The Goshen Eagles return to Eagles Stadium for homecoming Friday night to take on the Central-Hayneville Lions.

The Eagles bounced back from a loss to Luverne with a win last week. They hope to add to the celebration on Friday night with a win over the Lions.

“Anytime you get back on the winning track it’s good,” Eagle head coach Bart Snyder said. “We are trying to get mentally focused on homecoming week, on the game and not the festivities. The hardest thing to do is get the kids to realize that all other stuff is important, but the biggest thing is the contributing that we give on Friday night.”

The Rebels fell to Luverne two weeks ago in a battle for first place. They bounced back with a blowout win over Calhoun last Friday night, 57-0.

“They bounced back and had a good week of practice,” Snyder said. “You still have a lot to get over whenever you lose a game like that. We got ready for Calhoun and we came in and did what we were supposed to do. We didn’t make a lot of mistakes.”

Luverne fell to Highland Home last Friday evening, opening the door for the Eagles to climb back in the region race. They take on Highland Home in the region finale on October 25.

This week, their objective is to knock off a Lion team that enters the game with a 2-5 overall record and a 1-4 region record. They are coming off a 43-14 loss to Zion Chapel last week. The Lions offense is led by junior running back Daylan Preyear.

“They are a really good ball team,” Snyder said. “We have to come out and be exceptionally sound. They have a really good running back. He is a big, physical guy. He reminds us of some of our running backs. He has good speed and he is just a bruiser. He is going to come at you. He is a very physical runner. We are going to have to do things that we are supposed to do to keep him from putting points on the scoreboard.”

The Lions have averaged 20 points per game this season, while giving up 34 points per game.

The Eagles won last year’s meeting 41-0 in Hayneville.