Taking Care of Business

MIKE MOTZ

Sidney Sun-Telegraph

SIDNEY--Sidney Head Coach Ryan Smith said before last Friday's game that Roncalli Catholic was not your typical number 16-seeded team, as they played a tough schedule and dropped a few games that could have easily gone their way. In last Friday's contest, it was quickly apparent that the Crimson Pride was a tough and hard-hitting team, and able to capitalize on mistakes. And the first half of the game was filled with uncharacteristic errors by Sidney that kept the outcome of the game in doubt until the second half.

Roncalli opened the game on offense, and for the first time this season, the Sidney defense gave up a first down on an opponent's first drive of the game. After that first down, Roncalli committed back-to-back penalties, an illegal formation, and then holding. The Sidney defense stiffened their resolve and stopped the Crimson Pride, forcing a punt. The Sidney offense started slowly, and after a seven-yard gain on their first play, they had to punt the ball back to Roncalli. The Crimson Pride tried to draw the Red Raider defense offsides on a fourth down and one play, but the Sidney boys held and Roncalli burned a time-out and then punted. It was a short punt, and Sidney started with good field position. Sidney marched down the field but turned the ball over on an interception deep in Crimson Pride territory. It was the first of a group of mistakes that kept the score of this game close in the first half.

Sidney forced a punt as the second quarter began, and senior Landon Riddle received the ball at the Sidney 10-yard line, cut to the right side of the field following his blockers, then broke away down the sideline for a 90-yard touchdown score that gave Sidney the 7-to-0 lead after the successful extra point attempt. The lead didn't last for long, as Sidney stopped the next Roncalli drive, forcing a punt. It was a good boot, pinning the Raiders back at their two-yard line. On Sidney's first play, junior quarterback Alek Doty tried to run on the right side of the line, but the Roncalli defenders hit him in the backfield forcing a fumble. The Crimson Pride recovered the loose ball in the end-zone tying the game at 7-to-7. Two uncharacteristic Doty mistakes resulted in a 14-point swing early on. Good teams don't make many mistakes. Great teams overcome their mistakes and keep on playing, and Sidney showed why they are a great team in this contest.

Although the Crimson Pride did convert on a few big plays with dangerous senior Maxwell Thompson, the Sidney defense did a great job containing the complex, rhythm-based passing attack of the Crimson Pride. As the game wore on, Sidney's defense consistently harassed sophomore quarterback Brady McGill, disrupting the timing of his passes and forcing a lot of incompletions. A game-changing play happened in the second quarter when McGill hit receiver Nate Smith who was then hit hard by a Sidney defender, jarring the ball loose, allowing Alek Doty to scoop it out of the air for an interception. A few plays later, Doty hugged the right sideline and jetted past the Crimson Pride defense for a 22-yard touchdown, and after a missed extra point attempt, Sidney led 13-to-7.

The Sidney defense was outstanding in the second half, forcing two Crimson Pride punts, picking off another pass, and then sealing the win with a safety of McGill. Two more scoring drives that burned the clock were all that was needed to put the game away, 30-to-7. The Sidney defense pitched a shutout, and the Red Raider offense ran the ball freely in the second half and ground away the time on the clock.

Alek Doty finished the game, 12 out of 22 passing for 105 yards, with one interception, and lost a fumble. He rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown in the win, and also intercepted a pass on defense. Senior running back Owen Gillham rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown. His runs during the fourth quarter kept the chains moving and the Crimson offense off the field. Senior Landon Riddle grabbed seven passes for 91 yards and scored a critical touchdown on a punt return. The Sidney defense was outstanding all game, surrendering no points and grabbing three interceptions in the victory.

Sidney next hosts Chadron Friday afternoon, in a rematch of the final regular season game, a 14-0 Raider victory. Sidney's defense contained the high-powered Cardinal rushing attack and will have its work cut out for it again as the Cardinals come off a big 42-to-18 win over Lincoln Christian. Senior running back Quinn Bailey torched the Lincoln Christian defense for 311 rushing yards and five touchdowns. The Sidney boys shut out the Cardinals two weeks ago and will need another big defensive effort to get past the Cardinals a second time.

Sidney Head Coach Ryan Smith said about the upcoming game, "Playing Chadron for the second time in three weeks is going to be a massive challenge.  Offensively, we all know the challenge they present and we are going to need a similar performance from our defense this time around.  I felt we played so well last time - it will be difficult to duplicate that.  I feel like we are more than capable of doing it, but it will be tough.  Defensively, they play a lot like us.  Fast and swarm to the ball.  Again, we will need to play very well in order to have success. I would expect Chadron to have a few different wrinkles for us, especially since this is playoff time."