Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Raiders to square off against former coach Todd Ekart
It won’t be tough for the Sidney High football team to get excited for Friday night’s regular season-finale.
The Red Raiders realize that they need a victory and some help from a number of other Class B teams to earn a wild-card berth into the state tournament. Plus, it’ll be the final home game for a group of Sidney seniors.
And, oh yeah, their former coach will be across Weymouth Field on the opposing sidelines.
All of those factors will be in the mix when Sidney squares off against Gering on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Red Raiders are 4-4 this season, but still hold a slim chance to qualify for the 16-team state tournament that begins Oct. 30. They currently sit in a tie for 14th in the wild-card standings with three other schools.
However, there are schools sitting below them in the rankings that would receive automatic berths by winning its respective district on Friday night.
“We still have a chance to make it into the playoffs,” said Sidney’s first-year head coach Chris Koozer. “That in itself will be motivation enough. It’s a rare year when you have four losses going into the final game of the season and still have a shot at making it into the state tournament.”
Sidney will go up against Gering this week, a team that has struggled for several seasons. The Bulldogs are 0-8 this year and are on a 21-game losing streak that dates back to 2013.
They also have a first-year head coach, albeit a familiar face to the Sidney players and fans. Todd Ekart took over as the Gering coach last spring after resigning under good terms in Sidney. His wife, Tami, had accepted a job out of town and he was planning to relocate to Kearney. When the circumstances with her job changed and Koozer had already been hired, Ekart landed at Gering.
He led the Red Raiders to state tournament berths the past two years, compiling a 16-32 record in five seasons. However, 14 of those victories came in his last two seasons here.
“The kids circled this one on the schedule early,” Koozer said. “When you go up against your old coach, there’s always motivation. For our seniors and juniors, he is the only coach they had played for in high school.
“He did a good job here and they have the utmost respect for him,” he added. “They’ll play hard on Friday. We just need to go out and play well and win.”
Gering has struggled on both side of the ball this season.
The Bulldogs have only averaged 8.5 points per game this season. They have averaged just 64 yards per game rushing and 74 yards a contest through the air.
“They’re really not that bad on offense,” Koozer added. “They run four or five different formations at you. When their quarterback has time, he can throw the ball well. They do have the potential to go out there and get some yards and score some points.”
The Bulldogs’ QB is Austin Hoffman. He has completed 47 of 102 passes for 522 yards. He has three touchdown passes and five interceptions.
Gering’s leading rusher is Deion Contreras, who has 175 yards on 85 attempts. Brent Barge is its leading receiver with 16 catches for 179 yards.
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