ALLIANCE – Sidney scored on their first three drives of the game while holding the Alliance Bulldogs to just six yards in the first quarter, as the Red Raiders rolled to a 41-14 win Friday night at Bulldog Stadium in Alliance. The win was Sidney’s third straight and gave the 5-4 Red Raiders their first winning season since 2018.

Sidney set the tone early with their defense, forcing a three-and-out on Alliance’s first two possessions while holding the Bulldogs to a negative five yards. With the exception of two big scoring plays by Alliance, that would be the story of the night.

Sidney built a 28-0 lead with 2:00 remaining in the first half on the second rushing touchdown by junior Luke Holly. The Bulldogs got on the board on the first of two big scoring plays in the game when junior quarterback Landen Crowe found senior Tyzen Brown with a 53-yard strike with :58 to go in the second period. Alliance executed a successful on-side kick on the ensuing kickoff, but Sidney’s defense sacked Crowe twice to end the half.

Sidney offense continued to roll after intermission, scoring the first two times they had the ball to initiate a running clock on Holly’s third rushing touchdown of the night. The Bulldogs second big scoring play came with :08 to go in the game. Senior running back Carson Bair rolled around right end and outraced the Sidney reserves to the endzone to make the final score 41-14.

Sidney held the Bulldogs to just 170 yards of total offense on the night. Remove Alliance’s the two large scoring plays from the equation, and the Red Raider defense gave up only 30 yards of offense in the game.

Meanwhile, Sidney amassed 473 yards of offense on the night, led by Luke Holly’s 179 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 29 carries. Junior quarterback Isak Doty rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries while completing 6 of 10 passes for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Although Sidney accomplished one goal of a winning season, their faint hopes of a spot in the C-1 playoffs were not realized and the Red Raiders football season comes to and end with a 5-4 record.