By Con Marshall
Five Panhandle high school football teams that exploded offensively in the first round of the state playoffs last Friday, will be striving to continue their seasons this Friday during the second-round games.
Unfortunately, even with the best of performances, four is the most that can advance to the third round on Friday, Nov. 15.
That’s because Chadron and Sidney are matched in the Class C-1 quarterfinals game, which will kick off at 4 o’clock in Sidney.
The other pairings have Scottsbluff hosting Elkhorn North, Silver Lake visiting Hay Springs and Red Cloud at Garden County in Oshkosh.
The Chadron Cardinals certainly made their hometown fans proud last Friday. With Quinn Bailey rushing 38 times for 311 yards and five touchdowns, they rolled to a 42-18 win over the capable Lincoln Christian Crusaders. The Red Birds also completed both of their passes for 50 yards and finished with a total of 376 yards of offense.
Lincoln Christian ended the season 6-3 after rushing for 186 yards and passing for 154 yards against the Cardinals.
The nice thing about winning the first playoff game, it nearly always solidifies a spot in the top 10 state rankings for the year. Besides playing lights out offense, Bailey appeared to make two touchdown-saving tackles. He now has 2,495 yards rushing this fall and 5,985 as a ball carrier the last four years.
While the Cardinals, now 8-2, were frolicking, Sidney also thrived. The Red Raiders led by just 13-7 at halftime, but won 30-7 over Omaha Roncalli. The Raiders rushed for 211 yards and passed for 120.
Quarterback Alek Doty completed 12 of 20 passes including seven for 91 yards to Landon Riddle, who also returned a punt 90 yards to the end zone. The Raiders also picked off three Roncalli passes. It was Sidney’s 13th consecutive home game victory and gives the team a 10-0 record.
Hay Springs improved to 9-0 while doubling the score on Sioux County, 72-36.
Dylan Raymer rushed just six times, but picked up 141 yards and four touchdowns. Tripp Buettner also ran for a 34-yard touchdown and quarterback Dylan Young completed six of 10 passes for 113 yards including TDs by Buettner, Raymer, Evan Smith and Talan Smith on a 58-yarder.
Young also carried the ball five times for 117 yards and led the Hawks with 13 tackles. Buettner, Talan Smith and Hunter McDonald were all credited with 10 tackles.
The Hawks will now host the Silver Lake Mustangs from Roseland, located about 20 miles from Hastings, at 4 p.m. Friday. The Mustangs are 7-2 after defeating Ansley-Litchfield 47-26 in the first round. Silver Lake’s losses were to Stuart 39-8 on Sept. 13 and Red Cloud 53-22 on Oct. 11. Both of those teams are 7-1 this fall.
Garden County, which is 9-0 after toppling Southwest from Bartley 50-23, will host Red Cloud in a second-round 6-man game Friday. Red Cloud’s lone loss was to Pawnee City 44-8.
The GC Eagles rushed 43 times for 408 yards in their 6-man playoff game. Kyan Kramer carried 20 times for 170 yards and four TDs and Wilsie Lobner 18 times for 169 yards and two scores.
Pawnee City finished its season at 8-0 after overwhelming all of its foes, but did not get to participate in the playoffs because it has too many students to meet the state’s 6-man guidelines.
Scottsbluff is the West’s other second-round playoff participant. The 9-1 Bearcats scored touchdowns on their first seven possessions last Friday while downing Gretna 55-27. Unofficially, quarterback Nate Kelley carried 15 times for 261 yards and six touchdowns and running back Dez Smith rushed 16 times for 215 yards and two TDs.
Next up for Scottsbluff is Elkhorn North at Bearcat Stadium. North, now 8-2, beat its cross-town rival, the Elkhorn Antlers, 35-14 in that first-round matchup.