 44-13 toppling of Sidney's district foe. He ran in a touchdown from the 20. Last season Reichardt ran for more than 1,000 yards. Bricker wasn't far behind at Alliance, as he picked up 89 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns.

"Reichardt is very physical running back," Ekart said. "We're going to have to watch him. We're going to need to get a lot of guys to the ball to stop him."

Meanwhile Aurora quarterback Luke Standage threw only 9 times against Alliance. He had 5 completions for 50 yards. Todd Honas could be another threat for a Aurora. He ran back a 67-yard punt return earlier this year. Add it all up and it doesn't look too dissimilar to Sidney's offensive approach. Aurora piled up 378 yards of offense against the Bulldogs of which 328 came on the ground.

What Aurora gives they will likely get. The Red Raiders have averaged 442 yards per game along the ground and 88 through the air. The running tandem of Logan Lewis (574) and Chance Anglin (540) have already amassed more than 1,100 yards of rushing. Michael Deaver has also been productive when spelling Lewis and Anglin. Last season Lewis (922) and Anglin (424) combined for 1,346 yards by season's end.

"Everybody knows what we do. It's a testament to our offensive line and whoever is blocking for our backs that we've been so productive when the other team knows what's coming," Ekart said.

Raiders junior quarterback Lane Harvey has been effective in keeping opposing defenses honest. He's thrown two touchdown passes to Lucas Rosenbaum when the running game has bogged down. He was 5-for-11 last week for 115 yards. One pass he wisely threw away and another was dropped.

"We have a lot of respect for the Sidney football team," said Huskies Head Coach Randy Huebert via e-mail. "They have a very good running game with a solid defense. We have to be at our best this Friday."

While the offense has been wearing down defenses, the Raiders' defense has shown to be stingy when it counts most. They have also had a capacity to come up with a big play when needed.

Rosenbaum nabbed two big interceptions last week and another one the week before, which he ran back for a touchdown. Kevin Jurgensen put the icing on the cake for Sidney with his 51-yard interception return for a touchdown. Jake Heeren last week forced a punt when he came up with a sack on third and short. Both Heeren and middle linebacker Brian Rolls have collected two sacks in the early going.

Rolls leads the squad with 17 tackles while Deaver has nine. Five Raider defenders have 8 tackles including NIck Conger, Jurgensen, Harvey, Tucker Wintholz and Anglin.