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The Goshen Eagles are coming off their first trip to the playoffs since 2019 and will look to repeat that success in 2024.

Goshen made the playoffs for 12 straight seasons – from 2008 until 2019 – before suffering through a three-year playoff drought between 2020 and 2022. That came to an end last season when Don Moore and his Eagles went 9-3, the school’s best record since 2017, and made it to the second round of the state playoffs.

The Eagles will have to contend with losing some key players like All-Messenger athletes Jamauri McClure and Kamauri Lampley, but Goshen also returns All-Messenger quarterback Jayden McNabb, receiver Tyler McLendon, athlete Szemerick Andrews and linebacker Landon Chandler.

The Eagles enter 2024 in a new-look Class 2A, Region 3, which will make for some much shorter road trips. Reeltown, Lanett, Horseshoe Bend and LaFayette have exited the region and have been replaced by Calhoun, Pike Liberal Arts School and Zion Chapel. Barbour County, Luverne and Highland Home also remain in Region 3.

Goshen opens up with a preseason jamboree at home against Class 4A’s Geneva Panthers on Aug. 23. The regular season opens up with a tough home non-region matchup against 3A’s Alabama Christian Academy Eagles on Aug. 30. ACA is coming off a 6-5 record and a playoff appearance in 3A last season. Goshen and ACA have met just once on the football field, a 3-0 ACA win in the playoffs in 1990.

Goshen opens up region play on Sept. 6 on the road at the Zion Chapel Rebels. Goshen and Zion Chapel met in non-region games the last two years with the Eagles winning both of those matchups 35-7 and 46-21. In fact, Goshen holds a 26-6 record over the Rebels with 10 straight wins in the series dating back to 2012.

The Eagles then host the Calhoun Tigers in a region game on Sept. 13. This is the first time the two sides have met since 2019, a 57-0 Goshen win. The Eagles hold an 11-1 record over the Tigers. Calhoun is coming off a 3-8 season in 2023, a vast improvement over the last decade of football at Calhoun. Between 2014 and 2022, the Tigers won just three games combined during that span, which included five winless seasons.

Next, Goshen hits the road for a two-game road stretch starting with a region matchup against the Highland Home Flying Squadron on Sept. 20. Highland Home is coming off back-to-back 10-win seasons. This is one of Goshen’s longest running series with Highland Home holding the edge 31-28-1 in the series, including a 42-21 win last season. Goshen hasn’t defeated the Squadron since 2015.

Goshen remains on the road on Sept. 27 in a non-region game against the Elba Tigers. Elba has won 10 or more games the past three seasons, including a 13-1 record last season. The Tigers also feature one of the top high school recruits in the country in incoming senior running back Alvin Henderson. Goshen and Elba have not met in the regular season since 2017, a 20-14 Tiger victory. Elba and Goshen have met a total of eight times in the past with the Tigers winning each of those games.

Next, Goshen returns home for a two-game home stand. The Eagles host Barbour County on Homecoming on Oct. 4 and then will celebrate Senior Night in a first-time matchup against the Pike Liberal Arts Patriots on Oct. 11.

Pike Lib is coming off back-to-back 3-6 seasons in the Patriots’ first two years in the AHSAA. This will be the first time Pike Lib and Goshen have played in football.

Goshen enjoys a bye week on Oct. 18 before hitting the road for back-to-back away games to end the regular season. First up, Goshen travels to face the Luverne Tigers on Oct. 25 in the final region game of the season. Then, Goshen travels to Covington County to face off against Class 4A’s Straughn Tigers on Nov. 1. Goshen and Straughn have met a total of 17 times with the Eagles holding an 11-6 edge over the Tigers. The last time the two sides met, though, was in 2001 when Goshen held on for a 28-21 victory. Straughn is coming off a 10-2 season in 2023 in Class 3A. Straughn has made the playoffs in each of the last three seasons.