The Goshen Eagles closed out region play on Friday night with a 27-20 loss to Highland Home.

The loss drops Goshen’s record on the season to 4-5 and 4-3 in region play.

The Eagles went back and forth with the Flying Squadron, but in the end they came up a bit short.

“We played a ball team that has one loss,” said head coach Bart Snyder. “This team in Goshen has played four, maybe five ranked teams. We have had some great plays and we have had some poor plays. We had fumbles that we didn’t need to have and we had penalties that we didn’t need to have. We have to get better at those things. It was in our hands tonight and we should have had it.”

The Flying Squadron’s Jaquan Brantley took the opening kickoff 72 yards down inside the Goshen 5-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, John Hoffman hauled in a one-yard touchdown to put the Flying Squadron up 7-0.

After a seven-play drive for the Eagles on their first possession, Goshen took their second drive 56 yards in six plays. The Eagles got into the endzone when Caleb Dawson rumbled his way in for a 1-yard touchdown run. After a failed extra point, Highland Home led 7-6 with 3:14 remaining in the opening quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, Dawson broke free for a 27-yard touchdown to put the Eagles up 12-7 after a failed two-point conversion attempt. Earlier in the drive, Dawson had a 14-yard run to set the Eagles up deep in Highland Home territory.

Two minutes later, Highland Home regained the lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by Brantley, bringing the score to 13-12 with 4:15 remaining in the first half.

Mistakes plagued the Eagles in their second drive of the second half. Dawson had a 59-yard touchdown run negated by two penalties. After a 37-yard run by Dawson set the Eagles up at the Highland Home 25-yard-line, an Eagle fumble ended the drive.

The Eagles made up for it on their next possession. After a Galloway run set the Eagles up inside the Highland Home 25 again, Jamarco Harris steamrolled his way for a 12-yard touchdown run. Galloway ran his way in for the two-point conversion and the Eagles took a 20-13 lead with 3:47 remaining in the third quarter.

The Flying Squadron used some trickery to tie the game in the fourth quarter. After the Eagles looked to have ended a drive, Highland Home elected to try a fake punt. They achieved and later scored on a Nakeldrick Hall touchdown run to tie things up at 20 with 9:31 remaining.

The Eagles marched down the field in 10 plays and looked to secure a late touchdown, but an illegal procedure penalty wiped away the score. One play later, an Eagle fumble was scooped up and returned over 90 yards for a touchdown to put the Flying Squadron up seven with 2:29 remaining in the game.

Dawson finished the game with 186 yards rushing on 22 carries and scored two touchdowns, while Galloway finished with 119 yards on 14 carries. Tamarcus Shipmon tallied 88 yards on 10 carries.