Sidney Bullies Bridgeport 40-0

"That's one," Sidney Coach Chris Koozer said following the Raiders' first game of the 2018-19 season, a 40-0 drubbing of Bridgeport.

While it didn't start that way, Sidney manhandled the Bulldogs, using its size to overwhelm and wear down a team that showed splashes of quickness and talent with the pigskin.

In fact, Bridgeport made the Raider crowd gasp early when quarterback Cole Faessler weaved his way through the line and broke away for a 48 yard romp before being chased down by the Raiders in the early going. But as it did all night, the Sidney defense came together to halt the Bridgeport threat.

It was that defensive pressure that put Sidney on the board first, a 23-yard pick-six interception by safety Elijah Ahrens with :35 left in the first quarter.

As the night went on, the Raiders grew stronger as they became more familiar with their roles and assignments on both sides of the ball.

"We had some new guys in new roles," Koozer said. "Once they got established, they played real good."

For its part, Sidney's offense moved the ball well off an on early, finally punching the ball across on a quarterback keeper midway through the second quarter when Arik Doty crossed the goal line. The score came after Sidney had driven to a foot outside the end zone, then was pushed back when in its eagerness, jumped too quickly on the following play. Sidney made up the penalty yardage and then punched it across from nearly the same spot.

Sidney again proved its tenacity at the end of the quarter when connected with Ahrens on a 53-yard pass play, setting the ball up at the 8 yard line. A false start pushed the Raiders back to the 18 and on the next try Doty just missed Ahrens. But he connected with Christian Lecher on the following play, giving the Raiders a 20-0 lead going into halftime.

Sidney sealed the deal in the third period with an 11 yard touchdown run by Cade Lewis, then added 13 more points for assurance.

The game was Sidney's first as a class C-1 team. The school went to C-1 (in football only) when the Nebraska School Activities Association changed its classification formula, basing class on the number of boys in the high school. Three of the state's larger school were pushed into the top of class B, in turn pushing Sidney into C-1.

Sidney continues its new class schedule against Gordon-Rushville Friday at Weymouth Field. Game time is 7 p.m.

Sidney 6-14-13-7_40

Bridgeport 0-0-0-0_0