Contributing writer
On a quiet Friday evening, the Goessel football team opened district competition with Southern Cloud High School and lost the battle 54-6.
Southern Cloud began the scoring on a 66-yard pass play. Goessel received the ball deep in their own territory and when trying to punt out of trouble the kick was blocked, and the Warriors led 10-0. Southern Cloud scored on their next drive and just before the end of the first quarter, crossed the goal line again. The Bluebirds trailed 24-0 at the break.
Both defenses kept the other team out of the endzone in the second period until the 4:38 mark, when another pass play connected for 15 yards, giving Southern Cloud a 32-0 lead at halftime.
After another Warrior score, Goessel marched down the field and Chase Flaming connected with Mark Schmidt on an 8-yard pass to give Goessel its only score of the night. The kickoff to Southern Cloud was returned 66 yards for a score. With 2:29 left in the third period, the Warriors managed to score again, ending the game 54-6 by virtue of the eight-man 45-point rule.
Flaming completed seven passes for the game for a total of 47 yards. Zach Showalter was on the receiving end, catching four balls for 31 yards. The Bluebirds picked up 89 yards on the ground with Miguel Guerrero earning 44 of those yards. Defensively, Kellen Froese ended the game with six tackles and Brian Hiebert picked up 4.50 tackles.
Coach Garrett Hiebert was guessing at the beginning of the season that this Southern Cloud team would be one of the strongest in the seven-team district. Goessel will travel to Burrton on Friday for another district game. Burrton was defeated 54-8 by Tescott on Friday. Goessel is now 0-3 for the season and 0-1 in district play.