It was a small taste, but dedicated Eagles fans got a glimpse of their 2015 football team Thursday evening under the lights at Eagle Stadium as both the varsity and junior varsity squads participated in a jubilee to kick off the 2015 football season against McKenzie.

The varsity eagle’s kicked off the night and played two 10-minute quarters followed up by the junior varsity to conclude the evening.

The Varsity Eagles defeated McKenzie 8-6 while Junior varsity fell 8-0 after a late touchdown for McKenzie.

The evening gave both teams the opportunity to see where they stand before their week one matchup against Pike County in Brundidge next Friday night.

Although Goshen defeated McKenzie 8-6 in their two quarters of play, they left plenty of room for improvement before next week’s game.

“We were uptight, really uptight. We made a lot of mistakes tonight that should not be making,” said Goshen head coach Bart Snyder. “We are better than that. I thought our offense and defensive line was our strong point.”

The varsity was able to play a lot of their players, and while veteran players played decent Friday night, the younger players needed little more work.

“We had a lot of older guys on the offensive side of the ball, while the younger guys played on defense,” Snyder said. “They all had time to play I thought we would be a little better tonight but we are going to work on it that’s what tonight was all about seeing what we need to work on. There is a lot of things we need to work on.”

After they got their touchdown on a 32-yard rushing touchdown by Daquan Foster, The Eagles had a hard time holding on to the football. In a matter of a few minutes late in he second quarter the Eagles put the ball on the ground three times.

The defense did have some good moments in their game Friday night. The defense was able to force a fumble from McKenzie late in the second quarter with Goshen’s back against the end zone. With just 35 seconds remaining and the ball at the two-yard line, Goshen recovered the ball securing the win for Goshen.

The Eagles finished the night with 78 total yards of offense. Fifty-five yards came on the ground while 23 of them came through the air.

Daquan Foster finished the game with that one carry for 32 yards for Goshen’s only touchdown.

Foster also shined on the defensive side of the ball, he finished with six tackles and two assists. Shelby Styron finished with five tackles and three assist.

The junior varsity Eagles also played Thursday evening and although they lost, they gained valuable experience before they match up with Pike County next Tuesday night.

“We are young group of guys that are still learning,” said JV head coach Ian Kimbro. “We are putting new things in this year and I think they are responding well. We got some work to do but I see some bright things in the future.”

The JV team was able to play under the lights on the same night as the varsity, something that doesn’t happen any other time during the season.

“Its exciting for them to be able to watch our varsity team play,” Kimbro said, “I thought they were really excited.”

After tonight Kimbro and the JV coaching staff picked up things they plan to work on leading into next Tuesday’s season opener.

“We need to work on fundamentals,” Kimbro said. “We need to line up properly and have our defense in the right gaps. We need to do the basics.”

Kick off between the JV Eagles will be Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. while the varsity will travel to Brundidge to battle Pike County on Friday at 7:00 p.m.