SIDNEY – The Class A Division II No. 10 Zephyr Bulldogs can finish no worse than tied atop the District 13 standings as Thursday night’s 48-0 road triumph over the Sidney Eagles wrapped up at least a share of their third consecutive district championship.
By the conclusion of Friday night, the Bulldogs (8-1, 3-0) may own the title outright, or could find themselves needing a victory next Friday to guarantee a playoff berth despite their standing as a champion of the league.
Gustine (6-1, 1-1) hosts Rising Star (4-5, 1-2) Friday night, where a victory by the Tigers would keep their playoff and district championship hopes alive. If Gustine comes out on top, it travels to Zephyr next week where another victory would create a possible three-way tie top the league standings, as Blanket (7-1, 2-1) – which has a bye this week – hosts Sidney (3-5, 0-3).
If Gustine were to fall to Rising Star Friday night, Zephyr would secure the No. 1 playoff seed and Blanket would go in as the No. 2 seed regardless of next week’s outcomes.
Zephyr head coach Jeremy Phillips said of claiming a third straight district championship, “It’s a huge turnaround. These seniors, when I first got here they were seventh graders and they weren’t very good. We struggled to score any touchdowns at all in junior high. To see the growth they’ve made over the years, it means more than the wins do, but the wins are fun, too. I’m glad they get to go out being a winner because they really deserve it. But we want to make sure we win it on the field, we don’t want to get into tiebreakers and all that stuff.”
In the win over Sidney, the Bulldogs scored on seven of nine offensive possessions and finished with 339 yards of total offense – 194 passing and 145 rushing – with one turnover.
Defensively, Zephyr limited the Eagles to 99 total yards on 41 snaps – an average of just 2.4 yards per play – as Sidney rushed for 59 yards and passed for 40 with one turnover. The Bulldogs also recorded their second shutout of the season, both coming in the last three weeks since District 13-A Division II competition began.
“Defensively I felt we did a really good job,” Phillips said. “Every week we’ve gotten better and better on the defensive side so I couldn’t be more proud. Sidney was able to do to some things to our offense that we’re going to have to watch film on and improve on, because we have another tough one next week.”
Zephyr’s Reese Hamm caught a team-high four passes of 97 yards and scored twice and also rushed for 41 yards on four carries with another trip to the end zone. Wyatt Stevens was 10 of 13 through the air for 194 yards with three scoring tosses, as Corben Gosnell hauled in a 26-yard scoring reception.
Stevens also finished with a team-high 55 yards rushing and another score, while CJ Byers contributed three carries for 16 yards, with two of those rushes resulting in touchdowns Byers also caught three passes covering 22 yards.
Chayden Woodcock tacked on 33 yards rushing in his return to the lineup after a month-long absence, while Wyatt Frank chipped in a 45-yard reception and Ethan Byers added a 4-yard catch to highlight Zephyr’s offensive performance.
Sidney was led by Jackson Pounds, who rushed for 31 yards, while Ethan Scantling tacked on 17 yards on the ground and completed 5 of 13 passes for 40 yards with an interception on a pass that was picked off by Zephyr’s Johnny Paul Evans-Rollins. Rees Miller rushed for 10 yards and caught two passes for 7 yards, while Dylan Terpstra hauled in a 24-yard reception, Jaylon Salinas made a 10-yard catch, and Ethan Brown hauled in a 6-yard toss.
Zephyr opened the scoring on its first drive as Stevens connected with Gosnell on fourth-and-22 from the Sidney 26 for the initial touchdown. Stevens booted the two-point kick for an 8-0 edge with 4:50 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs’ lead stood at 16-0 after one frame as CJ Byers scored on a 10-yard carry, and Stevens again converted the two-point kick, to boost the edge to 16-0 with 1:58 left in the opening stanza.
Zephyr added two more touchdowns in the second period to open a 28-0 halftime advantage.
First, Stevens scampered into the end zone from 16 yards on a third-and-15 play at the 4:10 mark. Then, with 11 seconds left before intermission, Stevens connected with Hamm on a 13-yard fade pattern.
The Bulldogs began the second half with the ball and scored on their second play as Hamm maneuvered through the Sidney defense on a 37-yard scoring sprint.
Leading 34-0, Zephyr used a one-play, 51-yard drive as Stevens found Hamm behind the Sidney defense, to increase the cushion to 42-0 following a Spencer Marwitz kick with 24 seconds left in the third period.
Zephyr then ended the contest with 6:44 to go as the 45-point mercy rule was enforced following a 3-yard plunge by Byers, which was set up by Stevens’ 45-yard toss to Frank the play prior.
