Raiders open football practice

It was 276 long days ago that the Sidney Red Raider football team played in its first playoff game in the last 21 years.

Finishing the 2013 regular season with a solid 6-3 record, Sidney drew state powerhouse Gretna in the first round of the playoffs and took them to the edge, losing 24-17 in the final seconds.

Making the playoffs last season for the first time in over two decades was a tremendous step for the program. This season it's ready to take a bigger leap.

"I think playing Gretna as tough as we did was a real eye opener," said Sidney head coach Todd Ekart. "It showed our kids that if you work hard you can go toe to toe with the best teams in the state."

Senior quarterback Lane Harvey and fellow senior running back Chance Anglin remember that game all too well-it was a disappointing ending to a breakout season. As one of the returning leaders of this team Harvey doesn't want his teammates to just forget about that game and move forward. Rather, he wants them to do quite the opposite.

"Just using that as motivation for them, wanting to be better than last year," Harvey said when asked how he helps keep his teammates focused in the offseason and at practice. "That game gives me the motivation to be out here. That game hurt a lot and that's what we're all here for now."

Anglin shares Harvey's drive to get his team even further than it went in 2013.

"We're going to do everything we can to be better than last year," Anglin said. "A lot of retuning starters got a feel for what the playoffs felt like and what winning felt like and I think that got them hungry."

There has been some roster turnover and the team has lost a couple of highly talented players like wideout Lucas Rosenbaum and star running back Logan Lewis.

But accepting change is just the first task this year's Sidney squad must accomplish in order to understand its full potential and realize just how far it might be able to go this season.

At Monday's practice at West Elementary, both the players and the coaches seemed to exude confidence-a strong belief in themselves and their program. They are on a mission this year.

"A few years ago we wanted to be competitive," Ekart said. "We are to the point now where just being competitive is not enough. We want to win and be thought of as one of the best programs in the state."