Raiders Rout Bulldogs

Sidney’s Red Raider Football team ended their season Friday night with a decisive 41-to-14 win over the Alliance Bulldogs in Alliance.

The victory gives Sidney a winning record for the first time since the 2018 season at 5-and-4, but the Red Raiders fell just short of qualifying for the play offs.

Sidney elected to defer after winning the opening coin toss and Alliance received the ball to start the game, advancing the kickoff to around their own 30 yard line.

The Sidney defense stopped the Bulldog’s offense cold, forcing a punt. Sidney moved the ball downfield, capitalizing on a long pass from senior quarterback Isak Doty to senior Koleman Kaiser, followed by junior Luke Holly breaking through the Alliance defense for a rushing touchdown. Doty’s successful extra point kick gave Sidney an early 7-to-0 lead.

Alliance’s next possession went even worse, losing 12 yards and three plays and punting again. Sidney again drove the ball, moving it down to the Alliance 37 yard line.

Doty then launched a long pass to senior Austin Roelle down the sideline, and Roelle made a great over the shoulder catch and sprinted down the sideline for a touchdown. The extra point kick was missed, so Sidney held a 13-to-0 lead.

Alliance was able to gain a first down on their next possession, but then were shut down by the Sidney defense. A short punt gave Sidney great field position on the Alliance 45 yard line, and a few plays later, Doty broke open a 30 yard touchdown run, and after a successful point after kick, the Red Raiders had built a commanding 20-to-0 lead.

Sidney held the Bulldogs to just six yards of offense in the first quarter.

Alliance finally showed some life in the waning moments of the first half when junior quarterback Landon Crowe completed a 53 yard touchdown pass to senior Tyzen Brown.

With less than a minute left in the half, Alliance tried an onside kick and recovered the ball, but Sidney sacked Crowe on the next two plays to end the half.

Sidney’s offense picked right up in the second half, scoring on their first two possesions, and triggering the running clock. Alliance’s final score came with 8 seconds left to play, when senior Carson Bair was able to outrun the Sidney substitutes on defense to score and end the game in a 41-to-14 victory for the Red Raiders.

The majority of Alliance’s 170 yards of offense came on the two scoring plays at the end of each half. Sidney’s offense piled up 473 yards, with 299 yards rushing.

Doty had 11 rushes for 120 yards and a touchdown while Holly had 179 yards rushing on 29 carries with three touchdowns.

Sidney did all they could do in this game to try to earn a playoff spot, but other teams did not cooperate, and Sidney’s small chance of a playoff berth went unrealized.