Longhorns downed by Raiders

    The Chase County football team learned a lesson in physicality Friday night at Sidney.
    CCS Head Coach Nathan Gaswick said, after a big week one performance when the Longhorns beat Alliance, it appeared that complacency and inconsistency were Chase County’s own worst enemy.
    Sidney was first to get on the board in the contest, running four plays before breaking off a 60-yard touchdown run.
    Sidney continued to assert its running game on its second possession, but after five running plays, scored on a 10-yard pass.
    Sidney increased its lead to 18 points with a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.
    The Longhorns punted on three of their first four possessions. While CCS landed on top of a Sidney fumble at the Red Raiders 40-yard line, its drive stalled at the 16-yard line.
    Sidney drove to the CCS 10-yard line, but another fumble ended the threat.
    CCS trailed 0-18 at halftime.
    Gaswick said Sidney possessed great aiming points on defense and got CCS running backs down on the ground quickly.
    “We were not able to get our run game established early on and were forced into the air which is not a strength of our offensive scheme,” he said.
    The deficit quickly increased in the second half when Sidney scored the first play from scrimmage and kept its foot down, adding another touchdown on its next possession.
    Trailing 0-30, the Longhorns got on the board late in the third quarter. CCS threw an interception but got the ball back on a Sidney fumble on the next play. Taking over on Sidney’s 16 yard line, the Longhorns ran for six yards before Carter Leibbrandt found Kade Anderson for a 10-yard touchdown.
    CCS picked off a Sidney pass on the second play of the fourth quarter, but couldn’t take advantage.
    The teams traded possessions throughout the fourth quarter until CCS scored with time almost up. Once more it was Leibbrandt finding Anderson  for a 10-yard touchdown to round out scoring in the 14-33 loss.
    Gaswick said he had to give Sidney a lot of credit because the physicality and toughness that coaches saw in week one from the Longhorns was what Sidney displayed on Friday night.
    “We did not match them,” he said.
    The Longhorns ran for 114 yards and threw for 103 yards.
    “Defensively, we struggled to stop their dive read concept and could not contain their quarterback who hurt us multiple times with big runs,” said Gaswick.
    Sidney’s junior quarterback Isak Doty ran for 237 yards in the game.
Up next
    CCS begins a two-game home stand Friday when Amherst comes to town. Amherst is 0-2 after losses to a pair of unbeaten teams, Wood River, 29-34, and Hastings St. Cecilia, 0-35.
    Gaswick said this will be a big week for our football team to see how players will respond to the adversity created from Friday’s loss.
    “Amherst is a brand new opponent for Chase County and possesses an equal balance of run/pass. They are not afraid to spread the field and throw the ball around when they need to and do possess a solid run game. We will have to find ways to pressure their quarterback and force him to make quick decisions,” Gaswick said.