By Bryant Billing
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SIDNEY — It’s been a long wait, but Sidney fans will be able to see quarterback Andre Gordon on 30 and 0 Field again on Friday. Sidney will host Chaminade-Julienne at 7 p.m. in the last scrimmage of the season, which will mark the first time Gordon has played on the turf since his freshman year.
Several other local teams will scrimmage for the final time this season on Friday night before regular season play begins next week. Anna hosts Cross County Conference powerhouse Covington, Lehman travels to Parkway, Minster plays at Wapakoneta and Versailles hosts Greenville. Fort Loramie traveled to New Bremen for a scrimmage on Thursday and beat the Cardinals 22-7.
Gordon, who has a scholarship offer from Iowa State, was injured before Sidney’s home opener against Bellefontaine last year. He played against St. Marys in Week 1 and threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns but sustained a broken wrist before the Bellefontaine game.
It was the first of many injuries that hampered the Yellow Jackets in a 4-6 season. Sidney finished 6-4 in 2015, in part due to a breakout season by Gordon in his freshman year. He threw for 1,373 yards and 10 touchdowns and also ran for 868 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Gordon has been back at full strength since the start of last basketball season, and Sidney coach Adam Doenges said he traveled the country playing in AAU tournaments this summer. His basketball performance impressed college coaches, as he picked up hoops offers from Cleveland State, Akron, Wright State and Toledo.
But since practice started on July 31, it’s been all football for Gordon. Doenges said he’s already seen big improvements.
“He learns extremely fast,” Doenges said after a practice on Monday night. “When we had our scrimmage (against Edgewood) last Saturday, you could see as the scrimmage went along, he got better. He got more comfortable in the pocket and got more comfortable with his reads.”
Sidney has seven returning starters on both sides of the ball, including seniors Isaiah Bowser and Devan Rogers, who verbally committed to Div. I universities last month. Bowser, a running back, committed to Northwestern while Rogers, a defensive lineman, committed to Toledo.
“We’re excited by the guys we have coming back,” Doenges said. “Everyone has been working hard in practice and we’ve already seen a lot of improvement. It will be a good opportunity for us to see what we have to fix against CJ. They’ve always got some athletic kids.”
Chaminade, which opens the season on the road at Marion Local next Friday, finished 6-4 last season. The Eagles beat Sidney by two touchdowns in a scrimmage last year and have a host of returnees, including quarterback Ryan Peltier. Peltier, who is committed to Ball State for baseball, threw for 1,078 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Sidney’s scrimmage game is a part of the school’s annual Turf’s Up fall sports kickoff. Tickets are $5 and are also good for admission to the Sidney vs. Lehman boys soccer game at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Sidney Memorial Stadium. All proceeds will be donated to the Shelby County United Way.
Sidney opens the season against St. Marys next Friday at 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
