The Goshen Eagles hope to close out region play and earn home field advantage in the playoffs with a win against New Brockton on Friday.

“Our guys are working really hard,” head coach Bart Snyder said. “Everybody has been here and they know what they have to do to be able to rise up to this occasion.”

The stakes are high for the Eagles (6-1, 4-1) this season. Both teams have one region loss, so second place and a first round home playoff game are on the line.

“You never want to finish second in anything, but when you finish in second behind a team like Elba, we would rather be second than third” Snyder said. “We just want to do good and work hard. “This is what you work for. Not everyone gets to make the playoffs and we feel like we are in a region that is very strong.”

The Gamecocks are coming off a 49-33 win over Luverne last Thursday night.

“We are expecting them to play hard,” Snyder said. “They have talented players. They have a big offensive line, and they are sound defensively. They are a very balanced ball team that can both run and throw. Defensively, they don’t make a lot of mistakes.”

One matchup to watch is Goshen’s strong rushing attack against the big, athletic New Brockton defensive front.

“They have shown multiple and different types of defense,” Snyder said. “They are very talented and they present different things to give you problems. In the past we have had trouble with teams putting six men in the box, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they came out and tried to do that. I think if our guys come out and do what they are capable of doing then we can play a good ball game.”

New Brockton leads the all time series 14-10 including a 42-15 win last season.

The Eagles and the Gamecocks kick off at 7 p.m. in New Brockton.

“It’s going to be as big of a game that we have played in, in a long time,” Snyder said. “It’s big for them, and they do a good job at pumping this up … Of course we have a good traveling group, and we are expecting a packed house.”