GOSHEN – The Goshen Eagles scored early the first quarter and never relinquished their lead as they beat the Calhoun Tigers 42-18 on Friday.

No. 6 D’Errius Kite, a key player for the Eagles offense, had 101 rushing yards on six carries and two interceptions. No. 22 Terrainno Griffin had 122 rushing yards on eight carries for the Eagles. Kite, a senior, said he was feeling good about where the season was heading.

“I have to give it up to the line,” Kite said. “They did their job, and when everybody does their job positive things happen. It feels good because we’re leaving something for the junior group. Each year we try to leave something for the younger guys, and I think we’re doing pretty good at that.”

No. 4 Tyler Phillips, led the defense with seven tackles and four assists.

While head coach Bart Snyder is pleased with the offense and defense, he said the team still has some opportunities to improve.

“Mentally, after having Mckenzie, Pike County, Luverne and New Brockton, games like that having to get up mentally we weren’t where we needed to be,” Snyder said. “We knew that, but we just hoped to fight through it and we did.”

After getting on the board early, the Eagles solidified their lead scoring four times in the second quarter. The Eagles scored with 13 seconds remaining in the half, and recovered the kickoff return on the Tiger one-yard line. They scored again on the following drive pushing their lead over the Tigers 42-6. Snyder said his team was really able to pull it together during the last eight minutes of the half.

“Those last eight minutes of the first half, we put 20-something points or more on the board in no time,” Snyder said. “We had effort from everybody … like Elijah Smith getting down the field and knocking the guy off the ball and then Jabronski Williams making the recovery there on the two-yard line with 30 seconds left to go in the half …

“(Because of those plays) we were able to put another touchdown on the board.”

The teams played two six-minute quarters in the second half, and Snyder was able to put in some of his younger players and see how they reacted.

“That’s a good thing,” Snyder said. “These guys come out here, and they practice every day. We’re not easy on them, by any means. You get on to them, and they don’t get in the game to play on Friday nights, and it’s kind of discouraging to get to that point. This gave us an opportunity to get them in the ball game, to get them some playing time to see what it feels like. Plus, it was an opportunity for us to see what those guys can do for us later on down the road.”

Goshen, now 3-1, will travel to Dothan to face the Houston Academy Raiders next Friday, and Snyder said the team would be working on the little things at practice this upcoming week.

“Number one thing is cut down on the little-bitty mistakes that we have,” Snyder said. “We’ve got to cut those things out and get ourselves ready to play mistake-free ball, because that’s a game here and next week they’re going to be a real good ball team. We’re just going to have to make sure we cut down on those little mistakes.”

The Raiders are currently 1-2-1 for the season, and kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. in Dothan.

 

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