Bison shut out Sidney 42-0

Steve Towery/McCook Gazette
Eric Langan (69), Kaleb Taylor (62), DJ Gross (88) and Colin Giron (55) swarm Sidney's Derek Robb (22) during Friday night's game at Red Raider Stadium. Thanks to relentless defense, the Bison pitched their first shutout of the season en route to a 42-0 win.

SIDNEY, Neb. -- The mantra 'games are won in the trenches' was on full display Friday night in Sidney.

Thanks to dominant line play, the McCook Bison rushed for over 400 yards and helped pitch a shutout in a 42-0 win over the Red Raiders.

"The offensive line did a great job of taking over the game," said Bison head coach Jeff Gross. "Any time you rush for as much as we did, good things will happen."

Benefitting from the line's play were the usual suspects of Dunncan Fassler, Zach Schlager, Easton Gillen and Cade Cappel, as well as a slew of other backs. Schlager led the way with 129 yards on a mere five rushing attempts, while Fassler added 121 yards on a game-high 16 carries.

Fassler opened the scoring with a seven-yard run in the first quarter to put the Bison ahead 6-0. On the ensuing point after attempt, holder Bryceton Trew mishandled the snap resulting in Sam Smith kicking Trew's knee "full swing."

"That caused (Smith) a lot of pain the rest of the game," said Gross.

In Smith's stead was Trae Koetter. Koetter would go on to kick two point after attempts, as well as a 28-yard field goal in his debut.

"(Koetter) is a great kicker for us and did some really good things," Gross noted. "We also put Morgan Fawver as our kickoff specialist, so those two split duties."

While the kicking game was going through a change, the Bison offense kept rolling. McCook added three scores in the second quarter to extend their advantage to 25-0 at halftime.

Schlager showed flashes of Taylor Martinez, when he took an option keeper 76 yards for the Bison's second score.

On the ensuing drive, Cappel hammered in a four-yard touchdown to push the lead to 18-0. Just before halftime, Schlager would score once more from nine yards out.

Following intermission, Easton Gillen notched his first rushing touchdown with a 12-yard run to make it 32-0 in the third quarter. Koetter's field goal would make it 35-0 heading into the final stanza.

Alec Bunger capped the scoring with a two-yard touchdown, his first of the year, in the fouth quarter. With the game in hand, the Bison were able to give depth players valuable game time.

Just like the Gering game, McCook went into halftime with a shutout. This time, however, the Bison were able to put up a goose egg for the entire game.

"We felt like they could have had the ball all night and they wouldn't have scored," Gross said. "We took care of the middle, forced them to take wider paths, and were right in their grill all night. For a sophomore quarterback, like they had, that was a tall order."

It is no secret the Bison have a talented defense, but the tactical approach McCook took against Sidney played a big role in the shutout.

"The biggest thing were the adjustments we made against their offense," Gross said. "It was a great gameplan, a great scheme, and the players executed it to perfection."

"(Ben) Bradley and Fassler did a great job for us on the outside. That's one of the best outside linebacker tandems in the state. With what we had on the outside, that forced them to make stuff happen in the middle and our boys weren't gonna let that happen."

Despite relenting his kicking duties, Smith continued to play on defense. Gross noted his performance as a particular highlight of the night.

"(Smith) played the game of his life on Friday," Gross mentioned. "They kept trying to test him deep, and he wasn't letting anything happen. It was a great performance."

It wasn't all roses for the Bison, however. McCook's thorns came in the form of eight penalties and one lost fumble.

"We had a few sluggish mistakes," Gross said. "Overall, however, the physicality and effort was there."

McCook will shift its focus to Alliance this week. The Bulldogs, with their senior-laden squad, are a darkhorse to make some noise in Class B this season. After 34-7 demolition of Holdrege, Alliance heads into this Friday's contest with a 2-1 record.

Of course, it's also homecoming week for McCook. Themes, pep rallies and a bonfire are all on the schedule, but so is a date with Alliance.

"I told the boys to have fun and enjoy it all," Gross said. "That said, we're not gonna lose sight of what we have going on this Friday."

McCook 42, Sidney 0

Score by Quarters

Scoring Summary

McCook -- Dunncan Fassler 7-yd run (PAT no good)

McCook -- Zach Schlager 76-yd run (2-pt conversion failed)

McCook -- Cade Cappel 4-yd run (PAT no good)

McCook -- Schlager 9-yd run (Sam Smith PAT)

McCook -- Easton Gillen 12-yd run (Trae Koetter PAT)

McCook -- Koetter 28-yd FG

McCook -- Alec Bunger 2-yd run (Koetter PAT)

Individual Leaders

Rushing -- MC: Schlager 5-129, Fassler 16-121, Cappel 6-44, Sehnert 6-37, Gillen 8-34, Terry 4-25, Klein 1-11, Bradley 1-10, Bunger 2-4. SD: Robb 11-51, Linneman 3-27, Ahrens 3-19, Rolls 5-12, Haas 1-7, Nelson 1-5, Smith 1-0, Doty 1-(-1), Austad 1-(-3).

Passing -- MC: Gillen 2-2-46. SD: Doty 3-14-19, Ahrens 0-1, Robb 0-1.

Receiving -- MC: Cappel 1-37, Smith 1-9. SD: Linneman 1-11, Robb 2-8.

Tackling -- Schlager 9, Gross 8, Fassler 7, Langan 6, Bradley 4, Matson 4, Taylor 4, Smith 3, Gillen 3, Hernandez 3, Cappel 2, Giron 2. Larson 2, Terry 2, Potthoff 2, seven other players with one tackle.