By TOMMY WELLS | Special to the Index

SIDNEY – The Strawn Greyhounds are becoming very good at putting gold footballs in the school’s trophy case.

Very, very good at it.

Ross Alison rushed for two touchdowns and the SHS special teams recovered three consecutive onside kicks in the first quarter on Friday and led the ninth-ranked Greyhounds to a 46-0 shelling of the previously unbeaten Sidney Eagles in a key District 12-A showdown. With the win, Strawn nailed down its fourth district title in the past six seasons.

The game was stopped at the half due to the six-man football 45-point mercy rule.

Strawn, which rolled up a staggering 260 rushing yards on just 28 attempts, converted the three onside kick recoveries into 20 points in a 65-second span en route to blowing the contest wide open.

The Greyhounds offense looked anything but impressive on their first three snaps. Strawn lost two yards on their first three plays and found themselves looking at a fourth-and-17 situation at their own 29.

Sophomore Harrison Nowak gave the SHS offense the spark it needed from there. On fourth down, he took the snap from center and scrambled around the left side for a 46-yard gain to the Sidney 5.

The Greyhounds needed just one play to score from there and take an 8-0 lead.

Sidney didn’t have the same success on their initial possession. The Eagles took the ensuing kick and marched to the Strawn 14 before running back Chris Dominguez coughed up the ball. Greyhound defensive end Grayson Brandenburg scooped up the fumble at the Strawn 16.

Sophomore running back Jacob Trujillo made the Eagles pay dearly for the turnover. He highlighted the Greyhounds’ second drive – a five-play, 64-yard march – by reeling off a 34-yard romp to the Sidney 24. Ross Alison sprang free for 21 more yards on the next play from scrimmage and pushed the SHS offense to the Eagle 3.

Izaac Velasquez capped the drive from there by hauling in a three-yard strike from Nowak that pushed Strawn’s lead to 20-0 with 4:14 remaining.

Things got worse for Sidney from there.

Trujillo pounced on a fumble on the Greyhounds’ ensuing onside kick, giving Strawn the ball at the Sidney 33.

Three plays later, Alison plowed into the end zone from a yard out to give the Hounds a 28-0 lead with 3:18 left in the frame.

Lightning struck twice seconds later. Cole Abbott fell on Strawn’s next onside kick attempt, setting the SHS offense into gear at the Eagle 35.

One play later, Nowak gave Strawn its fifth TD in the first 6:51 of the game by lofting a 35-yard pass to Abram Jaramillo.

The Greyhounds, now 8-1 overall, held a commanding 34-0 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes of play.

Strawn didn’t ease up in the second. Alison scored on a short four-yard run on the first play of the second period and pushed Strawn’s lead to 40-0.

Strawn, which finished the game with 345 total yards, closed out the contest with a 21-yard scoring run later in the second quarter.

Sidney, which had entered the game at 8-0, struggled against Strawn’s defense throughout the contest. The Eagles managed just 94 total yards and just one first down. They also and turned the ball over three times.

De Leon downs Santo on late FG

SANTO – De Leon kicked a 37-yard field goal with one second left to play and defeated the Santo Wildcats, 31-28, here Friday night in a District 5-A game.

The loss drops the Wildcats’ overall record to 4-5, and 0-3 in district play.

Santo had taken a 12-0 lead in the first quarter when quarterback Zane Mauney scored on touchdown runs of 18 and 35 yards, respectively. Mauney led the ‘Cats on the ground with 158 yards on 20 carries.

De Leon cut the lead to 12-7 late in the opening period on a 71-yard touchdown run followed by a PAT kick.

De Leon took a 14-12 lead with 8:48 left in the second quarter on a 13-yard TD run followed by a PAT.

In the third quarter, De Leon extended its lead to 21-12 after a five-yard run to pay dirt and PAT.

Santo cut the lead to 21-20 when Keith Chalker scored on a six-yard run, and caught the conversion pass from Mauney.

De Leon increased its lead to 28-20 on a five-yard TD run followed by a PAT kick with 10:12 remaining in the contest.

But with 3:38 left to play, Santo tied the game, 28-28, on a five-yard blast by Grant Gilbert and a conversion run from Bridger Seay.

But De Leon drove to the Santo 20-yard line to set up the winning points.

Gilbert finished with 51 yards on 10 carries, Colton Harris added 36 yards on 10 totes, Chalker had 30 yards on 11 carries and Seay finished with four yards on five attempts.

Defensively, Ross Lopez and Zarmorris Cannon led the ‘Cats with six tackles, with Harris, Garrett Nemeth and Dylan Price each adding five.

Gordon runs past Evant, 68-22

GORDON – Gordon ran past Evant, 68-22,  here Friday night in a District 10 contest.

The win raises the Longhorns’ mark to 6-3, and 2-0 in district play.

Perrin falls to Electra in OT

PERRIN – Perrin came back from a 14-point deficit to tie the score only to see Electra outscore the Pirates 7-0 in overtime in a 21-14 win over the PHS here Friday night in a District 8-A contest.

The loss drops Perrin to 4-5, and 1-4 in league action.

Millsap falls on road

SCURRY – Scurry-Rosser defeated the Millsap Bulldogs, 75-7, here Friday night in a District 6-2A contest.

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 0-9 overall, and 0-6 in district play.

Millsap scored its only touchdown in the second quarter on a 30-yard pass from Michael Rogers to Kaden King.