Sidney stymies Lexington

FOR THE SUN-TELEGRAPH

The Sidney High football team was looking to bounce back from its first loss this season.

It did just that in strong fashion on Friday night, traveling to Lexington and turning in a 35-0 victory.

“I’m absolutely proud of how our team played,” said Sidney head coach Chris Koozer. “It’s an overall team win, but our defense really stepped things up with the shutout.”

The Red Raiders, who improved to 4-1 this season, opened up a 14-0 lead by the intermission on a pair of touchdown passes from Brady Radcliffe to Tyler Wintholz.

Radcliffe was 9 for 15 passing for 82 yards. He connected with Wintholz for six of those completions and 41 yards.

After Sidney scored its second touchdown, its defense came up big in the final seconds of the opening half.

Lexington (1-4) drove the field and got inside the Raiders’ 20-yard line. But Dalton Schilz came up with an interception just in front of the goal line to stymie the Minutemen’s drive.

“Dalton Schilz came up big for us on that play just before the half,” Koozer said. “It’s a totally different ballgame if they score there and make it a 14-7 game. That really took the wind out of their sails.”

Alex Linneman extended Sidney’s lead to 21-0 with a third-quarter touchdown run, while Derek Robb and Coby Haas each found the end zone with fourth-quarter TD runs.

Robb carried the ball 13 times for 70 yards, while Hunter Secrest added 70 more rushing yards on 17 carries. Haas finished with 40 yards on the ground with his six carries.

Freshman Arik Doty kicked four PATs.

Sidney’s Patraic Hays had a team-high nine tackles.

The Red Raiders are back in action at home this Friday against Grand Island Northwest. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.

The Vikings are also off to a 4-1 start this season and posted a 38-35 victory over Scottsbluff on Friday.