Sports Writer

There’s only three regional games remaining on the Goshen Eagles schedule and two of the teams, Straughn and Highland Home, are 5-1.

Goshen will face the Straughn Tigers this Friday night in a game that could eventually catapult the Eagles into a playoff spot, if they come away with a win. Goshen is 2-1 in regional play while the Tigers are a perfect 3-0. The playoff picture will become a lot clearer after this week and Goshen’s Coach Joe Thornton has an idea of how he’d like it to turn out.

"If we beat Straughn then that would give them one loss in the region. We would need Highland Home to beat Red Level, and then Red Level to beat Straughn, and that would put us in good shape," Thornton said.

If that scenario played out the Eagles would be thinking more along the lines of homefield advantage instead of just making the playoffs. Red Level and Straughn are currently sitting on 3-0 records atop the regional standings, but there’s still several games left to play.

Coach Thornton is looking for a defensive battle when his team squares off against the Tigers. "I think it’ll end up being a good defensive game," Thornton said. "If we can score three touchdowns I think we’ll have a good chance of beating them."

The Eagles may end up having to score more than 21 points though because Straughn is averaging 26 points a game. The Goshen defense has been impressive this season as well by holding opponents to only 19 points per game.

The Eagles, who were plagued by injuries earlier in the season, are all healthy and should be ready for a physical game.

"We’ve had a good week of practice and we have a good game plan," Thornton said.

That game plan will probably include finding a way around the Tigers front seven.

"They have a real good offensive line," Thornton said. "They have good running backs too, but they’ve thrown the ball a lot more this year and a lot better."

Last week GHS captured its third win of the season which put them at 3-3 on the season. The Eagles beat up on Georgiana 27-12 to celebrate their homecoming. Straughn defeated the Panthers of Georgiana 33-8 in their second game of the season. In recent action Straughn recorded its first shutout this season by defeating Elba 14-0.

Thornton said that the ingredients for a win over Straughn will include flawless defensive execution and a ball control offense.