Sidney thrashes Chadron 48-0 in opener

Senior quarterback Lane Harvey threw for two touchdowns, while Chance Anglin piled up 70 rushing yards, a touchdown and also intercepted a pass, as the Sidney Red Raiders walloped the Chadron Cardinals 48-0 in both teams' season opener Friday night at Weymouth Field.

By the numbers, Sidney played about as close to a perfect game as a high school team could. Its defense was lights out from Chadron's opening snap and the Cardinals managed only 51 yards of total offense on the night.

Sidney head coach Todd Ekart was very pleased with his defense.

"I thought our pursuit was awesome," Ekart said. "We would miss a tackle and then have five or six guys there to clean it up. It's something that we have really been working on and did a great job."

The Red Raider defense completely stiffled the Cardinals' star all-purpose back Jackson Dickerson, who finished the game with just 37 total yards.

"I definitely think this was a great way to start off the season," said junior receiver Tyler Wintholz, who tallied six catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns. "It puts out a good example to the state that we aren't messing around this year."

Fed by the opening night energy of a wild Sidney crowd, the Red Raiders took an 8-0 lead just two minutes into the game. Harvey started the drive with a couple of rollout passes to juniors Hunter Secrest and Witntholz, and Sidney's running attack took over from there.

Anglin scored Sidney's first touchdown of the year from eight yards out, capping off a seven-play, 58-yard drive. He picked up 25 yards on four carries on the opening drive.

Just about a minute later, Sidney got the ball back on their own 13 yard line. Headlined by senior Michael Muggli's explosive 38-yard run, the backs carried the ball 87 yards downfield for the score. Junior Jake Heeren finished the job with a four-yard run that just broke the plane on the home sideline to give the Red Raiders a 16-0 lead following a two-point conversion. Heeren finished the game with 34 yards on five carries.

Sidney's third drive of the evening wasn't quite as easy, but again resulted in a touchdown when Secrest crossed the goal line with a strong five-yard run with 57 seconds left in the first frame, giving Sidney a commanding 24-0 advantage. A balanced Red Raider offense kept the Chadron defense guessing throughout the first half.

On the drive, Harvey completed a 23-yard pass over the middle to Wintholz and another 37-yard bomb down the away sideline to sophomore Alex Linneman, who fought for and won the ball in mid-air. Those big gains set up Secrest in the red zone.

On its first drive of the second quarter, Chadron finally threatened to score thanks to a barrage of Sidney penalties that handed the Cardinals 35 easy yards. But backed up to its 23-yard line, the Sidney defense stood tall and forced a turnover on downs. That's as close as Chadron would get the rest of the game.

With the ball back in its hands, Sidney continued to roll. Anglin and Secrest nipped away at the Chadron defense, until Harvey found Wintholz down the field for a 56-yard touchdown pass. Sidney had now scored on all four of its possessions and led the game 32-0 with just under six minutes to play in the first half.

Chadron's next possession resulted in a Muggli interception on Sidney's 43-yard line. Muggli returned the ball four yards to the 47 and took a huge hit but held on as the Red Raiders took over with excellent field position.

The Cardinals managed their first defensive stop of the night, but their relief was short-lived. About 45 seconds later, Chadron senior quarterback Willy Cogdill threw another awful ball that was easy pickings for Anglin. It was Cogdill's second interception in as many possessions.

Working with a short field and about 30 seconds left in the half, Sidney was able to capitalize this time. Harvey found Wintholz in the back corner of the end zone to give the Red Raiders a 40-0 lead right before the half. It was the second time Harvey and Wintholz found each other for a score.

Harvey completed his night 8-for-11 with 179 yards and a pair of TD passes.

"I felt like I was seeing the whole field really well, just picking the right receivers at the right time and giving them the ball," Harvey said after the game. "I don't remember the last time Sidney had a shutout, so it's going to be a great motivator for going into next weekend against Adams Central."

In the second half, Ekart opted to pull most of his offensive starters – and the teams played with a running clock per the state's "mercy rule" when a team is ahead by 35 or more points. With that combination, the Red Raiders only managed 55 total yards of offense in the second half compared to 343 in the first.

But getting the younger players game time as well as preventing injuries was Ekart's primary concern.

Then in the fourth, with Chadron facing a first and 15 on its own 27-yard line, the Cardinals center botched the snap, sending it far over of the head of now-backup quarterback Marcus Fernandez. Junior defensive lineman Jake Olson pounced on the ball after it had bounced 23 yards backwards. Sophomore back Ryan Stettner then carried the ball four yards for the score to give Sidney a 48-0 lead with 5:33 left in the game.

Sidney will aim for a 2-0 record to start the 2014 season when it hosts Adams Central this Friday at Weymouth Field. Adams Central lost its opener 34-7 against Northwest High last week.

"Our kids' leadership should keep all others in check," Ekart said, when asked if there might be any concern about his team getting too comfortable too early after the blowout. "We are a very focused team and it starts with our kids."

Chadron vs. Sidney individual stats

Chadron passing: W. Cogdill - 7/17, 21 yds, 2 INT; M. Fernandez - 1/1, -3 yds.

Chadron rushing: J. Dickerson - 7 car, 20 yds; K. Johnson - 5 car, 12 yds; B. Sayaloune - 6 car, 9 yds; W. Cogdill - 3 car, -2 yds; M. Fernandez - 1 car, -6 yds.

Chadron receiving: J. Dickerson - 2 rec, 17 yds; A. Eisenbarth - 2 rec, 5 yds; K. Johnson - 1 rec, 4 yds; B. Sayaloune - 1 rec, 0 yds; N. Sayaloune - 1 rec, 0 yds; T. Wild - 1 rec, -5 yds.

Sidney passing: L.Harvey - 8/11, 179 yds, 2 TD.

Sidney rushing: C. Anglin - 13 car, 69 yds, TD; M. Muggli - 3 car, 49 yds; J. Heeren - 5 car, 34 yds, TD; C. Haas - 2 car, 31 yds; H. Secrest - 4 car, 17 yds, TD; J. Feddersen - 3 car, 11 yds; J. Austed - 2 car, 4 yds; M. Banaszack - 2 car, 3 yds; A. Jacobson - 1 car, 3 yds; D. Robb - 1 car, 1 yd; L. Harvey - 1 car, -4 yds.

Sidney receiving: T. Wintholz - 6 rec, 129 yds, 2 TD; A. Linneman - 1 rec, 37 yds; H. Secrest - 1 rec, 13 yds.

Total yards:

Chadron: 51

Sidney: 398