Staff writer
Goessel’s football team put together 367 yards of offense Friday night, but it was no match for the visiting Lincoln Leopards who went on to defeat the Bluebirds, 84-34.
Lincoln came out strong, opening the game with three touchdowns before the Bluebirds could get on the scoreboard with a Neal Brubaker pass to John Berkholz. At the end of the first quarter, Lincoln led, 28-6.
In the second period, the Leopards scored on the first play of the quarter but Goessel was able to move the ball by passing it. A Brubaker pass to Jake Smucker put the Bluebirds on the scoreboard with a touchdown and extra points.
After another Leopard TD, Berkholz got free down the right sideline and used his sprinter speed to score a 20-yard touchdown. The Leopards pushed the ball downfield for another score, but Brubaker found Nic Buller open to the left side of the field for a perfect strike and a 41-pass play for another Bluebird score.
Austin Voth pushed through the Leopard line for a quarterback sack to finish the first half. Lincoln had built a 48-26 lead.
Smucker caught another 5-yard pass from Brubaker for Goessel’s only score in the second half. Trey Schmidt made two diving tackles to save a score and Drake Sterk was in the Leopard backfield for tackles for losses, but the Leopards found ways to score four more touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to end the game by way of the 45-point rule, 84-34.
Brubaker’s passing game netted 207 yards with Berkholz catching six passes for 73 yards and Smucker six passes for 42 yards.
Berkholz ran for 149 yards on 15 carries. Berkholz, Smucker, and Schmidt each had seven solo tackles in the Bluebirds loss.
Goessel is now 0-3 on the season and will play Claflin, also winless, Friday at home.