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By Caleb Thomas

The Goshen Eagles traveled to Mack Wood Field to take on the Elba Tigers in a non-region matchup on Friday.

Elba won a tightly contested 48-34 matchup behind an explosive running game, surviving a late Goshen comeback bid.

“I thought our guys played hard, we didn’t stop and we didn’t quit,” said Goshen head coach Don Moore. “We had a lot of penalties tonight which hurt us, we need to improve on discipline and that starts with me.”

The first half started out quick, with Tyler McLendon taking the opening kickoff 84 yards for an Eagles touchdown. McLendon provided a spark for Goshen, finishing the game with three catches for 63 yards and a touchdown along with a deflected pass on defense.

Elba’s potent offense was largely bottled up by the Goshen defense in the first half, but the Tigers used explosive plays to remain close. A 74-yard touchdown tied the game up at 7-7 late in the first quarter, and Auburn commit Alvin Henderson broke off a 59-yard touchdown run to put Elba up 14-7.

Although Goshen was able to put together a few threatening drives, penalties ultimately stalled the offense on most of them. However, Szemerick Andrews capped off a long second quarter drive with a 13-yard touchdown run.

Andrews ended the half with a tackle-for-loss, sending both teams to the locker room at a 14-14 stalemate. The running back finished the game with 52 rushing yards on 8 carries.

Elba scored quickly to start the second half, with Henderson breaking off a 58-yard run to put the Tigers in the red zone. The 21-14 lead didn’t last long, though.

After a long drive down the field, Goshen faced a fourth-and-eight from the Elba 32-yard line. Jayden McNabb delivered a strike to McLendon to give the Eagles the first down, and punched it in on a 4-yard touchdown run a few plays later.

“Our guys didn’t want to punt,” Moore said on the fourth down call. “I just let our players play.”

McNabb finished with 168 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries.

Henderson continued his monster game, scoring on a 65-yard touchdown run to put the Tigers back out in front. He had three runs of over 50 yards on the night.

Goshen battled right back, putting together another methodical drive down the field. McLendon capped it off by pulling in a 29-yard touchdown reception, but Elba maintained a one-point lead after the extra point was missed.

Elba ran away with the game late, as Henderson scored again to make it a 34-27 game. The Eagles looked to punch back, but a fumble on the kickoff allowed the Tigers to widen their lead to 41-27.

McNabb gave Goshen life with a three-yard rushing touchdown, but Elba recovered an onside kick attempt. The Eagles defense forced a huge fourth down, but an offsides penalty allowed the Tigers to convert and score again shortly afterward.

Henderson put it into the end zone one more time to put the game away, making it 48-34.

“I’m super proud of our fight, playing two really good teams back-to-back,” Moore said. “I can’t say enough about how hard we fought.”

Goshen returns home to play Barbour County next week at 7 p.m.