Longhorns come up short at Sidney

    Chase County’s Longhorn football team looked poised for another comeback after trailing the Sidney Red Raiders for three and half quarters.
    On the heels of a Longhorn drive that died inside the Sidney 25 and still trailing 14-6, the Longhorns needed a break.
    It looked like Lady Luck was going to shine on the Longhorns again.
    Last week against Chadron, they blocked a punt and scored a touchdown in the closing minutes to take a 12-8 win.
    This time, junior Kobe Clevenger stripped a Sidney ball carrier and raced 50 yards for the touchdown to pull the Longhorns within two, 12-14 with 7:20 left to play.
    After the Longhorns’ first touchdown, the kick was blocked, forcing the Longhorns into a two-point conversion for the tie.
    Quarterback Scott Wheeler rolled to his right and hit a sure-handed Kadin Vrbas. He misjudged the ball and it bounced off his shoulder pad, falling incomplete.
    Vrbas was sure-handed on 75-yard reception for the Longhorns’ first score, just one play after Sidney scored their first touchdown.
    The Longhorns tried an on-side kick after Clevenger’s touchdown but Sidney recovered it.
    The Longhorn defense forced Sidney into a three-and-out. They got a break when the punter shanked the punt, going just 10 yards.
    The Longhorns were facing a 3rd-and-14 at their own 25 when Wheeler hit Braden Space over the middle for first down at the Sidney 47.
    Able to pick up just five yards, the Longhorns were faced with a make-or-break 4th-and-five.
    Wheeler’s pass for the first down was broken up, sealing the Longhorns’ fate as Sidney ran out the clock for the 14-12 win.
Sidney strong on the line
    Looking back at the game, Coach Dan Lenners said the Longhorns played as well as they could against a big, strong  Sidney line on both sides of the ball.

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