District Champs!

"How fun was that?" yelled Sidney Red Raiders Head Coach Todd Ekart to a large group of jubilant students who crashed his traditional post-game meeting with players.

In response, Ekart received an ear-splitting chorus of screams, whoops and hollers that that might have been heard in Scottsbluff ... or at least by the large group of Bearcat fans that had come to support their hometown players. For the Raiders faithful it was an emotional release of uninhibited, boundless, pent-up joy that could finally be released after 19 years in the Nebraska football wilderness.

Beyond the emotion of the post-game celebration, there was also a matter of official business from Sidney High School Friday night. The Red Raiders defeated the Scottsbluff Bearcats 30-20 at Weymouth Field to win the 2013 Class B District 8 championship. The victory earned Sidney a place in the Nebraska Class B State Tournament.

The Raiders were led by a school record 306-yard rushing effort by senior Logan Lewis. He also scored all four home-team touchdowns. Lewis's season total now stands at 1,777 yards which includes four games in which he ran for over 200.

Installed as the #8 seed, the Raiders (6-3, 3-0) will host #9 Blair at 4 p.m. at Weymouth Field on Friday. The Blair Bears (5-4, 3-0), champions of Class B District 4, will come into the contest on a five game winning streak. Though Blair opened its season by losing four straight, all of those opponents (#1 Grenta, #5 Ralston, #11 Plattsmouth and #12 Elkhorn) have qualified for the Class B playoffs.

Despite the loss, the Bearcats (6-3, 2-1) also earned their seat at the table with a 13th seed. They will tavel to #4 York on Friday to face the 8-1 Dukes. York stopped well regarded #6 Aurora 33-14 to win the Class B District 6 championship on Friday.

For the Raiders it is the first time in 19 years they have played their way into the 16-team tournament. Head Coach Alan Gottula led players like Todd O'Connell, Jay Doty, Jason Bartling, Travis Secrest, Steven Vach, Jeff Hume, Scott Helms and a few dozen others to McCook in 1994. The '94 team was the third-consecutive Raider team to qualify for the playoffs. The 1983 Raiders were the only other.

The 1992 squad was dropped by Lexington in round one 47-7. In 1993 the Raiders knocked off Cozad 34-33 in overtime and Valentine 23-0 before being stopped by Adams Central 19-0. Though Sidney dug itself out of a 33-6 hole in the second half, McCook ended the '94 Raiders season 47-28.

"Everybody knew we haven't been to the playoffs in a long while," said Raiders quarterback Lane Harvey. "Because of that wanted to try and be as perfect as we could this week and we did pretty well."

As part of the Raiders devestating 1-2 rushing combination, Sidney junior Chance Anglin took Harvey's first handoff of the game for an outside run that went backwards for five yards.

Though the run proved unsuccessful, it did appear to reveal a little of the Bearcasts defensive modus operandi. They focused more on shutting down the outside - or at least showed an ability to better defend the sweep. The end run is normally the specialty of the talented Anglin.

"Yeah, I was really surprised by that," said Lewis. "Most teams try to pack it up in the middle. But they were really big up front up front so I could kind of see it.

"But our lineman got it done today. I can't say enough about what they did," Lewis concluded.

Among the Raiders on the offenive and defensive fronts that proved so successful were Michael Sukup, Tucker Wintholz, Jake Sager, Dylan Haas, Cody Frerichs, Dominic Beyer and Jake Heeren.

"We were focused on trying to stop all their counters and sweeps," said Wintholz who often plays both ways. "And we were pretty effective with that tonight."

Though Anglin gained only eight-yards on the ground, his season resume was nevertheless a factor the Bearcats could not ignore. As a 1,000 rusher in his own right, his presence was a factor in itself. So after the outside looked unpromising, the Raiders sent Lewis up the middle on the game's second offensive play. He proceeded to plow through the guts of the Bearcat defense for 13 yards.

Sidney parlayed the Lewis advantage, with a few Harvey completions to Michael Deaver and Lewis, into a 56-yard drive that stalled on the Bearcats 14. Though Lucas Rosenbaum's 31-yard field-goal attempt sailed just wide, the Raiders proved they could move the ball against the big Scottsbluff line.

Conversely, the Raiders also proved they could stop Scottsbluff from moving the rock. The Bearcats went three-and-out and gained but a yard before being forced to punt on their first possession.

Linebackers Brian Rolls and Kevin Jurgensen led Sidney in tackles with eight apiece. Wintholz and Rosenbaum each had six while Heeren and Sager brought down five others.

After establishing what would be the winning formula, Sidney marched 65 yards on 11 plays on its second possession for an 8-0 lead. During the drive, Lewis carried the ball eight times for 56 yards. Harvey added an important three-yard gain on a fourth-down play and Anglin went four yards on another. Harvey ran in the conversion.

Though the Raiders ensuing first-half drives stalled, they continued moving the ball before being forced to punt. Scottsbluff showed an ability to move better offensively as well, but the end zone proved elusive. Quarterback and kicker Jackson Hinze kicked a field goal just before the half to cut Sidney's lead to 8-3.

The second 24 minutes couldn't have opened any better for Sidney. Rosenbaum's kickoff was mishandled by Scottsbluff and recovered by the Raiders. With a first down at the Scottsbluff 44, Sidney took only three plays to up its advantage to 16-3. A late-hit penalty on Lewis and his 26-yard touchdown run did most of the damage.

Hinze then finished off a Scottsbluff drive of 48 yards with his second field goal. The Hinze boot narrowed the Sidney margin to 16-6 with 7:38 left in the third quarter.

While the Bearcats were scoring with field goals, the Raiders were running in touchdowns. Sidney immediately answered the Hinze three pointer with a five play 70-yard touchdown sprint that took just over a minute. All of the yards were gained via the legs of Lewis including one bolt of 54 yards. The last two yards Lewis traveled gave Sidney a 22-6 lead.

The Bearcats attempt to answer did not go far before the Raiders recovered a fumble near midfield. Wintholz and Jurgensen stopped the Bearcats 1,000-yard rusher Ty Benson on first down for no gain. The duo's crushing collision on Benson could probably be heard all over Weymouth Field. A couple of plays later Jurgensen ran over Benson again before he could make it beyond the line of scrimmage.

Two snaps after the Jurgensen blow, Beyer made a hit that seperated Brad Johnston from the ball and the Raiders recovered at their 49. Though the Raiders post-fumble drive was stopped at the nine, Rosenbaum drew a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a field-goal attempt. Two plays after the second chance, Lewis scored his fourth touchdown for a 30-6 lead with 10:23 left in the contest.

A couple of late touchdown passes by Hinze to Denzel Salazar and Mathew Dickey proved too little, too late for Scottsbluff.