Raiders Tame Tigers, 42-0

SIDNEY--"Be that team! Be that team!" shouted Sidney Head Coach Ryan Smith from the sidelines mid-way through the second quarter of Friday night's contest between Sidney and Mitchell. There's no doubt about it, as the Red Raiders are "that team" after thoroughly dismantling the Mitchell Tigers 42-to-0 Friday night at Weymouth Field. It was the Raiders' second 42-to-0 win in a row, and the Sidney boys have firmly established themselves as the class of C1. At 4-and-0, the undefeated Raiders record is matched only by the 4-and-0 Chadron Cardinals in C1-7, and the two powerhouse teams will meet up for the final game of the regular season in Chadron which will most likely have massive implications for both teams. However, it is never wise to look too far ahead at the schedule, and there is still a lot of football to be played. Still, if the first four games indicate how the season will play out, Sidney is firmly in command of their destiny.

Although the score was the same as last week's win over Holdrege, the game against Mitchell did not start in the same fashion. Sure, the Raiders stopped the Tiger's opening drive with a three-and-out defensive stand, but after Sidney received the ensuing punt, they used a methodical drive to earn their first score. The drive included a fourth down conversion, then cashing in with a short touchdown catch by senior Patrick McCartney from junior quarterback Alek Doty. The Raiders did not score until the 4:45 mark in the first quarter, which was quite different from last week's quick onslaught against Holdrege.

Mitchell showed some life on the ensuing kickoff return, returning the ball to the Sidney 45-yard line. However, the Sidney defense came up big and stymied the Tiger's offensive plans, quickly forcing another Mitchell punt. Sidney started their next drive from their own 15-yard line, and Doty quickly connected with senior Landon Riddle for 25 yards to get Sidney out to mid-field. From the Mitchell 41, Doty launched a bomb to Riddle streaking towards the end zone, and he stopped and jumped up high to make a highlight-reel catch at the five-yard line, then shook off a tackler to walk into the end zone, giving Sidney a 14-to-0 lead.

Mitchell started their next possession at their own 21-yard line and finally got some momentum going as junior Xaiver Galloway hauled in a long pass to get to the Sidney 46-yard line. But the success was short-lived as two plays later sophomore Kale Kaiser intercepted a pass and stopped the drive. Two plays after that, junior Lance Holly took the ball on a jet-sweep to the right side, made a nifty move to juke a tackler, then turned on the speed and cruised to the end zone, increasing Sidney's lead to 21-to-0 with 9:03 left in the first half. Mitchell got the ball back and started to move downfield, but on third down Sidney forced a fumble to take over on the Mitchell 23-yard line. The next series featured some of the few mistakes the Raiders made in the contest. First, a bad snap went way over the head of Doty who had to scramble to recover the ball, resulting in a loss of 20 yards. After getting nine of those yards back on second down, a bad snap on third down forced Doty again to scramble to secure the ball. However, this time he stayed upright, and forced a pass down the right sideline that Mitchell's Xavier Galloway stepped in front of to intercept. It was a rare mistake for Doty, but it didn't hurt the Raider effort.

Sidney again stuffed Mitchell to force a three-and-out to get the ball back. On the Raiders' first play, Doty again launched a long pass to Riddle, who got behind the defenders, secured the catch, and then trucked untouched into the end zone to move the score to 28-to-0 with 3:53 left in the half. Mitchell then fumbled on their next drive and junior Ben Monheiser pounced on the ball for the recovery. Sidney then capped the first-half mauling with a Doty 17-yard touchdown run to go into the halftime break up 35-to-0.

With the running clock initiated to start the third quarter, as Mitchell was down by 35 points, the Tigers could not capitalize on a Raider turnover caused by another bad shotgun snap. Mitchell got down to the Sidney eight-yard line but was stopped on downs by a Sidney defense playing with many substitutes. Doty found Riddle again with a 78-yard touchdown pass on the next possession to end the scoring, and the game ended in a 42-to-0 rout for Sidney.

Doty ended the game with eight completions on 11 attempts for 259 yards, five touchdowns, and an interception. He also had a rushing touchdown. Riddle hauled in five catches with three resulting in touchdowns. Sidney amassed 418 yards of offense, with 150 yards rushing and 268 yards passing. Senior Owen Gillham led the rushing attack with 61 yards on nine carries. The Sidney defense was once again stellar, only giving up 118 yards of total offense. The only thing the Raiders look to have to fix in preparation for Friday's road contest against the 2-and-2 Gothenburg Swedes is their long snapping.