Goshen built a 29-point lead, watched almost all of it disappear, and still walked out with a piece of school history Friday night. The Warriors held off a furious second-half comeback by Cincinnati Hughes for a 39-36 win in a Division III, Region 12 first-round playoff game, the program’s second postseason victory ever, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s first-round roundup.
The first half belonged entirely to Goshen. Gage Croley found the end zone on the Warriors’ first two drives, Camden Telinda added a one-yard rushing score, and when Caden Slusher found Cam Vogel for a 23-yard touchdown with 5:19 left in the first half, Goshen led 29-0, the Enquirer reported. Hughes got on the board before halftime on a two-yard Omantae Smith run, but the Big Red went to the locker room down 32-6.
The second half was a different game. Hughes scored on all four of its second-half drives, opening with a 16-yard run by Nehemiah Engleman and getting three touchdowns on the night from Smith, according to the Enquirer. The Big Red had six plays of at least 15 yards in the second half and pulled within three points at 39-36 — but could not get one final stop to have a shot at the win, the Enquirer reported.
Goshen’s answer was to grind the clock. Croley, the Southern Buckeye Conference Offensive Player of the Year, and Slusher were in on nearly every rushing play down the stretch, including Croley’s three-yard score with 10:44 left in regulation that proved to be the game winner, according to the Enquirer.
“We’ve talked all year about being a family and working every week to get better. We had a great first half. (Hughes) made plays in the second half. You gotta give them credit. They came out and made great plays,” Goshen head coach Shane Elkin told the Cincinnati Enquirer. Elkin told the Enquirer the Warriors practice their four-minute offense regularly: “We gotta be able to grind out the ball and protect it and make plays.”
For Hughes, the loss ends a historic season of its own. The Big Red finished 9-2, their best record since 1988, and second in the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference-Red, according to the Enquirer — and were denied their first ever postseason win. Goshen, meanwhile, was playing for its second ever playoff win and a possible first 10-win season since 1990, the Enquirer reported.
Goshen advances to a Division III, Region 12 quarterfinal at Tippecanoe on Friday, Nov. 6, according to the Enquirer. Tippecanoe had a first-round bye, so the Warriors will face a rested top seed — with the confidence of a team that has already survived one wild playoff night.
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