Goessel upsets Centre, 13-12 years ago
By DELBERT PETERS
Contributing writer
In the first football game of district play at Goessel on Friday, the Bluebirds hosted the Centre Cougars and hung on to win the battle 13-12.
In the first quarter, both teams forced the other team to punt on the first two possessions. With 53 seconds left in the first quarter, Goessel succeeded on a fake punt with fourth down and 11, and Justin Fensky just barely made it to the first down marker. Four plays later, again on fourth down, Nicholas Peters took a Garrett Hiebert pass 21 yards for the first touchdown of the game. The quarter ended with a score of Goessel 6 Centre 0.
In the second quarter, Centre's Brent Carlson took a 15-yard pass into the end zone, only to have a penalty bring the ball back, and Goessel then took over on fourth down. The Cougars and Bluebirds both attempted to convert fourth downs, but the defenses held on most attempts. As the half was coming to an end, the Cougars punted the ball to the eleven-yard line, and Goessel was satisfied with running out the clock with the half-time score still 6-0.
In the second half, Centre began to attack with men in motion and passing, but Aaron Stehman intercepted a pass early in the third quarter. A minute later, Hiebert connected with Dylan Buller on a pass up the middle. Buller shook off one tackler and went 29 yards for a touchdown. Justin Fensky was able to kick successfully for the extra point giving Goessel a 13-0 lead with 10:18 to play in the third quarter. Both teams were fairly successful running the ball, and the time on the clock expired without any more scoring in the third quarter.
The Bluebirds began the fourth quarter facing second down and 22 yards, when Buller carried for 11 yards and then Hiebert took the ball into the end zone only to have a Goessel penalty bring the ball back and give the Bluebirds a third down and 26 yards.
On the next play, Goessel's pass fell incomplete, but a "roughing the passer" penalty on Centre gave Goessel an automatic first down. The Bluebirds moved the ball down the field, but the Cougars recovered a fumble on their eight-yard line, and then the excitement began with 9:20 to play in the game. Centre, with its motion offense, moved up field, and Todd Stahlecker weaved his way 35 yards for a Cougar score. The Bluebird's defense held on the extra point making the score 13-6.
For the rest of the game, Goessel would pick up first downs on short runs, but Centre seemed to grab the momentum by getting first downs on long gains. With 3:58 to play, Goessel punted, trying to pin the Cougars close to the goal line. The ball bounced near the five, and a Goessel player slid past the ball into the end zone, but reached back onto the field to kill the ball on the one-yard line.
A 25-yard gain by Stahlecker got the Cougars out of trouble. Stahlecker had to be helped from the field with 2:55 to play after a collision on a completed pass at the Goessel 22-yard line. Wayne Cooper came up with a big tackle in the Cougar backfield to force a Centre time out. Travis Burns took a pass on second down and 13 yards all the way down to the two-yard line. With 1:58 to play, Andrew Hajek crossed the goal line bringing the score to 13-12. The Cougars tried to win the game with a sweep to the right for the two-point conversion, but again the Bluebird defense maintained lateral pursuit and kept Centre out of the end zone.
The Bluebirds called time out when the Cougars lined up for an onside kick. The onside kick rolled along the ground toward the right sideline, both teams collided and the ball went out of bounds. The fans waited to hear what the ruling would be. Since no team had recovered the ball before it went out of bounds, the Bluebirds were awarded the ball and were able to run off the last 1:54.
Goessel's record is now 2-5 and the team will travel to Little River for another district game next Friday.
