Sidney to take on Karloff, Tigers tonight in Hastings

After rolling in its first two games of the year, the Sidney High School football team expects to be tested this week on both sides of the ball as they travel Friday night to face Hastings.

Sidney (2-0) has outscored its opponents 91-6 this fall. Kickoff against the Tigers (1-1) is 6 p.m. MDT. The game will air on 1340 AM.

This game figures to be a challenging task for Sidney, especially on the road about four hours from home. But Sidney head coach Todd Ekart is confident that his team is up to the task and is prepared to play its style of football.

“We are extremely focused and the leaders of this team have stated that everyone needs to be focused,” Ekart said.

Hastings will trot out what is by far the most dangerous offense Sidney has faced this season. Although the Tigers don’t have much of a running attack, they’ve been lethal through the air over their first two contests, totaling 762 yards passing and seven touchdowns. 

Sophomore Vinny Schmidt will start under center for Hastings after going 25 for 33 with 427 yards, three touchdowns and and interception in a 49-34 loss last week against unbeaten Scottsbluff.

Junior wideout Morgan Karloff accounted for 234 yards and two of those scores. He should be one of the centers of attention of the Sidney defense.

But Schmidt will spread the ball around the field and has plenty of other weapons to fuel the Tigers’ passing game. Junior Sam Reimer has also hauled in eight passes for 147 yards and a pair of TDs this season. Senior Broc Dreher has caught six balls for 102 yards and a touchdown.

The Sidney defense – and particularly the secondary – will be hard pressed to contain Hastings’ deep threats. However, Schmidt isn’t a particularly mobile quarterback. If the Red Raiders can create pressure in the pocket, it could force him into making poor throws. Sidney has the athletes with the ball skills to capitalize on stray passes into the secondary.

Another factor to consider Friday night will be the weather. There’s a chance it could be ugly, which may certainly have an effect on the outcome of the game.

Ekart says he isn’t really worried about it though. In fact, he’ll embrace the bad weather should it turn up.

“The more weather the better,” Ekart said. “Our style of offense will be much less affected by the weather than theirs will be.”

As they say “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” so expect the Sidney offense to stick with what has been remarkably successful so far – balance.

The stable of talented backs in Chance Anglin and Michael Muggli will continue to get plenty of touches and quarterback Lane Harvey can be counted upon to make the occasional downfield pass when the defense begins to commit to the run.

But the running game will be especially critical to success for Sidney. Keeping Schmidt and the Hastings air raid off the field as much as possible will keep the Raiders’ defense fresh and the clock moving in Sidney’s favor.

The Red Raiders will try for a 3-0 start in consecutive years.

Sidney at Hastings

Tonight’s starting lineups

Offense Defense

QB #7 Lane Harvey (Sr.) E #60 Kane Taylor (Sr.)

RB #34 Chance Anglin (Sr.) E #24 Tyler Wintholz (Jr.)

RB #6 Michael Muggli (Sr.) T #54 Jake Sager (Sr.)

RB #36 Hunter Secrest (Jr.) T #4 Jake Heeren (Jr.)

WR #24 Tyler Wintholz (Jr.) LB #55 Brian Rolls (Sr.)

WR #12 Alex Linneman (So.) LB #56 Kevin Jurgensen (Sr.)

T #60 Kane Taylor (Sr.) LB #36 Hunter Secrest (Jr.)

T #55 Brian Rolls (Sr.) DB #34 Chance Anglin (Sr.)

G #54 Jake Sager (Sr.) DB #17 Garrett Deer (Sr.)

G #73 Cody Frerichs (Sr.) DB #6 Michael Muggli (Sr.)

C #61 Cody Hofrock (Jr.) DB #7 Lane Harvey (Sr.)

Friday football schedule

-Sidney (2-0) at Hastings (1-1) - 6 p.m. MDT

- Creek Valley (0-2) at South Platte (0-1) - 7 p.m.

- Potter-Dix (1-0) at Caliche (Colo.) (2-0) - 7 p.m.

- Leyton (0-1) at Sedgwick Co. (2-0) - 7 p.m.

- Peetz (1-1) vs. Prairie (Colo.) (2-0) - 7 p.m.