RED LEVEL – It wasn’t pretty but the Goshen Eagles picked up their first win of the season and it came in a pivotal region matchup.

Goshen (1-2, 1-1) pulled out a close one, 19-12, over the Red Level Tigers Friday night.

The Eagles trailed 6-0 going into halftime after the Tigers scored on a 83-yard run.

“We hurt ourselves some tonight,” head coach Bart Snyder said. “We missed some assignments and didn’t execute at times.”

The lead would not last long, however, for Red Level as Brandon Alford returned the second half kickoff 80 yards for the score. The extra point was blocked and the game would remain tied 6-6.

Red Level fought back as well driving the ball down the field before scoring on a 1-yard run. The Tigers would lead 12-6.

“We played well at times and then we didn’t at times,” said Snyder. “We definitely have some things to work on.”

Reginald Foster would also find the endzone for the Eagles in the third quarter. Foster scored from 20 yards out to give Goshen a one-point advantage, 13-12.

“We made some big plays that helped us,” Snyder said. “But we missed way too many tackles.”

Goshen iced the game in the fourth quarter on a 8-yard Jerome Lawrence run to give the Eagles the 19-12 lead.

The Eagles rushed for 314 yards on the nights and a big reason for that was the play of center Jonathan Thomas.

“Jonathan played an outstanding game,” said Snyder. “He really ran our offensive line and helped pull us through.”

Another bright spot was freshman kicker Daniel Macias who made his first career extra point in the third quarter.

Foster led the Eagles offensively with 227 yards on 24 carries.

“We needed this win,” the coach said. “We need to do some things better but it’s good the get the win.”

Goshen accumulated 360 yards for the game. Lawrence was 2-for-8 passing for 46 yards. The quarterback also rushe for 49 yards on eight carries.

“A win is a win,” Snyder said. “Tackling will be a priority for us at practice next week but I can see we are improving.”

The Eagles will take on New Brockton in Goshen next week where they look to get back to .500.

Red Level falls to 0-3 on the season.