Goshen’s Gabe Cope carried the ball 11 times for 72 yards and a touchdown against McNick. Photo by Garth Shanklin.
Goshen’s Logan Haley threw a touchdown pass to Corbin Miller late in the first half of the Warriors’ loss to McNick. Photo by Garth Shanklin.
Goshen’s Corbin Miller recorded 44 yards and a touchdown on five receptions against McNick. Photo by Garth Shanklin.
While the final score likely didn’t go the way the Goshen High School hopeful had wanted, the Warriors’ play on the field against McNicholas High School in week three left plenty to be proud about.
Goshen dropped a 49-13 contest to the visiting Rockets, dropping the Warriors to 1-2 overall on the season. Head coach Shane Elkin said that while the scoreboard may not always show it, the Warriors are making leaps and bounds forward in terms of where they were earlier in the year.
“Where they were when I came in in the weight room and their belief in each other and where we are at now are two totally different teams,” Elkin said. “We have five seniors. The adage that I’ve always had is for every sophomore you put on the field, it’s a loss because you’re talking about a kid playing against a young man.”
Goshen’s two touchdowns came in the second quarter. Gabe Cope tallied one score on the ground for the Warriors. He finished the contest with 11 carries for 72 yards in just one half of play.
“He’s a phenomenal football player,” Elkin said. “He’s compact, he runs hard. He’s strong, explosive quickness…he’s going to be a treat to watch.”
The Warriors improvised a bit for their second score. Late in the second quarter, Logan Haley connected with Corbin Miller, moving the ball inside the McNick five. Out of timeouts and facing fourth and short, the Warriors went to the line of scrimmage quickly and snapped the ball.
Miller made a leaping catch in the end zone, fighting off defensive pass interference for Goshen’s second score of the game.
“They improvised and made it happen,” Elkin said. “We weren’t able to get the play in. That’s what I’m saying about the team getting better. I think that’s how we have to measure ourselves, are we continuing to improve?”
Statistically, Haley completed seven of 19 passes for 49 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also totaled six carries for 19 yards as he continues to grow under center for Goshen.
“We talked him into coming out, he was a baseball, basketball athlete and he’s learning,” Elkin said. “He gets frustrated at times because he feels like he’s not learning at the rate he wants to, but he’s doing a great job. We’re asking him to run an offense that kids get four or five or six years to develop and he’s been doing it, basically, since June.”
Lucas Perkins rushed six times for 23 yards while Tyler Kilgore finished with 23 yards on five carries. Miller carried the ball twice for six yards.
He also grabbed five passes for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Craig McKinney led goshen with eight total tackles. Evan Harris recorded four tackles and one pass broken up.
“What I’m most proud about is that our kids come to work every day,” Elkin said. “The entire season, I’ve walked away one day feeling like we had a bad practice. WE continue to strive to get better. We’re working.”
Goshen is scheduled to begin a three-game road swing in week four. The Warriors visit Miami Trace on Friday, September 9 and Blanchester one week later. The team’s first conference game of 2022 is a road matchup against Clinton-Massie.