Bridgeport Runs Over Raiders 35-7

Sidney Head Coach Chris Koozer knew his team was in for a big challenge opening at home against the Bridgeport Bulldogs. The Red Raiders have many new faces at key positions, while the Bulldogs came into the game with 14 returning seniors and and great speed at the skill positions.

Led by senior standout Cole Faessler, the Red Raiders schemed to slow down the Bulldog's breakaway speed, and had success early in the game with multiple tackles in the backfield for losses, keeping the Bulldog's off of the scoreboard in the early going.

Sidney sophomore Nolan Hofrock led the offense at quarterback, and had difficulty in the early possessions overthrowing his receivers, but eventually settled down and connected on a few key passes. But the Red Raiders could not get their running game going, and had to punt the ball away on their first few possessions. The Raider defense did their best to contain the Bulldogs, but could not get the defense off the field, giving up first downs on third and long multiple times. The Bulldogs runners and receivers did a great job battling for first down yardage and eventually cashed in for their first score of the night, a 31 yard run by Faessler where he was initially stopped at the line of scrimmage. Again, the Red Raider offense couldn't sustain a drive, and Bridgeport took over and went down the field in the second quarter. A 33 yard pass from senior quarterback Jake Wallesen to senior tight end Joshua Warren set up sophomore quarterback Braeden Stull's 18 yard touchdown pass to junior Baxten Swires to give the Bulldogs a 14-to-0 lead in the second quarter.

Sidney had enough time for a final drive before the half, and a big connection from Hofrock to senior wide receiver Zack Burke right down the middle of the field set the Red Raiders up in scoring position. But on the next play, junior Nathan Kennedy was unable to handle Hofrock's handoff, and put the ball on the turf. Bridgeport senior Damien Bell came up with the fumble recovery, and the teams went into the intermission with Sidney down by 14.

Another interception during the Red Raiders first possession of the second half resulted in a 23 yard touchdown pass from Stull to Bell and increased the Bulldog lead to 21-to-0. After another Sidney three-and-out, Bridgeport took over at midfield. The Red Raiders were posied for a big stop, but on third down and 6, Faessler again eluded the Sidney tacklers and ran the ball all the way down to the Sidney 15 yard line. After bringing the ball down to the 1 yard line, Faessler punched it in to increase the lead to 28-to-0 and effectively sealed the game for Bridgeport.

Sidney's offense finally started to move, with Hofrock connecting with Burke for first downs. After a Bulldog offside penalty on fourth down and three, Hofrock threw a pass that should have been picked off, but Stull was unable to reel the catch in for the Bulldogs. A personal foul penalty by Bridgeport moved the Raiders closer, then finally Hofrock connected on a big pass as Burke beat the coverage then made a great adjustment while the ball was in flight to secure the grab for Sidney and he went 40 yards for Sidney's lone score of the night. Sidney stopped Bridgeport, but Hofrock's pass to Kennedy skipped off of his outstretched hands, and was picked off and returned 65 yard for the night's final touchdown by Faessler.

The Raiders run game was completely shut down by Bridgeport, only gaining 12 yards for the entire night, while the Bulldogs rang up 150 yards on the ground. Sidney also was plagued by missed tackles and miscues, turning the ball over three times on two interceptions and a fumble.

Sidney travels to Imperial on Friday to take on the Chase County Longhorns who are coming off a 26-to-0 opening night loss against Chadron.